High Five for Dads
June 16, 2012
Spring Sun … III, photo by Ken Scott
Here’s hoping that all the fathers out there are having an especially nice weekend.
Check Ken’s photo out bigger and see more in his sky stuff slideshow.
Prescription for a great Michigan summer
May 26, 2012
Flying High, photo by Steven White Photographic Art
Get out. Have fun. Repeat as necessary.
See this photo big as the Sulver Lake Dunes or in Steven’s Our World in Color slideshow.
Have a great weekend everyone!!
Trash the Dress, Michigan
April 13, 2012
Trash the Dress, photo by Steven White Photographic Art
Wikipedia says that Trash the Dress is:
…also known as fearless bridal or rock the frock, is a style of wedding photography that contrasts elegant clothing with an environment in which it is out of place. It is generally shot in the style of fashion and glamour photography. “Trash the dress” is the art of destruction or deconstruction of a brides wedding dress to create a new “artwork” that the bride would be proud to display on their wall. This new “masterpiece” is formed in the creative destruction of the dress. This will normally be portrayed in a sequence of images or simply a single image…
It may be done as an additional shoot after the wedding, almost as a declaration that the wedding is done and the dress will not be used again. It is seen as an alternative to storing the dress away.
It’s also being used for prom dresses now. Check this out background bigtacular and in Steven’s Portraits slideshow and at stevenwhitephotographicart.com.
There’s a Trash the Dress group on Flickr and also check out the Trash the Dress Michigan slideshow on Flickr.
Corktown, the Irish and St. Patrick’s Day in Michigan
March 17, 2012
Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, photo by *Alysa*.
May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you wherever you go.
~Irish Blessing
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Detroit had their parade last weekend but there are events on tap today and tomorrow in Bay City, Clare, Flint, Kalamazoo, Grand Ledge, Saugatuck, Traverse City and Muskegon.
Ground zero for the Irish in Michigan is Corktown. Wikipedia notes that it is Detroit’s oldest neighborhood explaining:
The roots of Corktown lie in the Great Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s. The Irish immigrated to the United States in droves, and by the middle of the 19th century, they were the largest ethnic group settling in Detroit. Many of these newcomers settled on the west side of the city; they were primarily from County Cork, and thus the neighborhood came to be known as Corktown. By the early 1850′s, half of the population of the 8th Ward (which contained Corktown) were of Irish descent
The Corktown Historical Society has a cool slideshow of historic photos and brochure images and you might want to check out the Corktown Explorer blog.
The Irish in Michigan from Seeking Michigan has some information about Corktown but adds that:
Irish immigrants to Michigan certainly did not limit themselves to settling in the urban hub of Detroit, with many of them making their way up north. In the 1830s, Irish immigrants settled in fishing camps on Mackinac and Beaver Islands. Today, a large portion of Beaver Island’s year-round residents are of Irish descent. Wexford, Clare, Emmet and Antrim counties in the northern Lower Peninsula are all named after counties in Ireland. Irish immigrants were also instrumental to the copper mining boom in the Upper Peninsula. Nearly one-third of the area’s foreign-born population was from Ireland in 1870, though the Irish population would decline by 1920. Many small Irish communities could also be found scattered throughout the Lower Peninsula in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Wherever you are and whoever your ancestors were, here’s hoping you have a fun and safe St. Patrick’s Day holiday!
Check this out bigger and in Ann Lysa’s slideshow.
Leap Day!
February 29, 2012
hello, museum., photo by singlecupofcoffee.
By my calculations, Leap Day only comes once every 1461 days.
How are you going to make it special?
Megan Elizabeth took this at the Detroit Institute of Arts, where she appears to be a frequent visitor. Check this out bigger and in her impressive [hello, 365]. slideshow featuring a photo a day of her leaping all over the place. Very cool, very creative, very appropriate!
Jump into Valentine’s Day!
February 14, 2012
Rockford Sweetheart Splash 2012, photo by DJ Wolfman.
Happy Valentine’s Day Michigan! Here’s hoping that you find someone in your life who will stick with you in times hot and cold.
Check this out bigger and see more in Daniel’s Rockford Sweetheart Splash slideshow.
Enjoy every hour of February in Michigan!
February 3, 2012
Ice Climbing – Tannery Falls, photo by James Marvin Phelps
“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”
~ John Boswell
Our February Michigan Event Calendar features all kinds of cool events, from races like the i500 snowmobile race, the UP 200 sled dog race or (we can’t make this stuff up) outhouse races to winter celebrations like the Winter WOW Fest in Traverse City or Perchville USA in Tawas. One of the neatest happens this weekend: The Michigan Ice Fest in Munising.
James took this shot at Tannery Falls near Munising. Click to view it extra-large and see more in his Michigan slideshow.
A little more about Tannery Falls on Michigan in Pictures.
#Mich175 = Happy 175th Birthday Michigan!!
January 26, 2012
Sugar Cookies – Michigan, photo by betsyweber
We, the PEOPLE of the territory of Michigan … mutually agree to form ourselves
into a free and independent state, by the style and title of “The State of Michigan’”
~Constitution of Michigan of 1835
While Michigan’s Constitution was written in 1835, it took until January 26, 1837 for President Andrew Jackson to sign the bill making Michigan the nation’s 26th state (more about that right here but the short answer is, blame it on Ohio). That makes today the 175th birthday of the Great Lakes State. We’ve been making a fuss of it and giving things away on Absolute Michigan all week, and joining a whole lot of people in touting the good things about our great state at #Mich175 on Twitter.
