Found Michigan

Jiffy, Remixed

Emily Bingham — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:40:07 +0000

THE JIFFY FACTORY IN CHELSEA, MICHIGAN // PHOTO BY EMILY BINGHAM It might not be as well-known as vintage Michigan brands turned hipster favorites like Better Made chips and Faygo pop, but the stuff inside Jiffy Mix’s iconic little blue-and-white boxes has been a mitten-made staple for 80-plus years. And if hanging around, cranking out [...]

My Life in Michigan: Jazz Was So Punk

Found Michigan — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:07:28 +0000

Jazz/rock drummer Alex Trajano, 43, of Detroit talks about a life lived seamlessly between suburbs and city. * * * When I look back, I think I had a pretty normal American childhood. Like, our bikes were our freedom. My friends and I, we’d come home from school and just hit it! We’d [...]

Reimagining Flint

Lou Blouin — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:25:40 +0000

FLINT MAYOR DAYNE WALLING // PHOTO BY EMILY BINGHAM Detroit, with all its problems and potential, has become the poster child for urban reinvention—not only in Michigan, but internationally. But 70 miles north, plagued by similar problems of blight, population loss, crime and poverty, the city of Flint has been quietly taking its own stab [...]

Living With Wolves

Emily Bingham — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:29:24 +0000

THE WOLVES OF ISLE ROYALE—THE OLDEST WOLF PACK IN MICHIGAN There’s only been one time in the history of Michigan’s wolves when they weren’t the subject of great controversy: when there weren’t any wolves in Michigan. Reviled and feared by the earliest white settlers, the state’s apex predator was actively eradicated from the Michigan woods by [...]

My Son, The Promoter

Emily Bingham — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:02:59 +0000

JEFF BECK AT THE GRANDE BALLROOM, 1968 // PHOTO BY TOM WESCHLER Ask Detroiters of a certain age where they first saw Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Who, Janis Joplin—and just about every other major rock act of the 1960s—and they’ll probably tell you, “The Grande Ballroom.” They might even have a story or two about [...]

The Ford Mustang: In Photos

Found Michigan — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:35:13 +0000

The Ford Mustang marks its 50th birthday next year, but for a car this wrapped up in the American story, we thought we’d start the party a year early. It was 49 years ago this month that the first Mustangs rolled out of Dearborn, Michigan—casting a spell on the American public and kicking off a hot-burning [...]

What the Hell is Happening in Detroit?

Found Michigan — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:36:00 +0000

Midtown Detroit (Photo by Ian Freimuth) Last year, we published a piece simply called “What the Hell is Happening in Detroit?” As the title might suggest, it was our attempt at providing some clear, candid answers to the clear, candid question that is on many people’s minds these days—namely, how what used to be one of [...]

Decoding the Michigan Dialect

Found Michigan — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:07:12 +0000

hen we think of accents or dialects in America, it’s usually places like the South or New York City that come to mind first. But we Midwesterners—we speak “standard English,” right? Actually, that’s just a myth. Many Michiganders not only have a detectable accent, we have a full-blown dialect—multiple dialects, in fact. And the way [...]

The ABC’s of March in Michigan

Tom Bohnhorst — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:28:09 +0000

Illustration by Lou Blouin Technically, it’s only 31 days. But to your itchy, dry skin, vitamin-D-starved cells, and cabin-fever-battered self-esteem, March might as well be that seemingly eternal last mile of a goddamn winter marathon. The snowbirds—i.e., the smart ones—get the hell out of here; those that stay, it’s amazing we don’t end up eating [...]

Hockey In A Parallel Universe

Lou Blouin — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:28:33 +0000

Grand Rapids Griffins captain, Jeff Hoggan “A young team.” That was the phrase an NBC sports commentator actually used a few weeks ago to describe this year’s Detroit Red Wings. Given that one of the most familiar and irritating refrains for the last few seasons has been how old the team is—translate: past their peak, [...]