The Bird Girl Angie, photo by sharona 315 사론아.
Michigan in Pictures has a lot of Michigan birds but nothing quite like Angie!!
Check this out bigger in Sharon’s Winter slideshow.
Can Flint Survive the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman?
For my studio photography class., photo by sarah. reed.
On Sunday, photographer Sarah Reed staged a photo shoot to re-create the classic poster for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.
See it bigger in her slideshow.
Chillin’
Chillin’, photo by docksidepress.
It’s been a long time since I added to the Michigan in Pictures Duckie Project. It’s been so hot that I think I want to join that little guy in the pool!
View this background bigtacular or in Matt’s August ’10 Grand Rapids slideshow.
Hope you’re finding ways to chill – share them in the comments below!
Dog Days of Summer: August in Michigan
Dog_Parade_3, photo by Steven Scherbinski.
“If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?”
– Steven Wright
Every month, we post a Michigan event calendar on Absolute Michigan. Our 2010 August Calendar of Michigan Events features too many cool Michigan events to list here – click that link and get a little relief from the Dog Days of Summer!
You can see this photo bigger (if you dare) and also have a look at Steven’s slideshow from the Northport Dog Parade.
Also check out the August slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool!
Easter Bunnies
I hope you have a Happy Easter if you’re having Easter and a great weekend in any case.
See this and more in Jim’s slideshow and see more of his work at jimhuntphotography.com.
Shark Attack Triple X: The Michigan Shark Experiment
Shark Attack Triple X, photo by jnhkrawczyk.
Via the Herald-News in Roscommon:
…3 lakes in northern Michigan have been selected to host “an in-depth study into the breeding and habits of several species of fresh-water sharks.” Two thousand sharks are to be released into the lakes including blue sharks, hammerheads, and a few great whites.
The experiment is designed to determine whether the sharks can survive in the cold climate of Michigan, and apparently the federal government is spending $1.3 million to determine this. A representative from the National Biological Foundation is quoted as saying that there will probably be a noticeable decline in the populations of other fish in the lake because “the sharks will eat about 20 pounds of fish each per day, more as they get older.”
County officials have protested the experiment, afraid of the hazard it will pose to fishermen and swimmers, but their complaints have been ignored by the federal government. Furthermore, fishermen have been forbidden from catching the sharks. The report concludes by again quoting the National Biological Foundation representative, who says that “We can’t be responsible for people if they are attacked. Besides, anyone foolish enough to believe all this deserves to be eaten.”
Jill took this at The Heidelberg Project in Detroit. See it bigger in her Found Art slideshow.
PS: This was a spoof that the Roscommon News thought was real.
Ann Arbor’s Annual Festifools
The Cellist, photo by beautyredefined.
Every year in April, the good people of Ann Arbor hold a street festival called FestiFools. The event takes place on April 11, 2010 from 4-5 PM and features “huge puppets and random acts of foolishness”. The event began when UM art teacher Mark Tucker, then Art Director for the Michigan Thanksgiving Parade, traveled to Viareggio, Italy to learn the fine art of carta pesta (papier-mâché) from their amazing float builders (must-click!).
Click through to festifools.org for much, much more including how you can help them build puppets!
Check this out bigger or in Kristin’s Ann Arbor slideshow.
If that’s not enough, how about the FestiFools YouTube channel, the FestiFools Flickr group or everyone’s Festifools photos.
Michigan Snowhenge in Grand Rapids
Michigan Snowhenge, photo by Michigan Druids
On February 13th, 2010 they were successful in completing a 1/3rd scale replica of Stonehenge at the MacKay Jaycees Family Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They write (in part):
The monument built out of Michigan’s most abundant natural raw material is appropriately named Snowhenge.
