The Voices in Frank's Head

Ah, Christmas! That special, magical holiday! For me it meant a chance to spend some quality time with one of the adorable 3-year olds on the planet: my niece Giovanna. I didn't do much on Christmas itself, but I was at my brother Mike's for Christmas eve. (He is Giovanna's Dad). I still can't believe that I managed to get her to hold still long enough for a photo with her parents. Danielle (my sister-in-law), Giovanna and Mike. The photographer in me wishes that I closed the blinds behind them in that shot because the extra light from behind kind of washed them out. Oh, well - live and learn. Of course, after a snapped a couple of candid shots of the family - Giovanna actually grabbed my camera from me. She's only 3, but she managed to take this shot of my other brother, Mark. Not bad for a 3-year old. Talent clearly runs deep in the Nemecek clan.

Today is the Winter Soltice. The official beginning of winter. I spent at least some of it, walking around town and checking out some of the Christmas lights. It seemed like the most appropriate use of the longest night of the year.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones ruled today that the requirement to teach intelligent design in high school biology classes in Dover, Pennsylvania was unconstitutional. Intelligent design, he said, was nothing more than theology and the Dover school board had lied about their intentions in order to get support for it. Frankly, I have to agree with him. The whole concept of science is based on a process. One starts with a hypothesis and then tests it through experimentation to either prove or disprove it. None of that has ever happened with intelligent design. The only thing that was really suprising was that it took the judge 139 pages to write his opinion .

Ever since the show came on the air in 1999, The West Wing has been my favorite TV show. It's insightful and provocative; at times funny and always a joy to watch. Late last week, I learned that John Spencer (who played White House chief of staff/vice-presidental candidate Leo McGarry) died from a heart attack. I don't know how the show will continue, but I do know that John Spencer will be missed.

I went down to the Detroit Beer Company to watch the last Lion's home game for the season with a couple of friends. It was astonishing how many people were there to protest Matt Millen. I wish I had broght my camera with me to grab some shots of all the folks with their signs and stuff. Alas, I left it at home. Anyway, the Lion's lost and lost badly. If I were Matt Millen, I'd be very, very nervous right about now.

U.S. Representative John D. Dingell read the following poem on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. It's truly priceless. Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House No bills were passed ‘bout which Fox News could grouse; Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer, So vacations in St. Barts soon would be near; Katrina kids were nestled all snug in motel beds, While visions of school and home danced in their heads; In Iraq our soldiers needed supplies and a plan, Plus nuclear weapons were being built in Iran; Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell; Americans feared we were on a fast track to…well… Wait--- we need a distraction--- something divisive and wily; A fabrication straight from the mouth of O’Reilly We can pretend that Christmas is under attack Hold a vote to save it--- then pat ourselves on the back; Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger Wake up Congress, they’re in no danger! This

Oh my God! If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. There is a a new tiolet seat in Japan that actually plays MP3s. I am actually afraid of what they'll think of next. http://blogs.indiewire.com/dmw/archive/006535.html

A friend of mine and his wife were driving through Roseville one evening when they saw this sign. http://www.flickr.com/photos/galfridus73/71247357/?#comment19814379 If STD Rooms are $45 then I can't imagine how much non-STD rooms must be.

Shop Detroit was this past Saturday. It was a cool event to promote the whole concept of people doing their holiday shopping in dowtown Detroit. (Yes - there actually are places to shop that aren't pawn shops or liquor stores). About 300 or so people came down for the day. We even had one family drive all the way from south of Toledo to see what all of the buzz was about. After that - I hit Noel Night in midtown for a little bit before going to the Opening Reception for the Inn at 97 Winder. The Inn was a super cool place - they did an amazing job rehabbing the property. My only regret is that I left my camera in the car. Oh, well - there are some good photos on their web site: http://www.theinnat97winder.com/

One of my brothers, Mark, had an entry in this year's Graphic Design Expo - which was presented by Create Detroit. The expo itself was this past Friday (eeck! it's taken me a full week to write a blog entry about it). One of the things that I really liked about my brother's poster (above) is that it was the only one to incorporate Detroit's riverfront into the design. The river is, after all, one of Detroit's greatest assets. As far as the expo itself goes, 50 different graphic designers from around town were challenged to create a piece of positive propaganda for Detroit in advance of Super Bowl XL. Some of their work was truly amazing - funny and really positive. There were also a couple just made me go, "huh?" - but that's cool. I think you need a broad spectrum of work in order to make for a sucessful event. It was held in lobby of the Fisher Building - one of the coolest buildings around, in my opinion. The event was so incredibly cool - with so

Bill Maher came up with a stand-up routine for the Global Warming Comedy Special. It's too dang funny for words, in my opinion. Check it out: http://www.devilducky.com/media/38795/