The Watering Hole

[GRDadof3]

The CAKE concert last night at the Meijer Gardens was AWESOME!!! Did anyone else go to the show?

No, and I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't on the Meijer Gardens amphitheater calendar. I was just looking for a concert to go to there about 2 weeks ago.

I read about it, and it sounds like it was pretty awesome:

http://blog.mlive.com/grpress_extra/2008/0..._at_meijer.html

Here's the Meijer Gardens calendar (and how it appeared a couple of weeks ago):

http://www.meijergardens.org/gardens_exper...er_schedule.php

[fotoman311]

The CAKE concert last night at the Meijer Gardens was AWESOME!!! Did anyone else go to the show?

We went. We didn't show up early enough, so we didn't have a great seat. But the show was pretty awesome. The clouds came just in time to shield us from the sun at the start of the Cake set, and then by the time they left, it was far enough down that it wasn't bad. I've heard before that Cake doesn't put on a great live show, but I have to disagree. John McCrea was pretty entertaining the whole time, the music is awesome, and I've never been to a concert where they gave away a tree and made the person who took it promise to take a picture of it every two years and send it to their website.

We bought our tickets at Meijer ~3 weeks before the show. My only guess GRDad is that they had sold out the show by the time you looked at the website, so they had taken it down. It was definitely on that page when they first announced the Summer Concert Series lineup, because that's the one I looked at. I was kind of disappointed when I went to the effort of riding over there on a Tuesday night to try and avoid the $5/ticket convenience fee and found out that they don't even sell tickets at the Gardens. So there's no way to avoid the fee. Kind of makes already expensive tickets even more so.

Oh, and we had somebody in a giant SUV back into us in the parking lot after the show. That was fun. The car behind us was honking at them and they stopped a few inches from our car, then continued backing out. Luckily, I got out and there was no damage. They didn't even bother to get out of their car and I was blocking traffic, so we just left. Kind of makes me wonder if they'd had a bit much to drink. The three people sitting in front of us each had about 4-5 beers (at $6/pop for Bud/Bud Light or $7 for "premium" Labatt Blue, haha) and did not appear to have a designated driver.

[Veloise]

Hey,

Does anyone know where I can find historic maps of the central city before all of the infill and reconstruction along the downtown riverfront?

Library archives would be the logical starting point.

[Sailor]

Library archives would be the logical starting point.

Yep -- Walk right on up to the 4th floor of the GR public library downtown, to the local history department. The librarians who work there are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful (I've done research on my home up there; it's amazing what they have!).

[Gorath]

Hey,

Does anyone know where I can find historic maps of the central city before all of the infill and reconstruction along the downtown riverfront?

How about this?

http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps740034-22422.html

[twoshort]

Regarding the guy who's car went in the thornapple this morning, how is it possible that one news station says that 911 got a call from the guy in the car saying he was trapped and that there were skid marks on the road while another news station says that 911 got a call of a car floating in the river and they go on to specifically point out that "Cascade, Ada, and East Grand Rapids Police are still investigating to find out exactly where the vehicle went off the road. That may prove challenging as there are no obvious signs, like skid marks"

What a joke, how can they be so different. It's not like one says "allegedly there are no skid marks," they both read as if they're stating facts.

[plee30]

Similar example in regards to the disparity in covering the local news. WZZM had a news piece about 3 teens breaking into a Belknap area home around 1am Wed. This was a burglary where the home owner was able to fend off the intruders. As they fled the scene, one of the burglars (allegedly) shot himself. WZZM had this story, and a neighbor sent the station pictures of the scene.

I checked on WoodTV's site and there was no mention at all of this story. Monday evening there's a shooting on the SE side and all the news networks cover this. I didn't know crime could have exclusives.

[twoshort]

No kidding, get off my side's back, yo.

[twoshort]

Copied directly from WZZMs comments section. Some people's ignorance amazes me:

GHmom1 wrote:

I stay away from some areas of GR. I feel sorry for the people who live in these areas who can't afford to get out. Let them continue to kill one another, atleast we won't have to pay for them when they end up in prision.

ho0olly wrote:

GH mom I agree with you I do not go into GR at all !!They have alot events that sound fun BUT not worth it with all the trouble GR has!!

6/13/2008 9:23 AM EDT on wzzm13.com

[grstudent]

Has anyone been to the Fulton Street Farmer's Market lately? I was planning on going Saturday morning but I was wondering what I would find? I did check out their website which gives a general guideline as to what is there during certain months. I was just wondering if I could find strawberries, cherries or peas this early in the season.

