Happy Fourth of July from The Tour De Hood

I hope you are having fun celebrating the Fourth of July today. I wish I could transmit aromas via the web, for all along the TDH route this morning, I could smell charcoal being ignited for afternoon and evening festivities. (For you non-Detroiters, we have a very weird fourth, as we sort of co-celebrate with our Canadian neighbors to the south, whose national holiday is on the first. The city’s official “big” fireworks display was last week. Today, it’s taken over by individuals and smaller municipalities. By the way, fireworks are “illegal” in Michigan, but that doesn’t stop Detroiters from blowing things up in impressive style.)

Here’s a big 4 to remind you of the date. (And inexpensive tire repair – a hallmark of American independence)

Such a Deal

Much of “urban” Detroit is abandoned or on its way to being abandoned. As a consequence, you’re more likely to run into prairie-ish areas than you might imagine. 2 miles from the heart of downtown it looks like wheat is making a comeback.

Amber Wave of Grain – right next to a major thoroughfare

Detroit being Detroit, though, this prairie-like setting is a block or two away from an abandoned factory. (Continental Aluminum).

Not Continental Motors

Nearby, I rode past an interesting exhortation to the local populace:

All the kids are doing it

What interested me was the addition (you can barely make it out on the left side of the photo) of the remnants of Nancy Reagan’s personal war on drugs.

Just say no to crack

I didn’t pass any dealers – weed or crack, along the way, but it was kind of early, and maybe they were taking the day off to celebrate the 4th, too.

Yesterday, I posted an in-progress mural across the street from Cliff Bell’s. Chris Coy finished the job, as you can see by the photo below.

Hygienic Dress League Mural #2

Good news is that the Predator in drag has a man friend now.

Gas mask guy ‘n’ gal.

For those of you who didn’t click on the Chris Coy link yesterday, here’s the Hygienic Dress League’s first mural. (It’s on Cass, not far from the murals shown above).

Hygienic Dress League Mural One

Many more people used to go downtown for their entertainment than they do today. This sign, I am sure, used to point to much fun for many people. I have no idea what restaurant, club, bar, or lounge the sign originally lured people into – perhaps someone can weigh in with an opinion or historical fact.

Welcome to (INSERT NAME OF ENTERTAINMENT VENUE HERE)

It still doesn’t feel like summer here. Grrrrrrr.  Maybe if the sun would come out for more than a few moments at a time it would heat up. But we’ve been living with semi-cloudy (semi-sunny for you optimists) weather for much too long to get any warmth momentum going.

Looking up on the 4th.

Finally, I spotted a unique pothole this morning. This photo doesn’t capture its peculiar qualities very well (sorry).  The best way I can characterize is thusly:  It’s virtually horizontal.

A non-vertical pothole

The potholes of Detroit continue to amaze in their variety.  I hope you all have a Fourth of July to remember.

Where’s the heat?

We need a leap month. This is not July, even though it is, by the calendar. This morning felt like early June or September. Weird. I think we need a National Leap Month. I propose we repeat June until it feels like summer. Then proceed.   Enough of that: Let us go forth to the hood.

First up, the optimistically-named Happiness Market, which is not showing much happiness to the world these days.

Sadly, Happiness is no more

You’ll notice the dreary sky. It was windy, too.  Not the happiest of weather for our 4th of July weekend.

Once in downtown proper, I stumbled upon this amazing painting on a building across the street from Cliff Bell’s.

Muralissimo

At first, I thought it was a painting of the Predator in drag, along with a fleur de lys motif added as a nod to Detroit’s French past.

Anyway, I was wrong. While I was snapping the photo, I met the artist who did it, Chris Coy. (He and his wife, Dorota Bilica, painted it together, but I didn’t meet her).  They’re also the artists behind the Hygienic Dress League, which you can read more about if you click on Chris’ name.

The mural I snapped isn’t finished, according to Chris, and it’s not the Predatrix, it’s a woman in a gas mask. He’s a really cool guy.

The rest of my ride was much more of a pleasure having met him.  The chocolate chip cookie at the Avalon bakery helped, too.