Standing 6.5 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter and consisting of nearly 1000 cubic feet of packed snow, Snowhenge’s 12 pillars and 12 lintels are perfectly aligned astronomical markers. Looking directly through the hole in the center of pillar 3 soon after sunset on Winter Solstice extraordinarily reveals an almost equilateral triangle formed by the visible planets Saturn (left), Mars (top), and Venus (right). A curious carving on pillar 4 shows four stars inside a trapezium which matches the Trapezium Star Cluster in the Orion Nebula. The imaginary end point of a line dissecting the trapezium matches the coordinates of the star Sirius, the brightest star in the Milky Way. An obelisk inside the snow circle marks the passage of the sun as its shadow moves in a figure eight on the ground below. Stone plaques strategically placed on the ground display the constellations of the zodiac. Outside the circle, three pairs of standing snowmen show where the sun rises and sets for each of the solstices and equinoxes.
Every key point also has a rock plaque denoting its seasonal significance engraved with a simple phrase like “Midsummer Solstice Sunrise”. Others describe local area seasonal events such as “Blandford Sugarbush”, “Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts”, “28th Street Metro Cruise” and “Celebration on the Grand”. The 12 lintels, supported by 144 rods of ice rebar, also contain markings that coincide with the orbital patterns of Earth and Venus which are designed to forecast solar eclipses, the appearance of comets, and the end of the world on December 23rd of 2012, exactly matching the Mayan calendar prediction. What’s most truly remarkable, pillar 1 is precisely parallel with 28th Street! Curiously, the phenomenon known as global warming which has created isolated heat zones around the globe inversely causes cold spots on the opposite side of the globe. Numerous consecutive years of record heat spikes in Perth, Australia are directly responsible for the extraordinary cold snaps at MacKay Jaycees Family Park which will amazingly keep Snowhenge frozen all year round.
Read more and see pictures at snowhenge.blogspot.com, and also check out this picture of Snowhenge at night.
Not enough Michigan weirdness for you? The last Wednesday of every month is a Weird Wednesday on Absolute Michigan!
Worlds (3rd) Largest Cherry Pie
Worlds (3rd) Largest Cherry Pie, photo by Allen Gathman.
February is National Cherry Month and there’s nothing more cherry than the cherry pie. The folks at Roadside America (who keep track of stuff like this) have this to say about the titanic battle for the World’s Largest Cherry Pie:
Charlevoix was the first into the mix. In 1976 a man named Dave Phillips, in a burst of bicentennial fervor, convinced local businesses in Charlevoix to bake the World’s Largest Cherry Pie as part of the town’s annual cherry festival. A giant pan was built, along with an equally titanic oven. Local farmers supplied the ingredients. The result: a cherry pie weighing 17,420 pounds. It was a world record.
Further south, the town of Traverse City had its own cherry festival. It had perhaps heard one too many boasts from Charlevoix, and in 1987 it decided to do something about it…
The Chef Pierre Bakeries went to work, and on July 25 it baked a cherry pie that put Charlevoix to shame: 28,350 pounds; 17 feet, 6 inches in diameter. As an added snub, the town had Guinness Book of World’s Records certify its pie as the largest ever. Charlevoix’s days in the spotlight were ended after only 11 years.
But time has a way of humbling the proud. The Chef Pierre Bakeries were bought out by Sara Lee. The cherry farms around Traverse City were turned into golf courses. Yuppies from downstate began invading the town, as they were invading Charlevoix. And in 1992, after only five years, Traverse City’s cherry pie crown was knocked clear into Canada when the tiny town of Oliver, British Columbia, baked a cherry pie for the ages — 39,683 pounds.
For some reason Oliver failed to save its pan, so you can still see the largest cherry pie pan in Traverse City here and get a sense of the scale right here.
Check Allen’s photo out bigger.
Return of the Duckies: Ann Arbor Summertime 2009
Ann Arbor Summertime 2009, photo by RichardD72.
Check this out bigger in Richard’s Summertime slideshow and remember that Michigan in Pictures is your source for Michigan duckie photos – accept no substitutes!
Michigan in Pictures 