The Voices in Frank's Head

Article first published as TV Review: Pan Am - The Genuine Article on Blogcritics. Episode 6 of this season’s Pan Am aired this past Sunday. It featured Maggie (played by Christina Ricci ) trying to hold onto her job at the airline during a flight to Rio de Janeiro and showed us why that job is so important to her. Meanwhile, Kate (played by Kelli Garner ) stayed in New York to handle a difficult mission for the CIA. This episode, quite frankly, reminded me of A Tale of Two Cities – and not just because of its frequent references to world literature. It really was the best of times and the worst. Maggie - before becoming a Pan Am stewardess The story arc that found Maggie in Rio was spectacular. It showed us much of Maggie’s back story without getting in the way of its main story. The interplay between Maggie and Laura (played by Margot Robbie ) reminded us why these are two of the most critically acclaimed young actresses in the business today. They took each...

Today is the 162nd anniversary of death of Edgar Allen Poe . In honor of this occasion, let's take a moment to remember the man who taught us how scary the English language really can be.

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 ...

James Scripps  began publishing The Evening News  on August 23, 1873. This newspaper would later become The Detroit News . This was a revolutionary moment in American history because it was the first newspaper to be independent of political parties. Instead, Mr. Scripps sought to boost circulation by selling ads to make money. It was a good idea. Of course, as one looks at the situation today - instead of media outlets that are dependent on political parties for support - we have a political party that is largely dependent on a media outlet for its survival. I wonder what Mr. Scripps would think about Fox News and the modern Republican Party.

Today is Bastille Day , which is a French holiday to commemorate the storming of the Bastille  in Paris on July 14, 1789 and the founding of the modern French Republic. Since I happen to live in a former French colony, I thought I would take a moment to commemorate Bastille Day with a short video to showcase some of the greatness that France has given us, particularly French maids. Some very well find this inappropriate. The only consolation I can offer such people is that this is hardly the least inappropriate thing I have ever done. Happy Bastille Day from French maids everywhere!

Kirsten Haglund's Outfit is 65 Years Old Today is the 65th anniversary of the introduction of bikini by French engineer Louis Reard . In honor of this distinct anniversary, I thought about posting a photo of a 65 year old woman in a bikini. Or maybe a 65 year old man chasing a young woman in a bikini. However, it suddenly occurred to me that it would be much better to simply post a photo of Miss America 2008  Kirsten Haglund  in a bikini instead. You're welcome, internet.

Frank Buckles - Enlistment Photo Frank Buckles  of West Virginia passed away earlier today as a result of natural causes. He was 110 years old. Mr. Buckles held the distinction of being the last American veteran of World War I. We, as a nation, have officially lost an important generation. His legacy, and the legacy of those who served with him, will live on for generations. The full obituary for Mr. Buckles is available here from the Associated Press.

Every once in awhile, I hear a quote that so perfectly summarizes how I'm feeling at a given moment, I am compelled, it would seem, to emblazon it on the wall by my desk. Today, I came across such a quote. "A hero is no braver than an ordinary man," Ralph Waldo Emerson  once observed, "but he is brave five minutes longer." Today, I pray that each of us finds the strength to hang onto our bravery for those extra five minutes in whatever challenges we may face.

My church is only half a mile from Ford Field, home of the mighty Detroit Lions. Christians vs. Lions Shortly before services began this morning, as the streets of downtown Detroit were rapidly filling with fans on their way to the game, one of my fellow parishioners made the off-hand comment that it would not normally be a good idea for Christians to be so close to a group of Lions. However, these are the Detroit Lions. It actually took me a second to get that joke . Oh, well - as if on cue, the Lions went on to lose to the New York Jets 23 - 20 this afternoon.

I was out in Ypsilanti on business today. While there, I ended up having some time to kill as my business partner dealt with a computer issue. I started out looking for a book store that I could hang out in for a bit; I ended up making my third personal vlog. Today I learned that: Strip clubs look very different in the daylight; It's actually possible for one to live in their old high school; Ypsilanti has a phallic-shaped water tower that is, shall we say, unique; and It's sometimes better to search for something on your own or ask someone, rather than type something into an internet search. With that, I give you my tour of Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The modern brassiere was invented 100 years ago today by Caresse Crosby . She didn't like the way corsets of the time looked on her so she designed something that would better show off her figure. And men like me have spent every day since then thanking her for her genius. Happy birthday to the modern bra.

Gordon Lightfoot confirmed yesterday that he would change the lyrics to "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". His song about the sinking of a freighter in 1975 on Lake Superior originally had a line ("at 7 p.m. the main hatchway gave in") suggesting the crew were at fault for not securing hatches. However, Mike  and Warren Fletcher from the television show  Dive Detectives  were able to uncover evidence that exonerates the crew. Their show airs on History Television Canada. Unfortunately, it isn't available in the U.S. I love this news because it illustrates once more the power of television.

