Breakfast with Big Boy

Posted on by farlane

Big Boy

Big Boy, photo by Mark Houston Photography

The Big Boy entry on Wikipedia says that Elias Brothers Big Boy franchise was founded by Fred, John and Louis Elias and covered Michigan, Northeastern Ohio, Ontario, Canada from 1952–2000:

In 1938 the brothers opened Fred’s Chili Bowl in Detroit and later the Dixie Drive-In in Hazel Park, which would become the first Elias Brothers Big Boy. Considered the “first official franchisee” because they were the first to formally apply to Bob Wian. They worked with Wian, Schoenbaum and Manfred Bernhard to create the iconic 1956 Big Boy character design and launch the comic book. Owned the Big Boy parent from 1987 through 2000. Many units continue operations but none use Elias Brothers name. Fred Elias became an original member of the Big Boy Board of Directors.

One of the all-time most popular posts on Michigan in Pictures is the Big Boy Graveyard, so you might want to check that out too.

Check Mark’s photo out bigger and see more in his slideshow. Mark also operates the awesome website 360Michigan that features panoramic photos of Michigan. He’s got the Belle Isle Aquarium on the front page and a whole lot more in his Michigan section.

Ice Balls on the Sleeping Bear Lakeshore

Posted on by farlane

Lake Michigan ... ice balls III

Lake Michigan … ice balls III, photo by Ken Scott

You may recall the Lake Michigan ice balls that were seen at the Sleeping Bear Dunes lakeshore last March.  Well, they’re baaaaack. You can see a great video of the ball ice at Accuweather. Here’s the explanation of how balls ice form that I  put together from AIR PHOTO INTERPRETATION OF GREAT LAKES ICE FEATURES by Ernest W. Marshal & Frazil ice at Wikipedia:

Ball ice consists of roughly spherical masses of slush and frazil ice that accrete in turbulent water. Frazil ice is a collection of loose, randomly oriented needle-shaped ice crystals that form in open, turbulent, supercooled water. Lumps that form in the less turbulent zones are typically flattened discs, while those formed in the extremely turbulent zone near the shoreline ice where wave action is strongest form into spheres.

The author explains that ball ice is a feature common to all of the Great Lakes and can occur at any time during the winter where water turbulence breaks up a slush layer. You can read more about this in Great Lakes Ice Features.

View Ken’s photo bigger, check them out in his ice balls slideshow and see this shot with Ken in it for a sense of the scale.

Brought to you by the letter J … and the iPhone

Posted on by farlane

Today's Photo is Brought to You by the Letter J (for Jetsetter)

Today’s Photo is Brought to You by the Letter J (for Jetsetter), photo by Matt Burrows

On January 9, 2007 Steve Jobs announced the iPhone. Within months, photography apps for Apple’s pocket computer with a crappy digital camera began showing up. Apps like Hipstamatic and Shake It made the phone’s resolution weakness tolerable and spawned a resurgent interest in the lomo ethic.

Here’s a nice article on apps to trick your iPhone out for a new year of photography.

Check Matt’s photo out big as Big Bird and see more in his iPhoneography slideshow.

We interrupt this winter…

Posted on by farlane

Pure Relaxation

Pure Relaxation, photo by Jessie Eileen

We interrupt this winter to bring you a special announcement from summer:

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”
~John Steinbeck

View Jessie’s photo of Miner’s Beach at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore background big and see more in her dreamy Upper Peninsula: Summer 2006 slideshow.

More summer & summer wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures

Buried by the Polar Vortex in Michigan

Posted on by farlane

Squirrels and other pictures at the University of Michigan on an awful cold wintry day (January 6, 2014)

Squirrels and other pictures at the University of Michigan on an awful cold wintry day (January 6, 2014), photo by cseeman

If yesterday’s Michigan temps seemed chilly, today’s are worse! Ironwood is still the coldest, but they are up a few degrees at -20 (before the -33 windchill of course). Most of the rest of the state is joining them below zero this morning. Detroit and Lansing are at -11, Marquette is at -15 and Grand Rapids is at a balmy 1.6 degrees!

