Rain is Good … unless you’re a weekend event

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Rain is Good

Rain is Good, photo by photoshoparama.

This morning, for the first time in a long time, I had the chance to sit down for a few hours with coffee and my computer to wander around the Michigan photosphere and think about what to write on Michigan in Pictures today.

One of the first things I read was Sculpture city in ‘misunderestimated’ Michigan that looks at how Michigan is quietly growing as a destination for tourists of all kinds with landmarks like Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids.

Bouncing around in my head was how rainy this summer has been, making things tough for outdoor events like this weekend’s*…

I’ll keep singing “rain, rain, go away” for all these folks and if it doesn’t I’ll try and take comfort in the fact that it’s boosting lake levels and hope that people will remember that rain is good, hunt down their rain gear and still show up to support folks who are working to build more fun stuff in Michigan!

Check out Dan’s photo bigger in his slideshow and splash around in the Frederik Meijer Gardens slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool.

* Note: these events all came from the Absolute Michigan Event Calendar

Leelanau, Old Mission & Traverse City Wines at the Traverse City Wine & Art Festival

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

The Vineyard

The Vineyard, photo by starryeyez024.

The first ever Traverse City Wine & Art Festival takes place Saturday, August 22, 2009 in Traverse City on the grounds of historic Building 50 at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.

The festival will feature full pours of wine from 22 wineries on the Leelanau & Old Mission Peninsulas along with a selection of Traverse City and Leelanau restaurants serving food & desserts, art from over 30 artists and a great selection of music from Michigan bands including Thom Jayne and the Nomads.

Be sure to check this photo out bigger – it’s part of Kendall’s Lake Michigan vacation set (slideshow).

PS: My company is coordinating the wine festival, so please accept my apologies if Michigan in Pictures is really late some days … such as today! ;)

matt’s running dock dive

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

matt's running dock dive

matt’s running dock dive, photo by Latitude 45.

This summer has been cooler than usual, so as a Public Service Announcement, Michigan in Pictures and Latitude45 Productions with generous support from Walloon Lake present this handy infomercial on Dock Diving.

Check it out bigger in Martin’s slideshow.

2009 Traverse City Film Festival Opening Ceremony

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Opening Ceremony

Opening Ceremony, photo by tcfilmfest.

All week long I’m covering the 5th Annual Traverse City Film Festival in Traverse City for Absolute Michigan: On Location (check the TCFF posts if you’re coming to this after the festival!). It’s a great celebration of film and filmmaking with a healthy dose of Michigan.

Check this out bigger in the 2009 Traverse City Film Festival slideshow (or view the set).

You can get a ton more Michigan film goodness through the Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and blog feeds at Traverse City Film Festival 2009!

Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival and Coast Guard Cutters Mackinaw

Posted on by farlane

Old USCG MackinawNew USCG Cutter Mackinaw
Old USCG Mackinaw and New USCG Cutter Mackinaw, photos by Bass Dude

On an average day, the Coast Guard will conduct 109 search & rescue operations, saving 10 lives and assisting 192 people in distress. The Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival is the nation’s largest festival that honors the men and women of the US Coast Guard. It takes place July 24 – August 2 in Grand Haven and features nightly entertainment at Waterfront Stadium, arts & crafts, downtown carnival, parades, ship tours and the world’s largest musical fountain with spectacular fireworks. This year is the 85th annual occurrence of the festival which unofficially began in 1924 as a Coast Guard personnel only picnic and has grown to attract over 350,000 people including the nation’s highest ranking Coast Guard dignitaries.

The Coast Guard Cutters Bristol Bay and Mackinaw will be in Grand Haven for the festival and offering tours. The 290 feet long old Mackinaw (WAGB 83) was built in Toledo, Ohio and commissioned in December 1944 and decommissioned June 10, 2006. It is now the Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum in Mackinaw City (here’s a tour of the Mackinaw).

The new US Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw (WLBB 30) is the only heavy icebreaker assigned to the Great Lakes. It was commissioned June 10, 2006 and is powered by 3 Caterpillar 3612 Turbocharged V-12 engines – 3360 KW each. Prolusion comes from 2 ABB azimuthing electric propulsion drives where the propulsion motor is installed inside a submerged azimuthing (unlimited 360 degrees) pod and coupled directly to an extremely short propeller shaft. In addition to heavy icebreaking, the Mackinaw has state of the art systems and multi-mission capabilities that include servicing buoys, search & rescue, law enforcement and the ability to deploy an oil skimming system to respond to oil spill situations.

Check out this 360° tour of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw and these photos from the Mackinaw’s launch via Boatnerd.

Be sure to check these photos out bigger (old and new) or in Skip’s Boats set (slideshow).

Stony Creek Sunset

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Stony Creek Sunset

Stony Creek Sunset, photo by NnYSeb.

Summer in Michigan – dive in!

Be sure to check this photo out bigger or in Sebastian’s still in process July 2009 slideshow.

More summer wallpaper from Michigan in Pictures.

Bliss is Michigan Music

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Bliss 07

Bliss 07, photo by katherine lynn.

This weekend the 29th annual Blissfest Music Festival takes place in Cross Village (July 10-12). It’s one of the best celebrations of folk music and features a lot of Michigan talent (and a lot from elsewhere). In addition to great performances, Bliss offers music and dance workshops, amazing food & vendors and plenty of kids activities – and it’s plenty affordable!

Follow your Bliss on Twitter

This photo shows May Erlewine & Seth Bernard, who will be there this year along with others from Earthwork Music.

katherine lynn has a Blissfest photo set (slideshow) and you may also enjoy Flickr’s Blissfest slideshow (which for some reason has a lot of surfing shots in it but what can you do?)

Happy Independence Day

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Turn the freedom up to eleven

Turn the freedom up to eleven, photo by farlane.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and that freedom rings loud for all of you.

(if it’s too loud, you can try the above!)

2009 Rothbury Music Festival

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

IMG_1283

IMG_1283, photo by acsavage.

Absolute Michigan is excited to be covering the 2009 Rothbury Music Festival held July 2nd – 5th in Rothbury, MI (near Muskegon). They still have tickets available so think about making the trip!

At absolutemichigan.com/Rothbury we’ll have extensive coverage of the music with a focus on the Think Tanks and all the Michigan angles to the festival that we can dig up. In addition to our Absolute Michigan: On Location blog, we’ll be teaming up with Traverse City based Porterhouse Productions to bring you some of the most in-depth and engaging festival coverage anywhere!

Check out this and other photos from Rothbury 2008 by Anne in her Rothbury Slideshow. Last year Anne created some amazing Rothbury panoramas and she’ll be back at it again this year!

If you’re headed to the festival, consider sharing your photos with Absolute Michigan and other online media outlets through the Rothbury 2009 group!

For more photos from Rothbury check out Photos from the 2008 Rothbury Music Festival on Michigan in Pictures.

Ready to Play

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Untitled, photo by Michael Zz.

Check it out bigger or in Michael’s Night Shots set (slideshow).

Hope your weekend brings you all the fun you can handle and if you’re wondering what to do, check out Absolute Michigan’s Michigan Event Calendar.