environs

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Leaving Michigan

Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Montcalm road
Montcalm road, Lowell, Michigan
My server’s been offline the better part of the last month due to the fact that I’ve been out of town and some errant process filled up my swap partition1. So I’ll be backtracking in subsequent posts and filling in some details of my Michigan sojourn that I haven’t yet had the ability to post.

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When the traffic signs are riddled with gunshot, it’s probably best to wear orange clothing and remove your bambi costume.
But here’s a bit of news from the present, surrounded by photos from my last drive into the countryside2: I’ve been in Michigan for a couple of months working on a film, and today I’ll be heading back to LA to continue working on the film for another month. My plan then entails relaxing for a couple of days with nothing to do, then a freak out and mad scramble to find another gig. I’ll be back in Los Angeles come Monday 10/26/2009. Let the wild rumpus begin3.

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Does the windmill at the center of this field really serve any function at all? And what crop is that? It’s not corn, not wheat. Everything in this photo might represent form without function. I’d have trudged further out into this field to get you a better view, but the wacko crop made it difficult and I was worried the farmer would appear and shoot me.
I will miss some things about this town. I’ll save them for a later post, which would have been an earlier post but for the problem noted in paragraph 1 of this post. Ah well, life goes on. It’s nice to be back online, and will be nice to be back home.
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Oh hey, a cat. Who doesn’t love cats?

  1. Yeah, one would think that swapping partitions was a “Free Love” era tradition, but it continues in all modern operating systems. There are even key exchanges. [↩]
  2. Photos shot on 10/18/2009, click any of them to see them writ large. [↩]
  3. “Begin” is an anagram for “being”. Think about it. Stop thinking about it. [↩]

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Some positive food notes from Michigan

Saturday, September 26th, 2009
Lunch at the Backwater Café in Lowell, MI
Lunch at the Backwater Café in Lowell, MI

Lamb chops at the Flat River Grill in Lowell, MI
Lamb chops at the Flat River Grill in Lowell, MI
Lest I seem too dour about the food I’ve encountered during my stay here in Michigan, I’d like to point out that there have been some highlights.

Lowell township does have one reasonably fancy joint, “The Flat River Grill”, which serves tasty and colorful food, wine, &c.

The more commonplace local cuisine, can be good enough to make its characteristic beige color seem like a benefit. I enjoyed the hot turkey sandwich that can be seen at the top of this post. The Backwater Café also bakes their own bread. Fresh bread is never a bad thing, right?

Fresh bread at the Backwater Café
Fresh bread at the Backwater Café

I would like to do less eating-out and more cooking at home, but given the hours we work on location that can be difficult. Luckily, this coming Monday, I won’t have to cook or eat at all.

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Maximum irony encountered while washing dishes

Sunday, September 20th, 2009
Imprinted on the bottom of a dish: TodaysHome Made In ChinaA closeup of the text "TodaysHome Made In China"
A closeup, in case you’re too lazy to click on the previous photo and then wait for the large version to load, or in case you still couldn’t read the text once it loaded. Now that you’ve read this far, it’s of paramount importance that you know what was printed on the bottom of the plate by a factory worker in a faraway land. Otherwise all that time you spent reading this post? Wasted.

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People fishing under the dam in Lowell

Sunday, September 20th, 2009
fishing under the dam in Lowell, Michigan
At left can be seen a few folk fishing under the dam (center) on the Flat River here in Lowell, Michigan

The photo was taken (and stitched) within a few feet of this location:


View Larger Map

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Flags and Industry in Lowell, Michigan

Saturday, September 19th, 2009
The King Milling Company
The King Milling Company1

A flag on main street
A flag on main street

  1. Stitched from a few photos on iPhone with the very fun ‘AutoStitch’ app. [↩]

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L’shana Tovah everyone

Saturday, September 19th, 2009
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I’d have titled this “L’shana Tova Y’all”, but it appears that actor Levar Burton beat me to the punch.

After a few weeks of living in a hotel room in Grand Rapids, I’ve packed up my things and moved into a shared apartment with the film editor here in Lowell, MI, just a couple of blocks from the editing room. It’s nice to no longer have to drive 25 miles to and from work every day. Tonight I used that extra time to prepare my own dinner rather than eat out. Hooray for homey food that isn’t beige.

Posted in Judaic, Photos, environs | 1 Comment »

Lowell, MI 9/14/2009

Monday, September 14th, 2009
Seen on main street today while walking over to the Flat River Grill to pick up lunch for editorial.

photo of Lowell's main street

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The crackdown on motor vehicle fuel theft begins

Sunday, September 13th, 2009
I guess Michigan must have a serious “motor vehicle fuel theft” problem. That and the most serious-looking police officer/models in the country.
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Drive-offs don't drive in Michigan
If one photo is good, two is better.

Posted in Amusing, Photos, environs | No Comments »

Sunset in Lowell, Michigan – 9/3/2009

Friday, September 4th, 2009
A couple more panoramic photos shot on and stitched on my phone using the asswome app “AutoStitch“.

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I suppose there’s probably some historic reason why Lowell has a paddlewheel riverboat named the Robert E. Lee (just right of center) sitting on the high water above a small dam. before I leave town I’ll have to figure that one out.

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The flashing police car lights (at left) in the parking lot opposite the sunset add some color.

Posted in Filmmaking, Photos, environs | 1 Comment »

Today’s lunch: for those of you who thought Koko’s chicken looked tasty

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

I present to you the Backwater Café’s hot turkey sandwich:

The Backwater Cafe's hot turkey sandwich

From this small sample size of local food photos, one would think Lowell, Michigan, is all about beige-colored carbohydrates.1 Will a larger sample size prove otherwise? Stay tuned, I’ve a couple more months here.

  1. for the record, the food’s generally pretty tasty [↩]

Posted in Amusing, Filmmaking, environs | 1 Comment »

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