Dr. Jeff Masters blog on the Extreme Cold Blast at Weather Underground, the site he founded and runs in Michigan says:

The most extreme cold air outbreak since 1994 is in store for much of the U.S. on Monday and Tuesday, as Arctic air behind a major winter storm invades the Midwest. The powerful 989 mb storm blasted the Upper Midwest on Sunday, bringing snows in excess of a foot over portions of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio. The 11.4″ that fell on Sunday in Indianapolis, Indiana made it that city’s second snowiest day on record (the all-time record: 12.1″ on March 19, 1906); Flint, Michigan also recorded its second snowiest day on record: 14.5″ (the all time record: 15.0″ on November 28, 1937.) … The high temperature in Detroit on Tuesday is expected to remain below zero; the city’s list of days with a high temperature below zero is a short one, with only three such days in recorded history. The frigid air is being propelled by strong Arctic winds of 15 – 25 mph, which will generate dangerously low wind chill readings in the -30° to -60°F range from Michigan to Minnesota on Monday and Tuesday.

In the winter, the 24-hour darkness over the snow and ice-covered polar regions allows a huge dome of cold air to form. This cold air increases the difference in temperature between the pole and the Equator, and leads to an intensification of the strong upper-level winds of the jet stream. The strong jet stream winds act to isolate the polar regions from intrusions of warmer air, creating a “polar vortex” of frigid counter-clockwise swirling air over the Arctic. The chaotic flow of the air in the polar vortex sometimes allows a large dip (a sharp trough of low pressure) to form in the jet stream over North America, allowing the Arctic air that had been steadily cooling in the northern reaches of Canada in areas with 24-hour darkness to spill southwards deep into the United States. In theory, the 1.5°F increase in global surface temperatures that Earth has experienced since 1880 due to global warming should reduce the frequency of 1-in-20 year extreme cold weather events like the current one. However, it is possible that climate change could alter jet stream circulation patterns in a way that could increase the incidence of unusual jet stream “kinks” that allow cold air to spill southwards over the Eastern U.S., a topic I have blogged about extensively, and plan to say more about later this week.

Read on for more and to see a shot of Jeff shoveling 14″ off his metro Detroit roof!

Corey took this shot on the campus of the University of Michigan. View it background big and see more in his massive Squirrels of the Univ. of Michigan slideshow.

PS: Curiously enough, there’s a Campus Squirrels photo group on Flickr.

Michigan in the Deep Freeze

Posted on by farlane

Icy Evening

Icy Evening, photo by GLASman1

Some of the coldest air in decades has moved into Michigan, producing morning temps in the low teens to single digits and packing windchills over -20! The lowest temp? Ironwood in the western UP at -26! The weather has closed schools in much of the state and has every news outlet and the Michigan State Police warning you about the extreme conditions.

The Freep is reporting snowfall totals of 13 inches of snow in Holly and Waterford, more than 16 inches on the ground in Flint and 17 inches of snow in Clarkston as of just after midnight last night! They also have a collection of photos sent in by metro residents.

Weather Underground’s winter storms page has Winter Storm Ion page that will be a good resource for looking back.

mLive has a nice collection of storm information. Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa says that lower Michigan will take the brunt of the snowfall, anywhere from 5-11 inches! They also have some tips for dealing with the extreme cold.

If you live in west Michigan, you may remember the blizzard of January 6, 1999 which dumped 30 inches of snow!

Mark’s photo was taken at Point Betsie lighthouse in January of 2012 and is also the latest cover on the Michigan in Pictures Facebook. You can view it bigger and see more in his Pte Betsie Lighthouse slideshow.

I fish because I love to.

Posted on by farlane

Guide's Rest at Dawn

Guide’s Rest at Dawn, photo by mickey-finn

“I fish because I love to. Because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly. Because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape. Because in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing what they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion. Because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed, or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility, and endless patience.

Because I suspect that men are going this way for the last time and I for one don’t want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant – and not nearly so much fun.

― Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman

Robert Traver was the pen name of Ishpeming native John D. Voelker. Voelker was a Michigan Supreme Court Justice, renown fly-fisherman and author. Anatomy of a Murder was made into one of the best courtroom dramas of all time. The film was set and shot in Big Bay, Marquette, Ishpeming and Michigamme. Voelker was heavily involved in the production of the film. He appears in the trailer, and you can watch the movie in its entirety on YouTube.

View Mike’s photo of Guide’s Rest on the Au Sable River bigger and see more in his Fly Fishing slideshow.

PS: I don’t always thank the people who make suggestions for Michigan in Pictures posts, be they intended or accidental. One of my 2014 resolutions is to share more of myself and the family & friends who love this state as much as I do. One of these is John Di Giacamo, an attorney who shared a tiny bit of the quotation that still holds so much relevance. Thanks John!

