The Watering Hole

[GRDadof3]

Bizarre. I drove by the State of Michigan building downtown today, along Ottawa Ave, and noticed a bevy of large black SUV's (one a Hummer), with an entourage of finely dressed African American men stationed around the perimeter of the building (looked like a secret service detail). As I drove back by the East side of the building on Ionia on the way out, I noticed the security detail (all black guys) was stationed on the East side as well. I'm talking about 30 guys every 20' or so circling the entire building.

I had a meeting afterward, and one of the guys there suggested (jokingly) that maybe it was Louis Farrakhan (who else would have an all-black security detail?)

Well whaddayaknow:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ind...and_rapids.html

Are there people out there who really want to assassinate Farrakhan? Isn't he yesterday's firebrand?

[RegalTDP]

Are there people out there who really want to assassinate Farrakhan? Isn't he yesterday's firebrand?

I think the security detail serves more to stroke his ego more than to protect him from any physical harm. It definitely makes an impression, though.

Edited June 10, 2009 by RegalTDP

[RegalTDP]

I blame Bill Simonson for everything. Edited June 13, 2009 by RegalTDP

[fotoman311]

I blame Bill Simonson for everything.

I blame the crossbar. That late deflection should have gone in. Stupid crossbar!

[John E]

Was walking along the river with a friend and his children and we came upon a couple guys catching a large Carp.

[RegalTDP]

Wow - the picture doesn't do the carp justice; you have to watch the video to get an idea of how big it is.

[torgo]

I blame the crossbar. That late deflection should have gone in. Stupid crossbar!

I blame the Red Wings. You can't get outplayed for 50 minutes and expect to win. Sports gods tend to frown on that sort of thing.

Ah well, they should be in good shape for the next several years...

[fotoman311]

I blame the Red Wings. You can't get outplayed for 50 minutes and expect to win. Sports gods tend to frown on that sort of thing.

Ah well, they should be in good shape for the next several years...

By my count, they were only outplayed for 48 minutes.

[RegalTDP]

Seattle Gum Wall Ranks No. 2 on list of "Germiest Attractions."

...Gross. At least the Grand River didn't make the list.

[GR Jackson]

Can someone tell me how G.R. is doing as far as it's housing inventory. I have a suspicion that sales are picking up and we might be shrinking that a little.

[GRDadof3]

Can someone tell me how G.R. is doing as far as it's housing inventory. I have a suspicion that sales are picking up and we might be shrinking that a little.

Anecdotally, three houses that were for sale in our neighborhood for quite a while all sold recently. 1 was a foreclosure, the others were just regular sales. We live in NE Grand Rapids.

[GR Jackson]

Anecdotally, three houses that were for sale in our neighborhood for quite a while all sold recently. 1 was a foreclosure, the others were just regular sales. We live in NE Grand Rapids.

I was wondering because I have seen a lot of people relocating here, and one person wanted a short term rental while they looked for a house to buy. I was just hoping that I wasn't the only one experiencing this.

[fotoman311]

A couple of houses that were on Fountain St. near Central High that were on sale for awhile both had sold signs recently (although one is mysteriously back up for sale, so maybe it didn't close??). The one sold for significantly below it's original asking price, but I'm glad it's sold. Also, we purchased a dresser from a couple in the 600 block of Innes St (1 block N of Lyon St) who are moving to Sparta, but they sold their house quite quickly.

I know someone who moved here for a job at Calvin College who recently purchased a house in East Hills and really loves the neighborhood. She told me she's been biking to work and will probably take the bus when it gets too cold/snowy.

[Veloise]

My distressed little street has one less vacancy. A couple bought one of the foreclosures for just over five figures, moving from a fairly noisy place in Heritage Hill. They've probably put another $1k into landscaping and outdoor enhancements. It's becoming a showplace, and putting all the absentee owners to shame.

[Timize]

I went to my first swing dancing event at Rosa Parks Circle today. Having been to the ones during the winter at the museum, I felt that they played WAY too much pop music and a lot less swing music than when they were hosting the events at the museum.

