John Rich performs Shutting Detroit Down

An anthem to the working man and a commentary on the current economic times of big bonuses for CEO's and layoffs for the working man. John Rich says he wrote it in just an hour and you can tell that he wrote it from his heart. Great song. Listen to it and pass this along.

Seeing some sad things in these tough times

While driving my son to preschool today I saw yet another house that was either foreclosed or it was a rental - either way the people were being evicted. Their belongings were being stacked in the driveway and a notice had been posted on the front door. My son asked me what was going on at that house and rather than telling him a truth he is too young to understand - I told him a partial truth, that the the people who lived there were moving. I have never seen so many evictions here in southwest Michigan as I have seen just since Christmas. It's incredibly sad to see. I will say this, the people moving out the belongings did try and treat them as nicely as possible. Too many times I have seen the entire contents of a house unceremoniously thrown and dumped into the front yard. Many times leaving the items unsalvageable.

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Celebrate National Pie Day with a Grand Traverse Pie Company Pie

Today, January 23rd, is National Pie Day. As my grandfather was fond of saying, "I like to spell cake p-i-e." I couldn't agree more. Plus, you can't go wrong with one of the numerous tasty pies from the Grand Traverse Pie Company. They're handing out a free slice of pie with each purchase of a slice of pie today only in celebration of National Pie Day. If you order online you can get $5 off your order today using a coupon code provided at the Grand Traverse Pie Company website, www.gtpie.com.

When we lived in Lansing we were always enjoying one of there super delicious pies. Too bad they haven't expanded into southwest Michigan. They used to sell them at Meijer, but I'm not sure if they still do - it's been a while.

Thanks to the heads up on National Pie Day from CharlieCurve and Rumblstrip via Twitter.

Take in a show at the Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers

When I was a kid the Riviera Theatre was one of the only places around to see first-run movies. This was before the multiplexes popped up in all of the larger towns. Even though the Riviera was already past its prime you still see glimpses of the grandeur that it once had. The seats were uncomfortable and felt like they could have been the originals from when it was opened in 1925. The carpeting was worn and sticky from decades of spilled soda and candy. All of the ornate and intricate details that were put into the theatre in 1925 had either been covered up or painted over with black paint.

A new multiplex opened up on the north side of Three Rivers and the Riviera quietly passed into a faded memory in the scrapbooks of locals' minds. It lay dormant for five years before Bruce Monroe (who practically grew up in the Riviera) purchased it in 2005. Three years and about $1 million later Three Rivers if home to a true gem in the Riviera Theatre.

I love westerns, especially John Wayne movies, and when I saw that "The Searchers" was playing at the Riviera this past Sunday I convinced my wife to go so we could see the movie and as a bonus - check out the renovations.

I was blown away by how beautiful the Riviera is now. I can appreciate it because I know what it looked like back before it closed and this is a night and day difference. Gone is the black paint and nasty old shag carpeting. A wonderful mix of gold, shades of red, and other lighter tones now add class to a wonderful old theater.

Do yourself a favor and take in a movie or one of the other shows/concerts that the Riviera is now home to. This Sunday, January 25, is the last Sunday that westerns are featured and they are showing "Unforgiven", starring Clint Eastwood.

You can keep up to date on all of the upcoming concerts and movies via the Riviera Theatre website, trriviera.com.

Will the Detroit Lions make it to the Super Bowl in your lifetime?

The Arizona Cardinals continued their surprising run by beating the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday to earn a spot in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. There are only a handful of NFL teams to have never appeared in a Super Bowl and unfortunately the Detroit Lions are one of them. So that brings us to this week's poll question below. [poll id="13"]

Biggby CEO Bob Fish in current issue of Entrepreneur magazine

It's great to see good news coming out of Michigan and the article on Biggby CEO Bob Fish is no exception. Bob was interviewed this past fall for the article that appears in the February 2009 issue of Entrepreneur. Bob Fish is a CEO who 2 years ago gave up his office and uses the individual Biggby locations as an "office." It lets him see (without reading complex marketing and other analytical reports) how the stores are running, get instant customer feedback, and personally check in on the franchise operators.

I've never had a bad experience at a Biggby location. The baristas are always super friendly and when they make my son a caramel milk they make a big deal out of it just as if he was an adult customer - he eats that right up. My current favorite is the Moon Boot Latte. It's a delicious blend of white chocolate and mint with a handful of those mints that melt in your mouth tossed on top. SO good!

The other thing that I really like about Bob Fish is that you can interact with him personally through his blog, Twitter, and Facebook. The auto industry and many other industries could take some pointers from him about how to run a large corporation.

Here's where you can interact with Bob:

Where is Bob? Follow Bob on Twitter The Biggby Lounge on Facebook Biggby Bob YouTube Channel Biggby on Flickr