Not the Predatrix

Happy 4th.  I will be back with Independence Day, Hood-Style, later.

 

 

Pimp your Pontiac

It started out cloudy on the TDH this morning, but a brisk breeze from the SSW has blown them away.  While it was still cloudy, this pimped out Pontiac brightened my morning.

Pontiac Sunfire: Non-standard paint color.

There’s an abandoned building on Agnes near Townsend I’ve always wanted. I don’t know why, as it is not a spectacular architectural achievement. Here’s a photo of it. (I have no explanation for the weird distortion)

Abandoned Building

It’s a former Detroit Public Library building.  Don’t know the exact age it was erected, but it was during a period of time when spelling “Public” “Pvblic” must’ve given it some kind of extra intellectual heft.

Detroit Pvblic Library

Should I find out if the city wants to sell it? Then restore it?  Someone should take the advice of the graffiti on the back of the building.

Go ahead. Take the plunge

Once I got all the way downtown, I passed this pimped out trailer.

Steve’s Transportable Restaurant

I was lucky enough to spend a moment with Steve himself.  I asked him what occasioned his mobile restaurant to be parked on Broadway. “It’s for a white party,” he said, and quickly added, laughing,  “I don’t mean white people. Everyone dresses in white.” I figured as much.

In case you were wondering about what to do the next time you’re bored, come downtown! Everything’s great!

A promise of a bright tomorrow

That’s it until next week.  I’ll be on the lookout for more sinkholes. If you spot one, please let me know.

Girls, please don’t hand your hair to each other + sinkholes!

I’m really glad everyone has given up trying to spell correctly. Otherwise, I’d never run across gems like the sign I passed this morning.

Leave that hair alone!

How does one pass tresses? Does this refer to human hair, or are wigs included? Can we pass clippings? Is there a maximum length of clip before it becomes a tress, and therefore not passable? Is there an NGO in charge of the no hair passing rule? Are there more precise instructions somewhere on the internets?

My regular readers know that I periodically show off Detroit’s bad ass potholes. Today, I encountered two “potholes” that really deserve their own category.

Sinkholes.

Here’s the first one I spotted today:

Sinkhole One

This one’s on Kercheval, near Fischer. It also serves as a sort of ad hoc recycling bin.

Sinkhole One – demonstration of depth

Since I don’t carry a yardstick with me, I used my leg for reference. About 1/4 to 1/2 of a mile farther along, I pulled up next to this beauty.

Sinkhole Two

There’s a good reason you can’t see how deep it is.  I put my foot into it, then calf, thigh, hip and never hit bottom.  The following photo isn’t the greatest, but you’ll have to cut me some slack, as I was in the middle of a road with my leg stuck in a hole, and didn’t want to get run over. Voila:  Sinkhole Two.

My foot never touched bottom.

An early entry, but clearly a contender for the TDH sinkhole of the year award.

Don’t get the wrong impression. Today was a lovely day in the Hood, and I enjoyed a wonderful cappuccino at the  Avalon Bakery, as is my wont. I also had a nice chat with the effervescent Joe Posch, who, since he shaved off his moustache and got a haircut, now looks like Matthew Fox, instead of Errol Flynn.

Can an SEO expert explain this to me?

How do you get to my blog by using the following search terms: “saving privet ryan final”?  Someone did.

No joy in Hockeytown meets mystery arrows.

The gloomy weather today seemed to capture Detroit’s deflated mood.  The mighty Red Wings struck out last night, losing Lord Stanley’s Cup to those miserable pipsqueak Penguins. When all the news is bad (as it is around here), having a winning sports team does a lot to lift our collective spirits. Losing just makes things hurt more.

The Hockeytown Cafe in full somber mode.

I saw a peculiar message drawn in the dust of a “For Lease” building on Grand River & Fort Street.  I hope you can make it out. I think this may have been directed at a Penguin Fan last night. Welcome to Detroit, where you have the option of being killed.

