The Voices in Frank's Head

It all started back in 2003, for me. On the set of "Checking In" At the time, I was working on a feature-length documentary entitled  Checking In: The Story of the Book-Cadillac Hotel , which focused on the historic Book-Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit. The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, which was the quasi-governmental agency that was working on redeveloping the hotel, wouldn't talk to me on camera about the project so I turned to some of the historic preservation groups, who were all too happy to talk about the hotel. Back then, I had already decided that I was going to leave Detroit permanently as soon as this project was done. Regardless, during that time, I met Francis Grunow . He invited me to attend a meeting of this new group called Detroit Synergy . I was hooked after that first meeting. I met so many people who had such energy, enthusiasm, and determination to get things done. I got involved in organizing a pub crawl where I met a man who ...

Earth Hour is this evening at 8:30 p.m. Folks from around the world will be turning off their lights for one hour to show their support for the environment and to campaign against global warming. The whole thing really hasn't gotten much attention in the Detroit area. Everytime I've mentioned this to anyone, I usually get a comment about how it seems silly or how going a single hour with using electricity won't change anything. My rebuttal to that is always the same. Turning your lights off for that hour serves as a reminder to you and everyone else of that fact that you can live your life and be happy without constantly burning electricity. Once you do it for an hour, you start to realize how easy it to make some important changes. Doing it in conjuction with everyone else on the planet makes you realize that we all really are connected to one another. Besides, if Obama Girl thinks it's a good idea then you know it's cool. voteearth Detroit

I have come to love Google Alerts . Every time someone posts something on-line about certain subjects, I get an email alert with a link to the post. It doesn't matter where it was posted, Google finds it for me and lets me know about it. I use it to track everything from some of my favorite celebrities, such as Keira Knightley , to some of the groups that I'm a part of, such as Detroit Synergy . It was my Detroit Synergy alert that made me cringe the other day. Along with all of the expected references to their Shop Detroit project was a reference to the group on Metromix. I cringed. Oh, yes, I did. I remembered all of the problems that Metromix had caused for me in the past. I also remembered Michael Higdon's commentary from this past August about how Metromix is a detriment to society. I braced myself for the worst as I clicked the link to see how the kids at Metromix were making my life difficult now. It actually turned to not be that bad at all. Google simply ...

Detroit Synergy and the AIA-Detroit will soon announce that the next installment of their Pecha Kucha project will happen on Thursday, February 19 in the Hard Rock Cafe . Since Hard Rock is different than most PK Night venues, and I'm one of the people who selected it, I wanted to take a moment and tell everyone why we're going there. Yes, Hard Rock is a corporate restaurant. Hard Rock has a menu that is set by folks more than a thousand miles away from the restaurant. There's no getting around these facts. However, Hard Rock does offer a few benefits that make it an appealing option. First, there are all of the logistical issues associated with having PK Night at any venue. Hard Rock Cafe excels in these categories. Hard Rock has secured parking in the Compuware parking structure that's available for free with a validation in the restaurant. A lot of other venues require you to either pay through the nose for parking or have you park on the street. For those ...

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 ...

This past week has been insane for me. There have been so many things that I really meant to blog about, but I simply haven't had a chance to sit down and recount them all. I mean, I did manage to find a chance to blog about the $5 million bra , but come on. I'm a guy. How could I not blog about that? Anyway, before my schedule blows up on my again , here is a recap of the past week. Thursday, October 16 The interesting portion of my day started at 10:30 a.m. That was when I arrived at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel for an interview with Detroit Today on WDET. It was another chance for me to talk about how much I love that hotel and how I think it will be the catalyst for great things in downtown Detroit. This, of course, was the third time that I had been on Detroit Today in the past year. Strangely enough, this was also the year that they won "Best Local Radio Talk Show" in the Metro Times Readers' Poll. Is this purely a coincidence? Well, of course it ...

I was at Fusia and Asian Village when they first opened. To put it mildly, I was unimpressed with the place. I even remember being in meetings where one person after another told a horror story about the place. I quietly predicted that they would be out of business within a matter of months and felt confident in my prediction. However, after all of that, I was eventually coaxed into attending Detroit Synergy's Supper Club last night and urged to give the place another chance. The woman who runs Supper Club for Detroit Synergy has amazing tastes so it I put my faith in her. After my experience last night, I have to say that I was impressed. The place has made some amazing changes in a relatively short period of time and completely transformed themselves. For starters, the service was top-notched. The staff at Fusia was knowledgeable and attentive, without hovering. This was a h-u-u-g-e improvement over their original incarnation when they hired fashion models for a large portion ...

I was talking with a friend of mine, Erica Dunham , recently. It turns out that she Googled herself and all she found was a series of references to that other Erica Dunham. The one from the industrial rock band Utter Null . Even when she Googled "Erica Dunham" + London, England she still didn't find anything that related specifically to her. It seems a shame to me that someone as cool as her would not have single reference to her on the entire world wide web. And now here it is. A blog post about Erica Dunham of Ann Arbor, Michigan and London, England. Complete with a photo of her from Detroit Synergy's Shop Detroit event back in December of 2005. Welcome to the Googleverse, Erica!