2014 Meteor Shower Calendar starts tonight with the Quadrantids

Posted on by farlane

meteor and milky way

meteor and milky way, photo by HLHigham

EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2014 says that:

Although the Quadrantids can produce over 100 meteors per hour, the sharp peak of this shower tends to last only a few hours, and doesn’t always come at an opportune time. In other words, you have to be in the right spot on Earth to view this meteor shower in all its splendor. The radiant point is in the part of the sky that used to be considered the constellation Quadrans Muralis the Mural Quadrant. You’ll find this radiant near the famous Big Dipper asterism (chart here), in the north-northeastern sky after midnight and highest up before dawn.

Because the radiant is fairly far to the north on the sky’s dome, meteor numbers will be greater in the Northern Hemisphere. In 2014, watch in the wee hours – after midnight and before dawn – on January 3 in North America and January 4 in Asia. Fortunately, the waxing crescent moon sets soon after sunset, providing a dark sky for meteor watching.

Click through for more and a calendar of 2014 meteor showers. The next shower isn’t until the Lyrids on April 22nd so check them out tonight and early AM on the 4th if you can! You can get viewing tips for the Quads from Universe today too!

View Heather’s photo big as the sky and in her Night Sky slideshow.

Michigan State Spartans and the 100th Rose Bowl

Posted on by farlane

UPDATE: The top-rated Spartan D dug deep when it counted and stopped Stanford to seal a 24-20 victory in the 100th Rose Bowl and #3 or better ranking! View a photo gallery from the game via the Lansing State Journal’s Green & White section.

1954 Rose Bowl Game

1954 Rose Bowl Game, photo courtesy Michigan State University Archives

This afternoon at 5 PM the #4 Michigan State University Spartans will take the field against the #5 Stanford Cardinals to represent the Big Ten for the 100th Rose Bowl.

Wikipedia’s page on the Rose Bowl where you can see a pic from the very first Rose Bowl says (in part) that the game is usually played on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It was first played in 1902, and has been played annually since 1916. As the oldest bowl game, it has earned the nickname “The Granddaddy of Them All”.

MSU has been to the Rose Bowl four times and has won three: the 1954 game pictured above, 1956 and their last appearance in 1988. MSU’s article on the Spartans and the 2014 Rose Bowl says (in part):

Big Ten Champion Michigan State (12-1, 8-0 Big Ten) will make its first-ever Bowl Championship Series appearance on Jan. 1, 2014, when the Spartans play Pac-12 Champion Stanford (11-2, 7-2 Pac-12). Winners of nine straight, Michigan State recorded its school-record 12th win of the 2013 season by defeating second-ranked Ohio State, 34-24, in the Big Ten Championship Game.

MSU ranked No. 4 in the final BCS Standings – its highest ranking ever. The Spartans are ranked No. 4 in the latest Associated Press and USA TODAY Polls. It marks MSU’s highest ranking in the AP Poll since Sept. 18, 1967.

The Spartans finished their Big Ten regular-season schedule with a perfect 8-0 record for the first time in school history and claimed their second Legends Division title in three seasons. Michigan State became the 14th Big Ten team to post an 8-0 mark in league play. The Spartans are the first Big Ten team to win all eight of its conference games by double-digit points since the league went to an eight-game schedule in 1971. In addition, MSU is the first undefeated Big Ten team to win all of its league games by double-figure points since Michigan in 1943 (6-0 record).

The 100th Rose Bowl Game marks the first time since the “Game of the Century” in 1966 (No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Michigan State) in which MSU will play a top-five AP team while also being ranked in the top five. No. 5 Stanford is also the highest ranked opponent MSU has played in a bowl game since the 1966 Rose Bowl (UCLA finished the 1965 regular season ranked No. 4 in the final AP Poll).

Mike Downey put together 100 facts about the Rose Bowl. Most surprising to me was that 1925’s coaching matchup was Knute Rockne vs. Pop Warner.

The Michigan State University Archives says that the photograph above captures the action of the 1954 Rose Bowl game of Michigan State College versus UCLA in which the Spartans defeated the Bruins 28-20. View it bigger and check out some cool memorabilia in their Rose Bowl slideshow.

And oh yeah, Happy New Year & GO GREEN!

What’s ahead for 2014?

Posted on by farlane

Unknown

Unknown, photo by Mike Lanzetta

Probably my favorite thing about the New Year is the sense that anything and everything is possible. For myself, I’m happy to close the door on 2013 which has been a tougher than usual year and looking forward to new opportunities in 2014.

I hope that whatever you’re feeling about the year that’s gone that the year to come brings you everything you hope for and some wonderful surprises that you weren’t expecting. Happy New Year everyone!

View Mike’s photo bigger and see more in his train slideshow.

PS: Thanks everyone for the great comments and kind words yesterday!