Hail Canada!

I find it very interesting that nearly all of my favorite songs coming out the last few years have come from Canadians.

See http://vimeo.com/5210622 for my newest favorite by Great Lake Swimmers, "She Comes To Me In Dreams," off of their 4th release "Lost Channels." Hard to believe this song came out in 2009. When I first heard it on the radio, I was convinced it was from the mid-90's at the latest.

A few other recent albums I like from Canadians:

Young and Sexy - Panic When You Find It (2006)
Sam Roberts - Chemical City (2006)
Lily Frost - Situation (2004) --not recent at all, really, but hey it came out in the last decade.

More interesting things about Michigan

In my last post I may have given the impression that 10-cent returnables are one of the few decent things about Michigan. Well, that just isn't the case at all.

Here, in no particular order, are some other interesting things about my fair State:

1. The People Mover
2. Mafia tunnels linking mansions in Grosse Pointe
3. Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues in Ossineke (formerly at the Paul Bunyan Lookout and Campground, R.I.P.)
4. Belle Isle
5. Y.B.I. (Young Boys Incorporated)

Please comment with any other things you think make Michigan distinctive.

And above you'll find a portrait I did of Milton 'Butch' Jones, co-founder and leader of the now-defunct Y.B.I.. Mr. Jones is currently serving 30 years (which should've been life) in federal prison.

Two Bags of Cans

Here in Michigan we get 10 cents for each empty bottle or can of carbonated beverage we return. If there's something good about my home state, this is it. According to www.absolutemichigan.com, "A full ninety-six percent of eligible containers are recycled...[and] more than a half million tons of waste are diverted from landfills every year..."

Even though Michigan is the only state with a 10-cent deposit, I'm continuously surprised to find a good number of cans lying around. Some days I've even contemplated can and bottle collecting as a sort of full-time employment.

Like tonight. Next to a bush on a main thoroughfare, in the dark, I found two large paper bags of returnables. Maybe a professional can collector left them there. Maybe a bum. Or maybe a kid, a kid like I once was, collecting those 10-centers for some candy or a couple packs of baseball cards. If so, he was a stupid kid.

Never leave your bottles and cans in public.

And baseball cards aren't any good anymore anyway.