The Voices in Frank's Head

Ten years ago, half of the entries in my address book were attorneys. Most of the people that I hung out with in college were pre-law and that fact was obvious in my post-college address book. Five years ago, the number of attorneys was surpassed by the number of reporters in my address book. For a number of reasons, I found myself doing an inordinate amount of public relations work for various non-profits in Detroit. I took a close look at my address book again today. It would appear that my life has taken another important turn. There are now more architects in my address book than reporters and more reporters than attorneys. I've been doing a lot of work with architects over the past couple of years. Organizing Pecha Kucha Night  in Detroit and working with various historic preservation groups has introduced me to a multitude of architects. Some of the those architects have commissioned me to do work for them, which has led me to meet even more architects. All of this makes...

Troy Tulowitzki  of the Colorado Rockies did something over the weekend that I've never seen anyone else do in baseball. He swung his bat once, eventually got a base hit out of it, but in the process of doing so actually hit the ball twice. His bat made contact with the ball twice, within a split second, during a single swing. Troy Tulowitzki Hits the Same Pitch Twice With One Swing An interesting side note to this is the fact that the announcers at that game initially thought that the sound of that second hit was the sound of his bat breaking. They, of course, were wrong but it was an understandable mistake. I think the most interesting part of this is that no one would have known that this had happened without the slow-motion playback. This is just one of the many quirky advantages to living in the modern age.

Today is a good day for the blogosphere. Gina Valo has returned with The Second Fiddle blog after a hiatus of more than a year. The Second Fiddle: The reprise : "It's been a while. One year, one month, one week, and four days to be exact. Here's what you missed: I started doing contract work for a 19 ..."

Forbes  has a post on the Taxgirl blog about a case involving taxes on a strip club. I've found that anytime one combines the subject of taxes and strip clubs, the result is always interesting and thought provoking. You can read all of the gory details here. In the meantime, if the folks at Night Moves in Latham, New York need an expert witness to help them sort out what is performance art and what isn't, I'm available and my rates are quite reasonable.

I have a video project for a client this week that uses stock photography and stock video extensively. I've used stock images before, but this is my first time using them this much (almost 30% of video is stock). I discovered something that's kind of shocking. A stock image of a generic blonde woman sells for $10 - $65 with any of the various stock vendors. A similar image with an African American face in the middle of it will sell for anywhere from $85 - $300. Needless to say, I wonder why this is true. There's a part of me that wonders if this is a part of the "Red Barn Phenomena." Why are so many barns painted red? Because red paint was the cheapest color. Why was red the cheapest color? Because so many farmers used red to paint their barns. Anyway, this is my theory on why black faces are so much more expensive in stock video and stock photography. If anyone stumbles across this blog and knows more about this subject than I, or simply has a different theo...

Another Night at Comerica Park The first place Detroit Tigers. Oh, how I love those five words. I'm not sure how long this will ultimately last. Maybe the Tigers will screw it up and be out of contention by July. Maybe they'll go all the way to another World Series. Regardless, I am going to enjoy saying those five magical words for as long as I possibly can - the first place Detroit Tigers.

This Bikini Charges Your Phone Andrew Schneider  is an inventor from New York and a certifiable genius, in my opinion. He has developed a solar-powered bikini that is capable of charging an iPod, iPhone, or any other standard USB device. I can simply imagine the pick-up lines that a woman will hear while wearing this one at the beach. Do we live in exciting times or what?

It happens every summer. I'll be out near a pool and one of my brothers or someone else will say, "It's too bad we can't play pool in  the pool." Well, now such a thing is possible. The folks at Opulent Items have introduced a waterproof pool table, which is perfect the ultimate summer activity. For the low, low price of only $6,500, one can finally play pool in a pool. Do we live in a great country or what?

Dancing for Discounts I stopped by one of my local fast food restaurants today for lunch. I'll refrain from mentioning which one because I don't want anyone getting in trouble if the name were to show up in a Google Alert. Anyway, the 18 year old behind the counter gave me a senior citizen discount without me asking for it, which saved me 41 cents. There's a part of me that is offended to be thought of as a "senior citizen." However, there is also a part of me that realizes that if this happens to me another 48 times then I basically get a free lap dance.