New Year’s Eve Magic

 

Dance Magic Dance.jpg

Dance Magic Dance, photo by MightyBoyBrian.

“To leave the old with a burst of song,
To recall the right and forgive the wrong;
To forget the thing that blinds you fast
To the vain regrets of the year that’s past.”
~Robert B. Beattie

Please accept the warmest wishes of the crew at Absolute Michigan for a safe, happy and magical New Years Eve! Here’s our listing of Michigan New Year’s Eve Happenings!

Brian writes that he kept the shutter open for 1.3 seconds after the two flashes fired so that he could get a streaking of ambient light. The final effect blew his mind (and mine). Check it out background bigalicious and in his People slideshow.

3-2-1…

Elberta Beach During the Hang Gliding Heydays

Elberta Beach During the Hang Gliding Heydays

Elberta Beach During the Hang Gliding Heydays, photo by jimflix!.

As a payback for yesterday’s icy cruelty, here’s a warm remembrance of summer in the 1970s.

Frankfort & Elberta on Lake Michigan was a hang gliding and soaring hotspot in the 1970s and earlier. Here’s a shot of sailplanes in the 1930s, a little Frankfort-Elberta Area Hang Gliding information and a video of present-day hang-gliding at Green Point Dunes. About this photo Jim writes:

Not a lot of beach that year (and the water was high), so there was not a lot of room to land! Then you had to hope folks would Get Out Of The Way! (And usually they did, as they were mostly hang gliding families or followers.)

Taken at the Elberta beach on Lake Michigan in the late 1970s

Check it out big as the sky and see more in his Hang gliding and hang gliders slideshow!

The 50 Foot Tall Woman Attacks Flint!!

Downtown Flint - HDR

Downtown Flint – HDR, photo by E. Brow.

Update – click to see the photo!

This Sunday (November 28) from 1-2 PM, Flint area photographer and student Sarah Reed needs your help. She is trying to recreate the classic movie poster for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman using Saginaw Street as the backdrop. She is looking for extras to come out on Sunday (while Flint is pretty much not busy) to play the part of the freaked out populace.

Get all the details on Facebook.

All I can say is, this lady better watch out!

See it bigger in Eric’s Flint, MI slideshow.

Behind the scenes with America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade


Mother Goose & Friends, photo by Eric Smith

The Michigan Picture Project had a great photo feature last year on America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (music & animated clown warning), held every year in Detroit that lifts the curtain with a stunning selection of HDR images of the floats in the warehouse. On Parade in Waiting they write:

The Thanksgiving Parade that fills Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit for several hours every year is actually an ongoing work in progress that has delighted spectators for decades. Detroit’s first Thanksgiving Parade in 1924 featured 10 floats inspired by nursery rhymes, including Mother Goose and The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, along with several marching bands. As the parade grew into a major event, new floats and characters joined those original figures, and all of these parade creations emerge from storage in huge warehouses to march again down Woodward Avenue.

Floats added in recent years celebrate Downtown Detroit, the Automobile Industry, and American Freedom. Many skilled hands collaborate to create each new float and every giant head that entertains the thousands of parade-watchers who line the route. During the weeks leading up to the parade, the floats and figures come out from warehouse storage, to be polished up in preparation for the big day. Photographer Eric Smith used a digital technique to convey the storybook magic of the parade characters as they wait to come to life.

Detroit’s Thanksgiving Parade was produced by the J. L. Hudson Company from the parade’s beginning in 1924 until 30 years ago. The store’s Display Department created and cared for the floats and giant heads. In 1979, Hudson’s passed parade sponsorship and control to Detroit Renaissance, and in 1983 that responsibility went to the Michigan Parade Foundation. Since 1990, The Parade Company has managed the parade with enthusiastic help from thousands of volunteers and support from dozens of Detroit businesses and civic groups. 

Click here to see this and the other pictures bigger and see more of Eric’s work at ericsmithphotography.com. Don’t miss the parade at 9:20 AM on Thanksgiving!

