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The brilliant Pure Michigan campaign continues with new commercials for 2010. The newest spot is "Up in the air" and talks of the joys of making a spontaneous trip to Michigan. I have to say from experience that Michigan is a great place for a last minute, hey the weather looks great, we need to get away - mini-vacation.
Well, it's great for long vacations, too :). Anyway, watch yet another great Pure Michigan commercial featuring the voice talents of Michigan Native, Tim Allen.
Here is some behind the scenes footage of the "Fresh" Pure Michigan commercial -
The Dateline special, "America Now: City of Heartbreak and Hope," airs April 18 at 7pm on NBC. NBC reporter, Chris Hansen, is a former Detroit area resident and is the reporter for the special. At least he has a personal interest in the story unlike a lot of the national media that swoop into Detroit to do their piece on the once-great American city's decay. Like the recent BBC documentary, "Requiem For Detroit," the Dateline special shows the bad, but also focuses on the good that is being done in Detroit. Hopefully, we will begin seeing more of the positives happening in Detroit as more and more positive change takes place.
re - qui - em: a mass for the dead
The BBC documentary, Requiem For Detroit?, clocks in at just under 75 minutes. There is about eight minutes at the end that focuses on the positives currently taking place and the hope for the future after a little over 65 minutes of negativity.
Intro to Requiem For Detroit -
Now I'm not saying the first 65 minutes are not warranted. They lay out the grit, racial tensions, politics, and greed that got Detroit to where it is today. You cannot fully understand why Detroit is in the shape it is in today if you don't look at the past. I found the historical parts of the documentary fascinating.
For instance, how could the "arsenal of democracy" have been so racially divided? We all hear about the 1967 riot, but there was also a race riot on the eve of World War II in 1943 that lasted for three days and resulted in 34 deaths - "twenty-five black residents and nine white residents."
Is it pleasant to look at the bad things that have happened to Detroit? No. However, you need to look at the mistakes of the past in order to not repeat them in the future and right now Detroit has the chance to sort of start over. I'm excited to see what the people of the city of Detroit can accomplish.
On a lighter note, here is a quote from an interview subject that had me rolling (in part for what he said and in part for his deadpan delivery) - Interviewer, "What's going on [talking about the current state of Detroit] here?" Interview Subject, "I don't know, I just woke up." In a city with this many people there was bound to be a few characters interviewed in this documentary.
The hope at the end of this documentary is, to me, the best part. Here is a clip -
"The old American Dream is dead, we're creating the new American Dream."
This 1917 newsreel mainly features footage from Detroit, but there is a bit of footage from the Traverse City area showcasing their blossom parade. A motorcycle climbing challenge in Lansing also makes its way into the footage.
Also in this newsreel:
Charitable organization hosts a picnic for hundreds of kids
Detroit traffic cop chases down a speeder & hops on the running boards
The scofflaws are sent to the House of Correction Farm to atone for their nefarious act of speeding.
Scenes from a polo match featuring the Gold Hats of Detroit
Trap shooting at St. Thomas
The newsreel was silent, of course, so I took it upon myself to add some wonderful selections from Django Rheinhardt - quite arguably a guitarist well before his time.
Happy birthday, Mr. Harwell! I know he has good days and bad days so here's to hoping that today is one of the good days.
In honor of Mr. Harwell's 92nd birthday, here is the audio from his 1981 Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech (also known as 'Baseball Is') -
Here is the video from the Ernie Harwell tribute at Comerica Park on September 16, 2009 -
Firearm season is only two days away so celebrate early with this Da Yoopers classic, Second Week of Deer Camp. This song cracks me up every time I listen to it. The video only adds to the humor value of the song.