The Voices in Frank's Head

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters M.L. Elrick and Jim Schaefer  of the Detroit Free Press have released a new book entitled, The Kwame Sutra .  It is, according to Drew Lane of WRIF-FM, "a one-stop shop for all of Kwame's best BS." This new book captures Kwame M. Kilpatrick as no one ever has. In his own words, including never-before-published quotations, this former mayor of Detroit reveals himself in many ways as a liar, a Lothario and, yes, a leader. Mr. Elrick and Mr. Schaefer will sign copies of their book at Hugh  ( 2233 Park Ave. ), which is a new men's boutique in downtown Detroit - right behind the Fox Theater.  They will be there this coming Tuesday, December 15, at 9 p.m. I met Mr. Elrick and Mr. Schaefer at the Anchor Bar  ( 450 W. Fort ) once.  I was there late one night with some friends and they came in after working late at the paper.  I look forward to seeing them again and, in particular, to reading this book.

I was flipping through this month's issue of Ambassador . I saw their headline Kristen Bell: Hometown Girl to Hero and, well, let's face it - any time a magazine puts the words "Kristen" and "Bell" on their cover, it's pretty much guaranteed to grab my attention. For the benefit of anyone who didn't already know this, Kristen Bell grew up in one of Detroit's suburbs, Huntington Woods to be specific. She graduated from Shrine Catholic High School before heading off to New York for college and her career. The folks at Ambassador asked her a series of questions about growing up in the Detroit area. I couldn't help notice something peculiar in her answers though. She didn't say that she was from Detroit. Instead, she said that she was from the Midwest. Let me recap this for everyone. Kristen Bell is from Huntington Woods, but when asked about growing up she did not say she's from Huntington Woods. Kristen Bell did not say tha...

When I saw the newspaper this morning, with its headline that Detroit's Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick would waive his right to a preliminary examination, I was proud of him for the first time in months. The on-going criminal proceedings have dragged on for months already; as a result, Detroit's economic recovery has stalled and is slipping backwards. The fact that he waived his preliminary examination would shave a month or more off of this prolonged ordeal. I was going to log on and write a blog post commending the Mayor for his decision. However, I've spent most of this morning in a series of meeting and didn't have a chance to sit down at a computer. And then it happened. Judge Robert Giles sent Mayor Kilpatrick to jail. I'm still pleased that the Mayor waived his right to a preliminary examination. However, let's face facts, that story will be buried and largely ignored by the fact that he is spending tonight in a jail cell.

The Detroit Free Press reported recently that Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick demanded that his friend Bobby Ferguson get a part of construction contract for the original effort to redevelop the historic Book-Cadillac Hotel. More importantly, they reported that the costs associated with this were a large part of the original effort falling apart; dealing the hotel's re-opening by more than a year. This would be news if it weren't for one thing: I reported the same thing in my documentary on that hotel, Checking In: The Story of the Book-Cadillac Hotel . And my documentary wrapped production in June of 200 5 . There you have it. The Detroit Free Press . Now only three years behind the curve on their stories. For anyone who is interested, you can see an except of my documentary - narrated by the extremely talented Ann Marie Weinert - on-line here . You can also buy the DVD by clicking here . Folks in the mainstream media just might want to check my film out, if only so they ...

I saw this sign in Eastern Market, near Butchers Inn . It just cracked me up. Within minutes of this photo being taken, though, workers from the City came along to replace this stop sign with a non-graffiti version. The question is: did this graffiti pundit want us to stop Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick or City Councilman Kwame Kenyatta?

Miss America Kirsten Haglund has been filling in for a lot of prominent leaders as of late. First, she threw out the first pitch on Opening Day for the Detroit Tigers. That duty would normally be done by Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick , but he's been a little busy as of late with the whole text message scandal and being under indictment. It also turns out that will be filling in for Governor Jennifer M. Granholm at the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan . Governor Granholm is reportedly embarking on a trade mission and the schedule for that will conflict with the Tulip Festival. This makes two instances in less than a month where Kirsten Haglund substituted for someone at a high-profile event. I wonder: what will she do next? Well, there is the fact Pope Benedict XVI has said that he won't be available to attend the White House dinner that President George W. Bush is holding in his honor this week. Hmm.... Is it possible that Miss America Kirsten Haglund could fill in for ...

Okay - this one is only sort of about Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick . His face is one of those that appear in the video. Still, it is so darn funny.

This is too darn funny! I'm only upset that I didn't think of it first.

I posted a simple experiment two weeks ago. I wondered how many people who visit my blog simply by me adding the words Kam Carmen into a blog post. The answer to that experiment is 197, thanks to data from Google Analytics . And now I wonder something else. Let's just say - hypothetically speaking - that some random blog were to publish a post about the marital infidelities of some random television and/or radio personality as well as about her subsequent divorce. This would be even more interesting if this television and/or radio personality had gone our of her way to put her marriage in the public realm by - oh, I don't know - getting married on live television during a news broadcast. As I ponder the possiblity of this happening, I can't help but wonder: how would said television and/or radio personality respond? The way I see things, this person would have two options. Option #1. Do nothing. Such a personality would have the proverbial egg on their face and tha...

In roughly 12 hours from now, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy will announce whether or not she intends to charge Detroit's Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick with a felony in connection with his less than honest testimony under oath and, if so, just what charges he will face. I previously posted on my other blog that I had done an informal survey of the attorneys that I know and they were evenly split as to whether or not Mayor Kilpatrick's misdeeds met the legal definitions of perjury . I know that Mayor Kilpatrick's attorneys have to pursue a vigorous defense for their client. However, I was surprised to read in the Detroit Free Press recently that they would challenge the authenticity of the infamous text messages. Specifically, the paper reports that defense lawyers will challenge the Prosecutor to prove whose fingers where on keys when those racy messages were sent. If there was only one or two messages in question then this might actually be a smart strategy. If n...

Today has actually been a rather eventful day for me. For starters, I was interviewed by 3 different television stations, 2 radio stations, 3 newspapers and some guy doing a documentary. I spent so much time talking to reporters on my phone that I actually managed to wear out 2 cell phone batteries in 1 day. Here is a quick run down of my day. The times were all reconstructed using the calls logs on my cell phone. 8:19 a.m. - I get a phone call Steve Haag. He informs me that there is a crew on site demolishing the Madison-Lenox. He's in Grand Rapids all day so, as communications director of the FoBC, I get to handle this one. 8:20 a.m. to 9:20 a.m. - I finished getting dressed and start making phone calls. First was to our attorney Mike Myckowiak. After that I call Francis Grunow, the folks at National Trust and all of the reporters that I have phone numbers for. 9:45 a.m. - I arrive at the Madison-Lenox. The building in between the Madison and Lenox buildings in now a pile a r...