The Voices in Frank's Head

The space shuttle Endeavor made a text book perfect landing this afternoon. They completed their 16-day mission to continue improvements at the International Space Station . It's hard to explain, but watching this video just makes me smile. Welcome home, Endeavor. Congratulations on a job well done.

There are moments in my life when I see one example after another of irony. There are moments of my life when I see irony upon irony, gift wrapped with an ironic bow on top. And then there are moments like this where I struggle through so many levels of irony that it pretty much makes my head explode. The thing is, I'm probably the only person around who fully appreciates this one. I'm not expecting anyone else to. More than anything else, I just wanted to post this note on my blog - where it will have a day and time stamp - so this way I can come back to it at a later date and say, "See. This is what I meant." Anyway, it's Thanksgiving Eve. I'm late for the bar already. Good night, everyone!

This past weekend was the kind of weekend that I really needed after a hellish work week. The coolness began on Thursday actually, when I skipped out on Detroit Synergy's Third Thursday event at Pewabic Pottery so I could head to the Gem Theatre for the 2008 Preservation Awards. I was lucky enough to accept an award on behalf of the Friends of the Book-Cadillac Hotel. The FoBC was honored for their work in historic preservation advocacy through education. The whole thing was just a tad bit ironic because a) I skipped out of an event at Pewabic Pottery to go to the awards banquet and b) the award that I accepted included a custom piece of Pewabic Pottery. Yes, there was irony in the air that evening. As an added bonus, the food at this banquet was simply top notch - and there was an open bar. I lost track of how many gin and tonics I had that evening. All I know is that when it came time to give an acceptance speech, the sober people told me that I managed to do a decent job ...

I've been wanting to try Michael Symon's new restaurant Roast ever since I met him and saw his menu. I had drinks there during the Access Detroit event, but they weren't officially open so no food at that time. However, I took a date there last week and I have to say it was unbelievable. One of my friends from school, who relocated to Cleveland, has raved for years now about how good of a chef Michael Symon really is. I used to think she was exaggerating, but now I know that - if anything - she was underselling it. Anyway, the atmosphere is unbelievable, the service is impeccable and the food is even better. Michael Symon is known for his meat dishes. However, if you go there, I will simply say this: no matter what you order, get a side of their macaroni and cheese. Heck, you could just order a couple of sides of his macaroni and cheese and make a meal out of them. He makes it using goat cheese and it is really, really good. I think this might actually be the start ...

I was flipping through GQ this month. They have this special feature on "The 25 Sexiest Women in Film of All Time". Needless to say, it piqued my interest. I was glad that they included some of the great classic beauties that most people have forgotten about. This includes actresses like Anna Karina and Ursula Andress . I was also glad that they had a healthy dose of women who are currently working - and still hot. The include notables such as Jessica Alba , Scarlett Johansson, Halle Barrie and Penelope Cruz . All of them clearly deserve to be on that list. (Especially Jessica Alba, who I have mentioned a dozen or so times on this blog.) However, I was surprised by one glaring omission for the list: Keira Knightley . I mean, come on, GQ! How can you have a list of "The 25 Sexiest Women in Film of All Time" and not include Keira Knightley? Those eyes. Those lips. Blah! If I ran GQ , Keira Knightley would be on every list of incredibly hot women. But the...

The New York Times published a glowing article yesterday about the recently reborn Westin Book Cadillac Hotel . The article referred to 700 people gathering to celebrate the hotel's transformation; an event that the Times referred to as a civic catharsis. I wonder if it was the Access Detroit event or the opening gala they referred to. I'm not sure if the phrase "civic catharsis" adequately describes either event, though. A catharsis involves purging emotions, usually through some type of art. Unfortunately, as I talk to people in and around town, I still encounter all of the same negative emotions about Detroit after the hotel's opening as I did before it. What the hotel's rebirth does do is provide a working model of how large, derelict structures can be revitalized. It provides a template to follow; one that shows up how to revitalize our community and to create sustainable jobs in the process. The challenge, of course, is for Detroit to repeat this s...

A little over a week ago, I predicted the results of yesterday's presidential race on a state-by-state basis. As it turns out, I was right in 49 of my 51 predictions. I called Florida for Senator John McCain , but he lost by approximately 2% of the vote. Quite frankly, I knew I got that one wrong as soon as Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced that he wouldn't attend the McCain victory party in Florida. I also called South Carolina for now-President Elect Barack Obama . He lost that state, however, by a rather decisive 9%. In the end, I proved to be 96% accurate. That's not too bad, if I may say so myself.