Here’s some fun facts about Michigan:
- Michigan is derived from the Indian word Michigama, meaning great or large lake. (more about Michigan’s name on Michigan in Pictures)
- French explorers Étienne Brulé & Grenoble are the first recorded Europeans to set foot in Michigan (you never know though). In 1668 Fathers Jacques Marquette and Claude Dablon established the first mission at Sault Ste. Marie, and in 1701, French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain in Detroit.
- The Michigan Territory was created, with Detroit designated as the seat of government and William Hull appointed as our first governor.
- Michigan became the 26th state on the 26th of January, 1837. Is 26 our lucky number? FYI, our first State governor was Stevens T. Mason, the 25 year old Boy Governor (the youngest state governor in American history).
- Michigan’s nickname is “the Wolverine State”. It is generally believed to have been coined during the 1835 Toledo War between Michigan and Ohio, when our southern rivals gave us the name due to the wolverine’s reputation for sheer orneriness!
- The Great Seal of Michigan was designed by Lewis Cass and was patterned after the seal of the Hudson Bay Fur Company. It depicts an elk on the left and a moose on the right supporting a shield that reads Tuebor (“I will protect”).The interior of the shield shows a figure on the shore with the sun rising over a lake. His right hand is raised, symbolizing peace, but he holds a rifle in his left hand, showing readiness to defend the state and nation.Below the shield is the inscription of our state motto Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.” (I just learned that Michigan has an Office of the Great Seal – how cool would it be to say you worked there??)
- The original State Capitol of Michigan was Detroit, and it moved to Lansing in 1847 to help develop the western side of the state and due to the need to develop the western portions of the state and for easy defense from British troops. Here’s a pic of Michigan’s original Capitol Building and an 1890s view of the current Michigan capitol.
- Michigan is the 10th largest state by area if you count the water … and who wouldn’t count the water??
- Speaking of water, we have 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, good for second to only Alaska in coastline!
More fun facts from the State of Michigan.
Check this out background bigilicious and in Betsy’s Cookies slideshow.
PS: I made a little Michigan Birthday cover photo for Facebook that you are free to grab.
Happy 175th Birthday Michigan!!
Ishpeming’s Suicide Hill
January 11, 2012
A skier glides down Suicide Hill, circa 1959, photo by Michigan Tourist Council
On Absolute Michigan we regularly feature articles & photos from the Archives of Michigan and their great web site Seeking Michigan. When Bob Garrett posted this feature, however, I knew that I couldn’t let Absolute Michigan have all the fun!
Suicide Hill by Bob Garrett
Suicide Hill’s very name intimidates skiers. The Ishpeming Ski Club, however, describes it as “fine, competitive and safe” (See the Ishpeming Ski Club Web Site). Ski jump enthusiasts hold the hill – and its rich history – in high esteem.
In the Beginning
The Norden Ski Club – renamed the Ishpeming Ski Club in 1901 – held its first formal ski jump competition in 1888. The competition site was south of Lake Angeline, near Ishpeming, Michigan. An annual tradition did not immediately follow. The Club did, however, host competitions in some subsequent years. Various hills in the Ishpeming region served as competition sites.
In 1925, the Ishpeming Ski Club launched a search for a new hill. Peter Handberg and Leonard Flaa, then officers of the Club, found what would be called Suicide Hill. The Hill is located off what is now M-28, between Ishpeming and Negaunee. The Cleveland Cliffs mining company owned the land, and a lease was quickly negotiated.
In the autumn of 1925, development work began on the hill. It proved a community effort. Local citizens donated materials and volunteered their labor. The hill was cleared, graded and shaped. Finally, the Ishpeming Ski Club announced the first competition on the hill. This occurred on February 26, 1926.
“A Little Color”
Ted Butler, a local newspaper reporter, apparently gave the hill its nickname. An Ishpeming skier named Walter “Huns” Anderson was injured a few days before the 1926 meet. Butler wrote about this, using the phrase “Suicide Hill” in his story. “Sure, it’s a good hill, but why not add a little color to it?,” he reportedly said. James Flaa of the Ishpeming Ski Club protested the name, claiming that it created a bad impression and kept skiers away.
Today, eighty-six years later, skiers are still coming to Suicide Hill. They come from many countries and gather for the annual competitions, traditionally held in February.
The annual Suicide Hill Ski Tournament will be held next on February 8, 2012. Suicide Hill waits quietly for the day, ready to challenge a new wave of daring skiers.
Editor’s note: we found a great video of a jump at Suicide Hill and another from the point of view of the jumper.
Sources
“Flying into the Future” by Jane Nordberg. Michigan History Magazine, March/April 2002, pp. 6-11.
For a related article, click Ishpeming winter events
Powder Day … Month … State!
January 5, 2012
Powder Day – 2.19.09 #13, photo by CrystalMountainImages.
All January Absolute Michigan is celebrating Michigan skiing with and features on downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding along with photos and videos that take you up close and personal with the Michigan ski experience. We’re also giving away 4 pairs of tickets to 4 great Michigan ski resorts: Boyne Mountain, The Homestead, Shanty Creek and Crystal Mountain!
Michigan has 41 ski areas with 840 runs, more than 40 terrain parks and hundreds of kilometers of groomed cross-country trails, and January is the perfect month to enjoy it all. Head over to Absolute Michigan’s skiing page for all the details!
Check this out on black and see more in Crystal Mountain’s powder slideshow!