Deer Camp … and beer

Empty Beer Boxes
Empty Beer Boxes, photo by U.S. Highway 12

Today is the opening day of deer season, and around much of Michigan businesses, schools and streets will be empty as people head to the woods in search of whitetail deer. Deer season, however, is about more than just filling the freezer with venison: it’s about deer camp. And deer camp, as Ronnie writes (and this photo show), is often about beer:

We all know that when men work hard, we tend to develop a mighty thirst. Just ask anyone who loves to go deer hunting, and they will tell you that just thinking about the next day’s hunt, can make your mouth feel dryer than a Georgia cotton plantation, during a scorching heat wave with a 10 year drought already in place. Therefore, its imperative that one must procure plenty of liquid refreshment to prevent dehydration during these primeval events. Such was always the case whenever my Uncle Bob went deer hunting in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Everyone who went hunting with my uncle, chipped in on a beer fund to help offset the total costs. More often than not, someone would have to drive into the nearest town and buy even more by mid-week. Nevertheless, check out these vintage beer boxes from Bosch, Schlitz, and Stroh’s. The former of the three has a very interesting story. You can read more about the colorful and interesting history of the Bosch Brewing Company, once located in Michigan’s Keewenaw Peninsula until its demise in 1973.

The photo was shot Little Shag Lake near Gwen Lake, outside of Negaunee, Michigan on November 15, 1956 and you can see it (and others) bigger in Ronnie’s slideshow.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!, photo by *Alysa*.

Happy Halloween from Michigan in Pictures and Absolute Michigan – we hope you all have a spooktacular holiday!

See this bigger in Anna’s slideshow.

October the 13th: Michigan Haunted Houses, Corn Mazes & Scary Attractions

Jason Voorhees

Jason Voorhees, photo by hardyc.

Hold on, man. We don’t go anywhere with “scary,” “spooky,” “haunted,” or “forbidden” in the title.
~Shaggy from Scooby-Doo

Over on Absolute Michigan, our Fearsome Finder of Frights has once again compiled his annual list of Michigan haunted houses, corn mazes and scary attractions. There’s a bunch of cool Halloween facts as well, so click over … if you dare.

Check this out bigger and in Chris’s super spooky Halloween/Horror slideshow.

More Halloween fun on Michigan in Pictures!

The Nameless Wizard at the Michigan Renaissance Festival

Untitled, photo by Michael Zz.

The annual Michigan Renaissance Festival takes place Labor Day – October every year. It features jousting and other re-enactments, lots of vendors and people dressing up like this and having fun. This weekend they host the Michigan Longbow tournament and celebrate the harvest, while next weekend it’s a celebration of chocolate and a farewell to the festival.

Check this out bigger in Michael’s portraits & stuff slideshow and have a magical weekend!

More portraits from Michigan in Pictures.

2010 Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk


Mackinac Bridge Walk, photo by mackinacbridgerun

Every year, thousands of people come to the Mackinac Bridge on the morning of Labor Day for the annual Mackinac Bridge Walk. They’ll do it again at the 53rd annual walk on Monday, September 6, 2010 from 7-11 AM.

The Mackinac BridgeGet all the history of the Mackinac Bridge Walk from Michigan in Pictures and click that button for tons more info on the Mackinac Bridge.

View the photo larger in mackinacbridgerun’s slideshow.

Grand Rapids gets ready for ArtPrize 2010

Face Paint
Face Paint, photo by TerryJohnston.

Last year ArtPrize in Grand Rapids launched and was the most successful art event in Michigan’s history, attracting 200,000 visitors to see the work of over 1000 artists in every media from fine art to paper airplanes. In 2009, Absolute Michigan was on location for ArtPrize and I have to say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life to see this city transformed into a giant gallery teeming with active, engaged crowds of people looking this way and that, trying to take in a mind-boggling amount of art.

In 2010 the format will be the same, with artists submitting a single entry at venues all over the city, all vying for the votes of those who attend and the $250,000 1st place prize. Absolute Michigan will be back to cover the event, and I sincerely hope you can make the time to go to Grand Rapids and experience ArtPrize.

Terry took this photo of 2010 ArtPrize artist Jeff Zimmermann at the Kendall College of Art & Design. More in his Jeff Zimmerman slideshow and also stay tuned to Terry’s art prize 2010 slideshow for many more photos as ArtPrize gets rolling!

PS: Be sure to stay tuned to ArtPrize in the Absolute Michigan pool and add photos if you take them. Here’s the ArtPrize 2009 video we did last year from some of the pics we received!