Edited June 13, 2008 by grstudent

[MAU]

Copied directly from WZZMs comments section. Some people's ignorance amazes me:

GHmom1 wrote:

I stay away from some areas of GR. I feel sorry for the people who live in these areas who can't afford to get out. Let them continue to kill one another, atleast we won't have to pay for them when they end up in prision.

ho0olly wrote:

GH mom I agree with you I do not go into GR at all !!They have alot events that sound fun BUT not worth it with all the trouble GR has!!

6/13/2008 9:23 AM EDT on wzzm13.com

We were at Circle Theater last night and the lady next to me actually told her friend they were in the ghetto of Grand Rapids. I almost turned to her to tell her Aquinas College is NOT the ghetto of GR. Did she NOT notice the Blodgett Estate across the street?

[MuskeMI]

Has anyone been to the Fulton Street Farmer's Market lately? I was planning on going Saturday morning but I was wondering what I would find? I did check out their website which gives a general guideline as to what is there during certain months. I was just wondering if I could find strawberries, cherries or peas this early in the season.

I haven't actually been there but it seems early for strawberries. First round of cherries are usually right around this time though.

[Kayak1]

My family picked strawberries last night. I would assume that they are at the Farmers Markets by now.

[Avocado]

Has anyone been to the Fulton Street Farmer's Market lately? I was planning on going Saturday morning but I was wondering what I would find? I did check out their website which gives a general guideline as to what is there during certain months. I was just wondering if I could find strawberries, cherries or peas this early in the season.

Might be a little early for strawberries, they probably need a little more heat and sunshine, but you could expect to see lots of fresh greens (lettuces, spinaches, herbs, cabbages, bok choy, green onions...).

[amylynne]

Copied directly from WZZMs comments section. Some people's ignorance amazes me:

GHmom1 wrote:

I stay away from some areas of GR. I feel sorry for the people who live in these areas who can't afford to get out. Let them continue to kill one another, atleast we won't have to pay for them when they end up in prision.

ho0olly wrote:

GH mom I agree with you I do not go into GR at all !!They have alot events that sound fun BUT not worth it with all the trouble GR has!!

6/13/2008 9:23 AM EDT on wzzm13.com

I was just reading that and amazed as well. It reminded me that I need to stop reading the comments on that site, because as my mom was just telling me earlier today, "you can't fix stupid."

[starrfish]

We were at Circle Theater last night and the lady next to me actually told her friend they were in the ghetto of Grand Rapids. I almost turned to her to tell her Aquinas College is NOT the ghetto of GR. Did she NOT notice the Blodgett Estate across the street?

That Circle Theater building is basically brand new - it's not like it's a dump or surrounded by vacant/boarded up houses! If someone thought they were in the "ghetto" they don't venture out much! People amaze me everyday...

*fish

[GR Jackson]

That Circle Theater building is basically brand new - it's not like it's a dump or surrounded by vacant/boarded up houses! If someone thought they were in the "ghetto" they don't venture out much! People amaze me everyday...

*fish

Maybe they saw a couple of hippies and got scared.

[Allison Slater]

Eh, let them think that. We don't want IQ-less morons populating downtown.

[Allison Slater]

Hindus celebrate Grand Rapids area's first temple

The public is invited to the mix of religious and cultural activities that begin at 9 a.m. Friday in the temple and an adjoining cultural center. However, non-Hindus likely will get the most out of programs at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday featuring traditional Indian dancing and music.Meet the deities

Hindus worship millions of gods and goddesses, all considered different forms of the one supreme God.

The only thing which bothers me is its location. After bus, there's still a several-mile walk/bike trip to reach it.

[Rhino6885]

Has anyone been to the Fulton Street Farmer's Market lately? I was planning on going Saturday morning but I was wondering what I would find? I did check out their website which gives a general guideline as to what is there during certain months. I was just wondering if I could find strawberries, cherries or peas this early in the season.

Plenty of Michigan strawberries there today!

[GR Jackson]

Plenty of Michigan strawberries there today!

I have been picking them in my garden for a couple of days now. They're delicious.

[plee30]

I just came across this article last night and thought it was an interesting piece on the current state of one suburb, and the direction they may be heading.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/16/suburb.city/index.html

Edited June 17, 2008 by plee30

[twoshort]

I hadn't see this before:

[Veloise]

I just came across this article last night and thought it was an interesting piece on the current state of one suburb, and the direction they may be heading.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/16/suburb.city/index.html

Is America's suburban dream collapsing into a nightmare?

Um, yeah. And that's going to be good news for smaller cities like ours.

[spent the weekend in Houston, ick]

[GRDadof3]

I've been Schmap'ed!!

(by permission of course)

Top photo on the left, of Bloomingdale's Home Store, taken when I was in Chicago a few years ago.