It's been almost two weeks since I've had a meaningful post over here. Life has been a little on the hectic side. At work, I've spent most of the past two weeks trying to collect from various clients for work that I've already done. For that irony upon irony factor, one of the firms that I'm trying to collect from is a collection agency that owes me $400 and is almost three months late in paying. (I'll pause of a moment so everyone can ponder the irony of calling a collection agency every couple of days, looking for the payment that they have been promising.) Anyway, I really needed to blow off some steam. Last Wednesday, I went to one of the bars near me and managed to rack up a $92.50 bar tab. That's rather impressive since the bars in my neighborhood tend to be on the cheap side. On Thursday morning, I had some unexpected cash fall into my lap. It wasn't anything from my clients, it was just one of the those "pennies from heaven" things...

Yesterday was Francis Grunow's 34th birthday, which was celebrated at the historic Garden Bowl on Woodward Ave. It was the densest concentration of young and hip Detroiters since the grand re-opening of the DIA . I swear. I know a hundred or so people in this city and all but 6 of them were there. I learned many things over the course of an evening of drinking, bowling and, well, even more drinking. Vodka actually glows when exposed to black light. How I got through college without discovering this is beyond me. Maybe I was too drunk or something to notice. If professional bowling had women as cute as some of those who were at the Garden Bowl, the PBA Championships would be the highest rated show on television. I also learned that my neighborhood really is famous. Not only did we get mentioned in The Onion but people kept walking up to me, talking about how much they liked Gracie See's Pizza when they were there last week (I only recommended the place a couple hundred time...

Detroit has a new gossip blog - D Tales - one that is surely destined to put Gawker, Wonkette and the others to shame. The new blog is complete with details about who is dating who (or no longer dating), what happened at the coolest of parties and who should simply be thrown in front of a bus. I wasn't thrilled with its repeated slamming of Detroit Synergy and my blood pressure went up when the author made a passing jab at the Girl-in-the-D . However, the fact of the matter is that great writing is still great writing. Full Disclosure: For anyone who doesn't know it, I'm on the Steering Team for Detroit Synergy. As for the Girl-in-the-D, she and her husband have been friends of mine for years. In that regard, I'm more than a bit defensive when it comes to things like this. Still, I've learned to take all of this in stride. However, I do have my limits. If D Tales ever starts talking trash about one of John Hodgman's favorite photographers then I will h...

I'm not sure why, but this Friday is the day when it seems like everyone has some kind of an event planned. The evening kicks off with Illuminate Detroit at Willy's Overland Lofts. This one is sponsored by Detroit Synergy and, since I'm on their steering team, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that I'll be spending the bulk of my time there. (The photo at right, by the way, is event organizer Liz Tintinali at the last Illuminate Detroit.) The folks at CAID are also having an Illuminate after party from midnight to 5 a.m. The folks at Detroit Fashion Pages then have their designer showcase, featuring Maisha Davis , in the Penobscott Building. Plagues and Pleasues on the Salton Sea is showing at the Detroit Film Center . I really want to see this movie. I've heard nothing but great things about it. However, I'm not sure if I'll be able to squeeze it in. I might go see it if the DFP event doesn't seem like it's all it's cracked u...

Thanks to my involvement with Detroit Synergy , I will be on the radio this coming Monday. I will appear on Detroit Today , which airs on WDET 101.9 FM. We're going to discuss this trend of people leaving Michigan for one reason or another. The segment will air on Monday, September 17 at approximately 10:20 a.m. If you're not lucky enough to live the WDET broadcast area, you can always listen on-line .

I have a confession to make. I'm helping to plan Detroit Synergy's Wooden Anniversary Pub Crawl. It's a great time, having a lot of fun with a couple hundred of your best friends, as we bounce between 8 different bars in one evening. There will be drink specials at each of these bars, of course, and the folks at Hard Rock Cafe are offering free parking for participants. Like I said, it's a great time. More importantly, this is Detroit Synergy's big fundraiser. The group doesn't charge dues or anything so it relies on pub crawls to keep themselves afloat. None of this is all that newsworthy - or even worthy of a "confession" per se. Well, here's interesting part. Some of my Wolverine friends, decided that they didn't want to go because it was the same day that the University of Michigan was playing the University of Notre Dame. I was a bit frustrated by this. I tried to be as accommodating as possible when it came to scheduling the pub ...

Ann Marie Weinert , the kick ass narrator from my documentary on the Book-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, made this short film called Strip Poker . It's funny as all heck. If only the video kept going for another few seconds.

One of the things that I do on a volunteer basis is coordinate the public relations efforts for Detroit Synergy . I was kind of geeked this afternoon to learn that not only did my efforts manage to put their Bike to Work Day efforts on the radio, but that the whole thing was picked up by MSNBC . Personally, I can't help but feel that this calls for some kind of a celebration.

I was chatting yesterday with my partner-in-crime from Detroit Synergy , Paula Turner . She said something that I thought was incredibly profound. She said that dating in your 30s is a lot like shopping for luggage. Everyone in their 30s already has a certain amount of emotional "baggage". The whole dating process at this point is really about finding someone with a matching set.

I went out to Bookies Tarvern with the whole crew after the monthly Detroit Synergy meeting on Thursday. I didn't know this when I walked in the door, but Bookies now has a mechanical bull that you can ride - all you have to do is buy a shot and ask the bartender for a ticket. After a little bit of encouragement, and a couple of rounds, I couldn't help but ride the thing. Dang! Look at me on that thing. Do I have cowboy style or what? Thanks to Paula Turner for snapping that photo. She also grabbed a shot of me falling off the thing a couple of seconds later, but for some reason, I really don't feel like posting that shot on the internet.