I made a short documentary on the Ransom Gillis House in Detroit's Brush Park neighborhood two years ago with my friend, Lee Runchey . It sat on YouTube for awhile, with hardly anyone watching it. However, in the past few weeks, my video has suddenly become at least somewhat popular with a dozen or so people checking it out every day. (I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it is a tenfold increase from where it was when I first uploaded it.) The weirdest part is that, according to YouTube's Insight feature, my video is most popular in Belgium.  So, to everyone from Belgium who has been watching my video, I'd simply like to say thank you.

One of my friends, Valerie Richards , has decided to go on thirty dates, with thirty different guys, in thirty days. This was one of those unique situations where she mentioned an idea to a few of her friends and, almost immediately, her adventure had gone huge. She has a couple hundred people following her on Facebook; After 5 Detroit has given her the opportunity to write about her dates for a feature there ; and Her story was even featured on Channel 7 News last yesterday evening. The video from her story is available below. I write about all of this on my blog because this morning, I got to become one of her thirty dates.  In fact, I was a her very first one in this adventure. We met this morning at the R.J. Hirt, Jr. Company in Eastern Market. She suggested that we go on a walking tour of the market that was led by the folks at Feet on the Streets tours and I was game for it. Luckily, we were a few minutes early so we able to run next door to Vivio's for coffee...

I found this video from Bluefish TV on-line and I love it. I recommend that everyone take a moment to watch it.

Inspired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "This Place Matters"initiative, Preservation Wayne and the Greater Detroit Historic Preservation Coalition have partnered to stage a group photo in front of the Michigan Central Railroad Station ( 2001 15th St. ) on Wednesday, May 20 at 5:30 pm. Please get the word out to EVERYONE you know. It would be great if this is the largest group picture in Michigan, maybe even the country! The photo will appear on Preservation Nation . For those not familiar with the "This Place Matters" initiative, the project aims to identify historic places throughout the country that truly matter to people. In Michigan, and Detroit specifically, the MCS has been identified by many as a place that they want to see saved. More details may be found on this website: http://www.preservationnation.org/take-action/this-place-matters/ Details: Please meet in front of Michigan Central Station on Wednesday, May 20 at 5:30 pm. The phot...

I had the weirdest dream about the Michigan Central Station on Saturday night. I mentioned this dream in my Facebook status, which prompted a couple of people to ask about it. Since there's no way I could possibly describe this one in the limited space that Facebook gives for status updates, I figured I would make this into a blog post. Anyway, in my dream, I was walking near the long-abandoned Michigan Central Station. The building was in its current condition. I remember the sensation that there were a couple of other people walking along with me in this dream, but I'll be darned if I can remember who they are. Then things started getting a little weird. A random generic looking guy (white male, brown hair, brown eyes, average height, medium build, wearing a gray suit) walked up to one of the doors. He tried to open them, but discovered that it was locked. The doors weren't chained or anything like they currently are - just locked. He then walked up to me and asked...

Being the techie - and once upon a time campaign staffer - that I am, I jumped onto the White House's web site a moment ago. I have to say that I liked what I saw. My congratulations go out to our 44th President of the United States Barack Obama . I wish him well in his coming years in office.

Today is the 10th Anniversary of the demolition of the former J.L. Hudson's Department Store in downtown Detroit. It was built in 12 separate stages, from 1891 through 1946. After all of that history, the building came down after 28 seconds of blasting. When the site was demolished, it was promised that this would open the doors to unprecedented development in downtown Detroit. The years later, all that stand on the site are the support columns for an office tower that was never built. In many ways, they serve as tombstones for a portion of Detroit's past. The Hudson's site has been targeted as one of the possible sites for Rock Financial's new headquarters. However, if you believe any of the speculation on the various blogs such as D-Tales or the Detroitist , that might never happen. The bizarre coincidence comes into play when one remembers that shortly after the Hudson's demolition, then Mayor of Detroit Dennis Archer announced that he was targe...

After having been dormant for 24 years, the historic Book-Cadillac Hotel re-opened its doors earlier this week as the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel . As someone who spent a couple of years working a documentary about this hotel and the efforts to bring it back - and who (pardon me for tooting my own horn) got nominated for two awards for this aforementioned film - there's no way I could possibly miss this one. I got to be one of the very first people to walk through its doors when they opened at 11 a.m. on Monday. I have to say that, all things considered, this was worth the wait. A few things got moved around inside of the hotel. The Italian Garden lost its sky light (a shame, but understandable in the grand scheme of things). The important thing is that the Book-Cadillac is back. I've heard one person after another over the past several years say that there was absolutely no way in which it would ever re-open; that it was destined to meet the wrecking ball. And now here it ...