Christmas Lights in Downtown Detroit

This is another set of pictures that I apologize in advance for their quality.  I decided to swing down Jefferson to catch M-10 instead of braving the Bridge traffic to catch Grand Boulevard.  As I went through the tunnel that goes under Cobo Hall and popped up on the other part of Jefferson, I saw that they had lights set up in the medians.  So of course I had to take pictures.

I think they look kind of cool.

This of course means that I'll have to come back when I have some time to walk around.

Some Ships at Dusk

One of the unfortunate parts about winter is that the sun sets way too early.  This means that I am not able to get as many pictures as I would like.  Fortunately, I have a pretty decent selection for film speed on my camera but I lose a little clarity and I pick up grain.

I like this picture but I would have liked it more if it hadn't been so grainy.  The ship in the picture is the Calumet which has appeared on this blog a couple times in the past.

I bumped down the film speed a bit to make this a little darker and less grainy but the ship doesn't stand out as much as I'd like.

This was looking down towards the Great Lakes Engineering Works.  The ship is probably one of the 1000 footers but I'm not sure which one.

I believe this is a Coast Guard Harbor Tug and it may be one that I've taken a picture of before but for the life of me, I can't remember her name.  But I think it is a pretty neat looking ship.

The Detroit Skyline at Dusk....Again

I do like the view of the Detroit Skyline from the Riverside Park.  I think it is one of the better views you can get.  Unfortunately, I did not have the tripod, so these pictures are not the clearest they can be.

The sun was just below the horizon, so you get little bits of gold in this picture.

Looking down the Detroit River towards River Rouge.  There are a couple ships in there but the lights aren't quite bright enough.

And one last shot of the skyline, it wasn't quite as dark as the picture seems though.

The Ambassador Bridge at Dusk...Again....

So tonight found me at the Riverside Park again briefly.  I was hoping to catch remnants of the river traffic.  Sadly, there wasn't much.  And even more sadly, it was getting darker. 

Alas, I had enough light to get this shot, although I think I was pushing it.  I may have to try this one with a tripod so I can keep the camera on the same plane as I take the picture, that might give me a nice smoothe transition.

Birds on a Wire

Ever since I saw this in a National Geographic, I've wanted to try to recreate this picture.  The impetus was even more when I found out that someone translated this into music.   At any rate, I thought it was a pretty cool shot.

Imagine this going out to infinity.  I think I like this one a little better than the one I originally saw because I got a little sunset effect in it.

Another part of the wire.

Closer to the pole.

I thought I would get the pole in this shot.

The Michigan Left

I apologize for the quality of the picture as today was the first proper snowfall of the season and my windshield was a little on the dirty side.   I've been thinking of taking a picture of this as this may be phenomenon unique to Michigan but I'm not entirely sure.

Basically, you would perform a Michigan left on roads that have a center median. In Michigan, you typically can not make a left directly on one of these roads.  You have to turn right and cut over to the median and basically make what amounts to a U-turn.  I'm not sure if there are other places where you do this.

Rynearson Stadium - Quiet in the Rain

As I was leaving the game, I looked over in the direction of Rynearson Stadium.  There were some people walking down the stadium and it looked kind of cool in the rain.

With EMU's defeat at Northern Illinois, we close the book on their football season.  At 6 and 6, they did better than they've done since 1995 but somehow it seemed like they could have done better.  If only they had scored that touchdown against Ball State or Kent State, they might be looking at a bowl game.  Instead they are looking at another off season of what could have been.

That being said, I think they are in a good position for next year.   Most of their offense will be back next year and hopefully Coach English has been teaching the up and coming defensive players.  I'm not sure what to expect next year, but you never know.

EMU vs. MSU - Post Game Shots

And some shots from after the game.

Coach Murphy shaking hands with the Spartans.

Tom Izzo giving an interview.  The game was broadcast on ESPNU.

And a shot of the scoreboard.  MSU won 72-40.  Despite the lopsided score, I think Eastern showed some signs of things to come.  They looked pretty good defensively for part of the game but I think they were pretty well outgunned.

EMU Basketball Vs. Michigan State - The Game

And some shots from the game itself.

The Jump Ball.  I think that Eastern actually won the jump ball.

Antonio Green as he gets ready to charge the basket.

Darrell Lampley getting mugged by a mob of Spartans.  It just didn't seem like Eastern could get anything together today.  I realize they were facing a much better team but even when they got open, they missed the baskets.

Balkema as he tries to do a layup.  I think he may have been fouled on this shot though.

Antonio Green going for the basket.

Austin Harper dribbling the ball.

It was fairly crowded for an Eastern game.  This is a shot of the student section.

And a shot of Swoop.

Darrell Lampley taking a run at the basket.

The halftime show featured something strange.

One of the Spartans dunking after getting a turnover from Eastern.

Another one of those moments where you just scratch your head.

I think the halftime show spilled over into the game.

And the man was swallowed into the belly of the beast.

Another Spartan player going for the basket.

And another dunk....

Swoop trying to distract the free throw shooter.

Tom Izzo thinking about something.  Followers of this blog know that I am a Michigan fan as well but I do have a strong admiration for Izzo.  He seems to be one of the coaches that does it the right way.

And another dunk.....

And Eastern got in on the act.....but by this time, the game was a foregone conclusion.

And the EMU cheerleaders.

EMU Basketball Vs. Michigan State - Pre-Game

So today was the Michigan State Vs. Eastern Michigan Basketball game at the Convocation Center.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect, so I headed to the game a little earlier than normal as I thought it would be crowded.  Well I did know one thing to expect, EMU would probably lose.  Other than that, I didn't know.

They had the EMU Basketball Band there and that was kind of cool.  I think this is the first time I've seen them this year.

Antonio Green during the warmups.

The team standing for the Star Spangled Banner.

My Last Ship...

As I was about to pack it up for the day, I saw this ship pull out of the Rouge River.  I'm not 100% sure but I think she may be the American Mariner.

I couldn't really make it out too much because she was so far away.

And heading somewhere.

The Stephen B. Roman on the Detroit River

So the ship I ended up seeing coming down the river was the Stephen B. Roman.  She has appeared on this blog repeatedly because she often calls on the cement plant in Essexville.  I thought it would be cool to catch it from a different angle and underway.

Here is a shot as she passes by the Ren Cen.

After she's passed the Ren Cen and heads towards the channel.

As she approaches the Ambassador Bridge.

The Wescott pulling up to her.

The Westcott staring to pull away.

As she passes by the Ambassador Bridge.

A shot of the pilothouse.

As she passed the park, she started to turn around because she was docking in Windsor.

I rarely get a direct shot of a ships stern.

As she is almost turned around.

Pulling into the dock.

And docked.  This is the second time that I've gotten to see a ship turn around on the river.  I'll have to admit it was pretty cool watch.