Icicles

I was wandering around our building at work taking pictures of some other things, when I stumbled across this.....

Since I haven't had too many winter pictures this year, I figured I would leave you with a shot of some icicles.  It has been pretty nice for the past couple of weeks but it sounds like winter may make a return towards the weekend.

Mail from the Westcott

It's that time again.  The time where I answer e-mail or comments from the people that have decided to ask me questions.

The first question is in regards to the website I use to track shipping on the Great Lakes.
There are actually two websites that I use to track shipping.  The one I started to use was http://www.boatnerd.com.  If you go to the link that says "Vessel Passages" and click the area you want to know about, it gives you a pretty good idea of what's coming down.  A better one is put out by boatnerd.  It tracks the ships realtime and is at http://ais.boatnerd.com.  On that one you can find a pulldown menu that limits your search.

The next question is in regards to the eagles that I take pictures of.
All I can tell you about that one is that they are in Bay City, Michigan.  It seems like there are enough people that go there and I don't want it to become more of a circus.

Is In-N-Out ever coming to Michigan?
I don't think that will ever happen.  Evidently, they have their own meat processing plant and they deliver fresh so that pretty much limits them to the West Coast.

Cialis or Viagra?
Um...why the hell do you people keep posting these comments on my blog?  Please leave me alone.  Thank you.

I also had a pretty cool comment on one of my Huron Lightship posts.

I also want to thank the various people that have pointed out mistakes on my blog or have helped me identify some of the things that I was unable to identify.

I've got many more pictures of the Westcott that I can use....so please use either the comments section or send me e-mail to kozzie_13 at yahoo dot com.

Thank you.

Some Shots of Downtown Grand Rapids

I have no idea what any of the buildings or streets are called as I don't venture over to the western end of the state much.  However, I was fairly impressed with the size of some of the buildings in Grand Rapids.  It never occurred to me that Grand Rapids was that large.

 So after the game, I had a little time to kill, so I took some pictures from the parking structure.  I think I may have overexposed things a little bit.

I would have liked this shot a little better if it were clearer.

All in all, I had a pretty good time on Saturday but it was too much driving or riding.

The Grand Rapids Griffins Vs. the Hamilton Bulldogs

One of my favorite sports is hockey and one of my favorite teams is the Red Wings.  I haven't been to a Red Wings game in a while and I've never been to a Griffins game.  I think the distance from home to Grand Rapids is a fairly large factor in that.  Well a reason to go to a game presented itself in the fact that one of my co-workers has a son that plays for a team that would be facing the Griffins.  So I decided to go to a game for that.

 The Griffins play in Van Andel Arena which is named after one of the founders of Amway.  It was constructed in 1996 and has a capacity of around 10,500.  The Griffins also started in 1996 as a part of the now defunct IHL.  In 2001, parts of the IHL were folded into the AHL and in 2002, they became the Red Wings affiliate.

 Since they were playing a Canadian team, O Canada was played.  I actually like that anthem.

 They also played the Star Spangled Banner.

 Brendan Smith tries to get the puck out of the corner, he is being hassled by one of the Hamilton Bulldog players.

 Jordan Pearce clearing the puck from the net area.

 Lefebvre taking a shot at the net.  It didn't go in.

 Pearce making one of many saves.

 One of the Hamilton players chasing after the puck.

 One of the interesting parts about going to minor league games is the things they do in between periods.  This was a gatlin gun t-shirt launcher.

 One of the zambonis clearing the ice between periods.

 Tatar as he takes a shot towards the net.

 The Hamilton goalie standing tall.

 The Hamilton goalie making a save.

 Brunnstrom taking a shot at net.

 Jamie Johnson setting up on the power play.

 Brendan Smith taking a slapshot.

 The puck back in the net and the look of shock on the goalie.

 Just a general scrum around the front of the net.

 Doug Janik taking a shot at the net.

 Nyquist clearing the puck from behind the net.

 The Hamilton goalie in the process of making a save.

 During the next intermission, they had a Tae Kwon Do demonstration.  I think this guy was breaking bricks.

 The other Zamboni cleaning the ice.

 Pearce making another one of his saves.

 Pearce standing tall.

 Smith carrying the puck out from behind the net.

 The Griffins celebrating one of their five goals.

 Brunnstrom advancing on one of the Hamilton players.

 One Hamilton players carrying the puck around the net.

 Lashoff carrying the puck from out behind the net.

 One of the Hamilton players taking a shot towards the net.

The Griffins congratulating the efforts of their goalie.  They won the game 5-2.

I had fun and the seats we got were excellent.  We were right at ice level.

On the Way to Grand Rapids

One of the reasons why I didn't have a ton of time on Saturday was because my dad and I were going to the Grand Rapids Griffins game.  We met in Fowlerville and he drove over to Grand Rapids.  On the way, I was treated to this sunset over I-96.

Interstate 96 is completely enclosed within the State of Michigan.  It starts near Muskegon on the west side of the State and ends at the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit.

Construction on I-96 began in 1957 and was going to be a replacement for US-16 which was finally decommissioned in 1962.  Construction for the most part was completed in 1962 but it took another 15 years to complete the sections through Detroit.  It also known as the Jeffries or Rosa Parks in Detroit.

Some Shots Around the Aquarium

If i would have had some time on Saturday, I would have made this the continuation of my Belle Isle series but as it was, I was fairly pressed for time.  I only had time to take the shots as I was waiting in line or going back to my car.  Plus the fact that it didn't really look like Belle Isle in February helped a bit.

 I kind of liked the look of this gnarly tree.  I thought it would look better in black and white, so I shot it in black and white.

 The Nancy Brown Peace Carillon.  I was around long enough to hear the chimes playing for quite a while.  It sounds pretty peaceful.  Unfortunately, this shot was obscured by the trees a bit.

 A shot of the Peace Carillon as I was heading back to my car.

This is the stream that sort of runs between the Strand and the Conservatory.  I liked the blue color but it reminded me more of a summer day than what is supposed to be in the middle of winter.

The Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory....Again

My pictures from Saturday continue.  As I said in my last post, I had a little time to wait in line for the Aquarium, so I decided to take pictures of the Conservatory as well.  I think this may be one of my favorite structures on Belle Isle.  It has that old school look to it.

 This building was also constructed in 1904 and was designed by Albert Kahn.  It was orginally intended to be a compliment to the aquarium and at one time you were able to go between both buildings.  That entrance was closed as the aquarium wanted to add a shark tank.

 Albert Kahn loosely based this design on Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

 In 1952, it was remodeled with some of the wooden beams being replaced by aluminum.

 In 1954, it was renamed the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory after she left her rather large collection of orchids.

 This is a Marshall Fredericks sculpture.

A view of the Conservatory that I was hoping to get for a long time.  I really love how the outside gardens flow into the building.