Throughout the night, there were at least 5 instances where they gathered people up to line dance. And then they played music that was not in any way, shape or form, swing dancing music. I was very disappointed.

[RegalTDP]

Here's a Michigan trivia quiz from the Detroit Free Press today... I'm a bit ashamed, as a native, to only have gotten 7 right. Not your typical easy-peasy local quiz.

3. Who said, "When I wake up at night and can't sleep, I remember Grand Rapids."

A. Dick DeVos

B. Gerald R. Ford

C. Gillian Anderson

D. Justin Abdelkader

Are they trying to imply that we're boring? Oh, real mature, Freep

Edited July 6, 2009 by RegalTDP

[Veloise]

I went to my first swing dancing event at Rosa Parks Circle today. Having been to the ones during the winter at the museum, I felt that they played WAY too much pop music and a lot less swing music than when they were hosting the events at the museum.

Throughout the night, there were at least 5 instances where they gathered people up to line dance. And then they played music that was not in any way, shape or form, swing dancing music. I was very disappointed.

Tonight (sorry for the short notice) will be swing dance music. The Hark Up Horns play selections from the golden era of the Big Bands.

(hoping more single folks who want to dance attend)

[Veloise]

Here's a Michigan trivia quiz from the Detroit Free Press today... I'm a bit ashamed, as a native, to only have gotten 7 right. Not your typical easy-peasy local quiz.

Are they trying to imply that we're boring? Oh, real mature, Freep

Someone didn't watch the funeral coverage.

And now he has come home, to the place, emotionally, he never left. Not long before he died, the President remarked,

[RegalTDP]

Someone didn't watch the funeral coverage.

And now he has come home, to the place, emotionally, he never left. Not long before he died, the President remarked,

[GRDadof3]

Well, that was actually one of the questions I got right. But I do think the Freep columnist was trying to make a joke at our expense.

Screw the Freep. A dying paper in a dying town.

[jwazzz]

Screw the Freep. A dying paper in a dying town.

Bad day today, Dad?

[RegalTDP]

I wonder how mankind survived as a civilization before the advent of magazine polls.

Men's Health trashes Grand Rapids as sports town - MLive

[Veloise]

Well, that was actually one of the questions I got right. But I do think the Freep columnist was trying to make a joke at our expense.

Paranoia? The Freep has plenty of west Michigan coverage, and often picks up GRPress items.

"You haven't lived here..." is a regular, long-running feature, and it's pretty interesting, with lots of "outstate" focus on Michigania. Seems logical to mention Michigan's second-largest city, and its only US president.

GRF really did say that; if anyone was making a joke about being boresome, it would have been him. And in context, it was not a "counting sheep" type of deal.

[GRDadof3]

Bad day today, Dad?

Haha, no. I'm just tired of Detroit papers.

[RegalTDP]

Paranoia? The Freep has plenty of west Michigan coverage, and often picks up GRPress items.

"You haven't lived here..." is a regular, long-running feature, and it's pretty interesting, with lots of "outstate" focus on Michigania. Seems logical to mention Michigan's second-largest city, and its only US president.

GRF really did say that; if anyone was making a joke about being boresome, it would have been him. And in context, it was not a "counting sheep" type of deal.

Given that the quote was out of context, and the tongue-in-cheek style of the quiz as a whole, I insist all the same that Mr. Dzwonkowski intended for question #3 to have a double meaning.

Whenever I've talked to native Detroiters about GR, their impression is usually that we're a town made up of Ned Flanders clones. I'll admit, I haven't worked in Detroit like a lot of readers here probably have, nor have I conducted any scientific polls, it's just a vibe I've gotten from talking to people. So when the intended audience (Detroit) reads that question, I think the message would be clear that Ford was speaking out of adoration... I mean, that's one of the nicest things you can say about your town... but the audience, touching on its own preconceived notions, would also pick up on the irony as well.

There's nothing wrong with different communities poking fun at one another. To me, that's a sign of a healthy relationship. Me paranoid? More like you sensitive.