PART 1

I like how Detroiters understand how to move a car that

One of the cool things about living in the MotorCity is that we Detroiters get to see the new auto models much sooner than the rest of the country.

For whatever reason, I always get excited when I see next year’s models. Since there are SO MANY cars in metro Detroit, I guess I just get tired of the old ones, and like to see what the designers over at Ford, GM, and Chrysler have been cooking up during the previous five years.

This morning, I had a “new auto sighting” on my way to work on I-75 North. I could tell right away that the car was a Jeep, but wasn’t sure if it was a Grand Cherokee on steroids, or a completely new vehicle.
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St. Josaphat front


Originally uploaded by StSaling.

My family used to attend mass at this church every Sunday while my grandmother was at Harper Hospital.

St. Josaphat Roman Catholic Church was founded in 1889 for Polish immigrants, in response to disagreements with two neighboring parishes — Sweetest Heart of Mary and St. Albertus. The cathedral-sized church was completed in 1901 and sits at East Canfield and the Chrysler Service Drive. It’s hard to miss.

St. Josaphat is one of very few Catholic churches to celebrate the Tridentine Mass — a vintage Latin mass with the priest facing the altar rather than the congregation. For some photos of inside the church, including beautiful altars, stained glass windows and murals, visit the St. Josaphat website.

Funny note: the original feuding parishes are now all run by the same pastor/administrator, Rev. Mark A. Borkowski.

My visit to St. Josaphat was part of a fantastic driving tour a friend and I took through Detroit. I highly recommend it — let me know if anyone would like the itinerary. Probably takes about 4-6 hours.

Michigan Theater. Now a parking garage.

Friday night, as I was making my daily commute home along 94, I was rather annoyed when four motorcyclists raced past me at ludicrous speeds. Ten seconds later I saw the uniform brightening of tail lights of slowing vehicles in all lanes. My fear was confirmed as I approached the mass: one of the cyclists had crashed. Within a minute five cars had pulled over, the police had been called, an SUV blocked the motorcycle from oncoming traffic, I did the same for the path to the shoulder, four people moved the bike off the road, one guy cleared all the debris from the road, and everyone was relieved to see the driver had escaped without a scratch. I was shaken, but it wasn

Yesterday, I tried my hand at feather bowling, belgian game similar to horseshoes, bocce and petanque. It was a blast. I’ll be playing again.

The game is rarely played in Belgium or elsewhere now. Locally, you can play at Cadieux Cafe on the east side. Better plan ahead – there can be a 6 – 8 month wait for lane reservations.

Alan Simpson of the Chicago Tribune wrote a great article about the Detroit and Dearborn areas in the online edition of the paper’s Travel section today.

If you bang your head against the wall (or think about doing so) at least once a day because you are trying, yet again, to explain to someone that is not yet enlightened on the awesomeness of Detroit why you love the city so much, this is a must-read.

Here is the e-mail that I sent to Mr. Simpson immediately after reading his piece:
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Move over Detroit Kids Data. There’s a new data warehouse in town.

Non-profit group City Connect Detroit has unveiled the Detroit Data Partnership’s online database — Detroit Community Data Connection.

According to the Detroit News article, this projects bridges the data collection and maintenance efforts of Detroit non-profits, businesses, government and educational institutions with one goal: helping Detroit organizations and businesses make a better sales pitch. Instead of searching through multiples websites or search engines, data such as test scores, census, health and housing info (and much more) can be found in one location, searchable from community down to block level. Great for grantwriting and business recruitment, but also a solid governmental and educational decision-making tool.

I can’t help but be a little jealous — we’ve been trying to do something like this in Oakland County for a while now. How fortunate for Detroit that the right partnerships and funding are in place for such a great resource. Fantastic work from everyone involved.

Now take a look, it’s not boring. Nice design, interactive, all that good stuff.

The rain bounced off the hoods of many vehicles Saturday, but it wasn

I’m sitting at Caribou Coffee right now, watching the beautiful people and listening to the crazys talk to themselves (Royal Oak attracts both…I wonder now which one I am? …) In my bag I have a new poetry book by Langston Hughes, a book called, “Six degrees” (network theory), a beginners guide to grant writing, and “the Fountainhead.” These should last me a while; at least until Shannon comes by to pick me up, and we shoot hoops out in Rochester…

The weather is perfect, and the view is great…