The Voices in Frank's Head

According to an article in this month's issue of Science , large animals such as humans would not have been able to evolve if it weren't for clay first appearing in the Earth during the Neoproterozoic Era (roughly one billion to 542 million years ago). Details about this are available at http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060206/clay_pla.html?source=rss This is one more thing for me to think about when I see a work of pottery.

This blog is now 2 year's old and this is my 140th post to it. (70 posts per year - 1 or 2 per week - yeah, that sounds about right.) Anyway, I'm just glad that in those 2 years, no one has tried to collect on "Frank's Blog Guarantee."

Happy 197th birthday to President Abraham Lincoln. He was born this day in 1809 in what is now La Rue County, Kentucky. I don't know what the man's secret is. After all, he doesn't look a day over 56 in this recent photograph of him. ;-)

U.S. Olympic speed-skater Chad Hendrick has won a gold medal for the 500 meter skate. It's the first gold medal for the U.S. team this year. Here's hoping its the first of many. Congrats, Chad!

Dang, the past ten days or so have been beyond belief. Super Bowl XL was amazing. I'm thrilled that it went off without any serious hitches - beyond that one shooting that everyone seems to have already forgotten about and, of course, the nightmare that was the shuttle service. I was in downtown Detroit as the crews were setting up for Super Bowl and the Motown Winter Blast. It was so cool - yet so surreal - to see all of that happening in the middle of Woodward Avenue. Of course, the highlight for me for all things Super Bowl XL related was being on the field during the half time show. Me and the Rolling Stones. And thousands and thousands of fans. I felt kind of bad that they didn't allow any cameras onto the field. Standing on that field and just looking at all of that was happening around was amazing. Totally beyond belief. The only thing that could possibly top it was on Tuesday, when my documentary on the Book-Cadillac Hotel had its public premiere. The only thing bet...

CBS (parent company of the UPN television network) and TimeWarner (parent company of the WB) have announced that they will merge their respective networks into one, single television network that is aimed at the youth market to be called "CB". Since Detroit currently has both a UPN and a WB affiliate, this move will presumably leave one of them without any content to air. Personally, I really hope that whichever one of them is left "contentless" decides to fill the void with somekind of original programming. God knows TV needs somekind of originallity to it.

It's been on the air for seven great years and won a boat load of Emmys and Golden Globes; not to mention SAG and Writers' Guild Awards. It launched some amazing fan sites and kept Americans glued to their TV sets. It was one of the few prime time shows with the guts to broadcast live. More importantly, it made politics cool. But all good things come to an end. NBC has announced that The West Wing will come to an end after this season. It's a regretable fact of life that keeping a TV show on the air for more than five years is a daughting task; a challenge that the show has thrived on so far. The unfortunate passing of John Spencer last month did not make it any easier. The show will be missed.

I went into the Vinton Building on Woodward in downtown Detroit (just north of One Detroit Center) with one of the guys who is working on rehabbing this historic abandoned building into residential lofts. The Vinton is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but has sat vacant for years now. Once upong a time, I used to crawl through all sort of abandoned buildings. Now, however, that I'm on the ugly side of 30 - it just isn't as much fun to try find my way into a boarded up buiding. However, when someone offers me the chance to walk right in the front door with no need to crawl through an open window or anything like that - I can't pass it up. Structurally, the Vinton is in great shape. There's one or two issues to deal with, but nothing major. Most of what they'll need to do will be because of its conversion from an office building to a residential property. It's currently a mess on the inside - but not that much more so than any other const...

Okay - one more post about my trip to Toronto and then I'll shut up about it. I promise. One of the things that I saw in Toronto was a monument to Canadian workers who had died on the job over the past centure. There are 100 plaques on this wall. Each of them represents a Canadian worker who died; one of them represents all of the workers who died that year. This plaque in particular struck me. First, cause I happened by the monument on the anniversay of this gentleman's death. Second, he died from asbestos - the same thing that killed my Dad. Finally, there's the fact that his given name was Frank - just like my Dad and I. It strange how I can feel a connection to a complete stranger, who was lived in a foreign country and who died before I even got out of diapers. R.I.P. Frank Sypher.

There were a couple of things on my trip to Toronto that simply cracked me up. So much so that I felt compelled to photograph them and share them with the entire world - or at least that portion of the world that reads this blog.I love the name of this store. They tell me that there's more them around. God, I wish we had one in Detroit. It would make much more sense for us to have one, seeing as how Detroit used to be a French territory. Toronto, however, was never a part of France. I don't care what they actually sell. I just want to be able to point to a store in downtown Detroit that has a sign saying, "fcuk." I don't really ask for that much, do I? I know. I know. Simple pleasures for simple minds. I also got a kick out of this recycling container. It criticises global warming, encourages you to recycle and has an adorable polar bear on it.Ya can't ask for much more than that. I also like it because, since it's a recycling container, there will be ...

My God, have I ever been neglectful of my blog! So, much has happened in the past couple of weeks that never got posted. Oh, well. I won't go into every detail about my trip to Toronto. I had once thought about chronicling all of the highlights in a series of posts, but two weeks later there doesn't seem like much of a point in that much. Anyway, my friend Dave Baschal and I went to Toronto for New Year's. It seemed much more interesting than anything that was going on in Detroit that day. We were there for three days and had a blast. The bars and nightlife in Toronto are top-notch. I hate to say this, but they're better than Detroit and pretty much make you forget about Chicago. (It's clearer, the folks are more polite, there's less crime, transit is better and American money goes 15% farther, which pretty much makes up for the higher taxes). They also have some really interest shopping. Plus, there's a lot of stuff in downtown Toronto that's connected...

I was lying in bed the other morning - kind of debating whether or not I actually wanted to get out of bed, but knowing full well that I had to and soon - when I noticed a strange light poking its way through my bedroom shades. It was rather bright and don't remember every seeing anything like this. I jumped out of bed to investigate it. There was actually a giant ball of fire in the sky near me. It turns out that it was this that they call "the Sun." Supposedly, it's been there all the time - behind all of those gray clouds that have been hanging over Michigan for weeks.

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.