01.20.09
Just Hours to Go!
At last.
11.03.08
Arresting Site of the Month, November: The Michigan Advantage
There is a good chance the winner of Tuesday’s presidential contest will have earned his ticket to the White House in large part to having secured the electoral votes of the Great Lake State. Our two peninsulas benefit not only politicians, they afford individuals and businesses a great opportunity to start and expand their companies. The Michigan Advantage does a splendid job of demonstrating how they can get the “upper hand” by doing so. Thus, I’ve selected it as the Arresting Site of the Month for November.
Detailing Michigan’s strengths in such areas as alternative energy, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing, the site makes the case for our state, touting our skilled workforce, tax benefits, world-class universities, environmental beauty, and more. It’s also filled with helpful links that encourage further exploration. It’s easy to learn how your company can take advantage.
Note: Nominations for December’s site or blog of the month are due on Monday, November 24. I’ll announce the winner in this space on Monday, December 1. Thanks.
09.16.08
Old Town BluesFest
Recent financial news got you down? The place to share your blues is this Friday, September 19 and Saturday, September 20 in Lansing. The state capitol will host the Old Town BluesFest, a free event packed with acts from around Michigan and the country. Acts (tentatively) include George Bedard & the Kingpins, Madcat & Kane, The Alligators, and more, all of whom you can see and hear while visiting the many food and craft vendors on hand. Dig in.
09.01.08
Arresting Site of the Month, September: Great Lakes Information Network
It bills itself as “…a partnership that provides one place online for people to find information relating to the binational Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region of North America” and the Great Lakes Information Network consistently achieves that goal, and has been doing so since the early ’90s. I wrote about the Ann Arbor-based GLIN in this space back in March and, given its breadth and depth, I’ve selected it as the ”Arresting Site of the Month” for September. GLIN’s pages focus on the Great Lakes themselves, plus the region’s economy, education, environment, and tourism, and it’s easy to search by state or province, as well as by individual lake.
There also is a section on maps and geographic information systems, where you’ll encounter portals, galleries, and links that offer a swath of further detail. Speaking of the latter, GLIN nominates its own “Site of the Month,” and its extensive archive in this regard dates back to 1996. You can jump in anywhere and be sure to discover facts and figures about the Great Lakes, but a good place to start is the information center. Whether you’ve lived in Michigan or elsewhere around the Great Lakes your entire life, or you’re a recent transplant to this beautiful area, you’re bound to learn something new at GLIN.
08.04.08
Arresting Site of the Month, August: Detroit International Jazz Festival
The 29th installment of one of America’s finest musical gatherings is a Motor City traditon, and a splendid way to mark Labor Day. The Detroit International Jazz Festival will cook and swing on six stages in and around Hart Plaza and Campus Martius Park and, as is tradition, the 2008 lineup boasts stars from near and far. In addition to talented-beyond-their-years high school and university ensembles, stalwarts like Dianne Reeves, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, and the peerless Hank Jones will entertain the huge crowds downtown from August 29-September 1, as will ”A Love Supreme: The Philly/Detroit Summit,” which will spotlight these two musical hotbeds. The festival Web site is packed with jazz links, a photo gallery from last year’s event, and more. Get ready to thrill your ears and eyes over four days at an event that brings together longtime jazz lovers and so many others — especially kids, just beginning to experience this magnificent American art form — fittingly set in the heart of a city that continues to play a large role in its ongoing development.
07.16.08
Kudos to the AATA
My daughter loves taking public transportation. If she can get on a train or a bus, it’s a great day. Yesterday was one of those great days. I picked her up from preschool late in the afternoon and, although it was rush hour, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority buses did a great job getting us around town, and we made our connections with relative ease. AATA, aka “The Ride,” will be especially busy this week, with the Ann Arbor Art Fairs running full blast now through Saturday. AATA is running shuttle service to the event, so please take advantage, as you’ll save gas, and save yourself plenty of parking headaches. I plan to do just that not only during the fairs, but have made a promise to myself and to my daughter that, from now on, we’ll use this splendid bus service regularly.
06.30.08
Get on the Megabus
My wife, daughter, and I not only had a great time in Chicago for three days last week, we found a new way to make the journey: Megabus.com. Featuring “low cost daily express bus service in the US and Canada,” Megabus was a suggestion of my wife’s cousin, and a most pleasant surprise. The outbound trip from Ann Arbor, Michigan was fast (under five hours, including two brief rest stops) and, even though we were picked up for the return trip an hour late (in front of Union Station), we still got home a mere 15 minutes over schedule.
I had no idea we’d see movies — Air Force One and The Core, the former of which I’d have preferred my 4-year-old not be subjected, as it’s way too violent for kids — on drop-down screens during the trip into Chicago, but it did while away the time for many passengers. Overall, we were happy to not have to drive ourselves, and the round trip ticket price for the three of us was reasonable at $144.50. Not a whole lot more, frankly, than we’d have spent on gas, and we didn’t have to find a place to park in the city. Better still, we shared the ride on a packed double-deck vehicle, obviously better for the environment. I suspect Megabus and other services will see plenty more business in coming months and years, especially if current trends continue. Next time we travel to Cincinnati, another one of the many cities Megabus serves in the Midwest and around the country, we’re likely to book with them again. Much better than the “foreclosure bus tours” that I referenced in these pages earlier this month.
06.19.08
Art in the Sun
A splendid community anytime, Northville is all the more so this weekend. Art in the Sun takes place this Saturday and Sunday, with more than 100 exhibitors, thousands of attendees, and untold smiles. Stop by, make a purchase, soak in the atmosphere. The forecast calls for temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s — ideal strolling weather — so bring the family.
06.04.08
Detroit Festival of the Arts
It’s “Detroit’s Unrivaled International Arts Festival,” a claim its organizers back up year after year. The 22nd Annual Detroit Festival of the Arts kicks off this Friday, June 6, and will keep tens of thousands of attendees entertained and well-fed through Sunday. Smokin’ tunes from such national acts as Raul Malo (Saturday @ 7:30) and Guy Davis (Sunday @ 3:15) intermingle with potent sounds from Motor City stalwarts that include Thornetta Davis (Saturday @ 5:30) and the Mosaic Singers (Sunday @ 12:30). Check out these profiles. In addition to the performing arts, there will be numerous practitioners of the fine arts with creations on display, so please visit them. Back in my radio days, I was a frequent emcee on various DFA stages, and loved being immersed within the excitement that unfolded at the event. I still try to attend each year. So often, I discover a new musical act or other artist, and I always enjoy the experience. Kids have plenty of fun, too. Come on down to Midtown’s University Cultural Center for this magnificent festival.
05.28.08
Living Green at Wayne State University
Kudos to Wayne State University for their recycling efforts. Since 2006, the school’s Living Green Task Force on Environmental Initiatives has been working diligently ”…to protect the environment and enhance the campus.” WDET-FM, Detroit Public Radio, licensed to Wayne State, is doing its part, too. Join the radio station for “Recycling at Eastern Market” on Saturday, June 7, from 9am-1pm. Learn more about what you can bring to the event, and please participate, if at all possible.