Thanks for the warning. (And the choice)

I also encountered some mystery directional arrows.  Aside from their brevity (see earlier post about Detroit’s “Chinablock“), they seemed to have been designed specifically to endanger pedestrians. First, they point you in the direction of oncoming traffic, then lure you around the corner into more oncoming traffic. Then they stop.  Why they’re there is a complete mystery to me. The three following photos capture the complete length of the “directions”.

Beginning

Middle

End

Finally, some more mysterious graffiti.  I think Detroit’s new slogan should be: If it’s static, tag it. I’ve seen the “Gasm” tag before, but never in conjunction with Gasm’s new friends. I present to you the latest indecipherable grafitti on the TDH:

More mysteries: Elmer Porab Gasm

One more thing.  If you hurry, you can get a free hepatitis test at the church parking lot on East Grand Blvd & Lafayette.  (I asked what was going on) There’s a smoking DJ in action, too.

Detroit’s ‘Chinatown’. Make that ‘Chinablock’.

欢迎您到汽车城！Who knew? Some time in the past, Detroit made a feeble attempt to turn one or two Chinese Restaurants into the beginnings of a “Chinatown”. It never took hold, but the effort’s remnants are still intact. (At least at one end of the block). Here’s Detroit’s “Chinablock” – It’s on Peterboro between Cass Ave and Second Blvd.

Welcome Chinatown – view from Cass Ave.

That’s it. One block. There are two closed (and closed for a long time) Chinese restaurants, an abandoned apartment building, some empty lots, and a semi abandoned crack house looking place.

You can tell they sort of gave up on the premise by the time they reached the end of the block. The “Welcome Chinatown” kiosk on Peterboro’s intersection with Second Blvd. is a much less welcoming entity.

Welcome Chinatown – view from Second Blvd.

I’m guessing this was also a “Welcome Chinatown” kiosk – but it’s only a guess based on shape and location. There’s no typography left.

Detroit appears to have a strange attraction for miniature versions of things other cities have in larger amounts. Chinablock is one, as is the 6/100ths of a mile-long bike path you can view here.

The good news is you’re just a few blocks away from the most excellent Avalon Bakery, where you can banish your thoughts of potstickers and sate your hunger with a chocolate brioche and a superb cappucino. (Just a suggestion).

“You can lead a horticulture…

…but you can’t make her think.” So said Dorothy Parker, when challenged to use horticulture in a sentence. I guess people were wittier then than they are now.

I present to you one of the things I find very interesting on the TDH. As you know by now, much of my route passes by abandoned buildings, wrecked homes, and empty lots. These blocks used to have alleys, and way back when (say, about the 1920s or 1930s) many people planted roses along their back fences. Those roses, unlike their surroundings, have continued to thrive. It makes for an interesting scene later in the summer, when all of those magnificent roses are in bloom amidst the wreckage.

Here’s the first group of said roses I’ve seen in flower this year. Lovely, no? The rusted garage door sets them off quite nicely.

Roses in Hell, ver. 1

Roses from Hell, ver. 2

And all this time, I thought roses were hard to grow.

Couldn’t ride this weekend, but here’s a pothole for your amusement.

I had to work this weekend, and couldn’t get in a ride. To keep your appetite for exciting TDH news at bay, here’s a 2009 contender for pothole of the year.

Pothole cum crime scene cum tire recycling center.

Back soon with more exciting photos of my fair city.

Memorial Day

First off, let me assure you I know the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day. Memorial Day seems to have evolved into taking on the larger role of remembering veterans, those who died in battle, and currently serving members of our armed forces. That’s how I choose to think of it.

I stopped at the Elmwood Cemetery today. It’s on the TDH. Here are some of the memorial markers I spotted for those who served our country.

I also rode by the former Veterans Memorial building downtown.  I  got mugged here when I was 12. Today it’s a Ford/UAW building – for reasons I neither know nor can explain.

Finally, here’s a photo I took when Jennifer, Spencer and I visited Normandy a couple of years ago – it’s the American Cemetery, which you may recognize from the beginning of Saving Private Ryan.

I don’t know why we choose to celebrate Memorial Day by cooking something outside – but maybe it’s because all these people made it possible for us to do so.  Peace.