The Henry Ford, Greektown and downtown sights

DETROIT: Corned beef and the cars of the future

We’re convalescing this morning with oatmeal and coffee after finally getting some sleep last night. Yesterday was a big day. We started at United Meat and Deli, a small, high-end corned beef processor and wholesaler that is incidentally owned and operated by my dad. There we saw another side of Detroit industry and prepared Noah for the best Reuben of his life. The videos from our factory tour are amazing, so stay tuned for those: My mom gave us the tour. Here she is next to a vat of cured beef brisket That’s my dad! And the man in charge. Kegs of corned beef brisket ready to ship out. Noah needs to ditch the dock shoes in the winter. Cans of Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda ready to ship out Hygrade Deli on Michigan Avenue, right around the corner from the plant The last perfect bite After Noah got teary eyed over his sandwich, we set a course for the main event: the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Hall, where there were hundreds of journalists reporting on hundreds of cars. We heard a lot about how subdued the show was this year, but with no basis for comparison, we thought it was pretty lavish and overwhelming. And almost every major manufacturer came prepared with several hybrid models, touting fuel cell technology, plug-in adaptability or hydrogen engineering, with abundant shades of green and feel-good statements of commitment to the good of the world. We even drove a 2010 Ford Fusion on an indoor track in a basement show room. The lead on the front page of the Detroit News this morning: the battery race is on. Pretty exciting. The Ford show floor Not an optical illusion Hot Lamborghini models All-electric Tesla Roadster Noah in a fly BMW convertible Chevy Volt drivetrain Flashy Jaguar show floor Noah, the Detroit River, and Windsor Ontario We have to hit the road and get our asses back to Milwaukee before we get completely whited out in Indiana and Illinois. But we’ll have more video for you before we go to sleep and that hot photo album we promised you by mid-day tomorrow. We’ve had a wonderful time. The Motor City, as it always does, even in its backward and difficult way, completely delivered.

DETROIT: Planes, trains, lots of automobiles

We initially cancelled our trip to Detroit and the 2009 North American International Auto Show after Matt Wild announced that, due to the global financial crisis, he would not be financially solvent in time for our departure. The news came at zero hour, and for 24 hours, I was heartbroken. Then I got a call from Noah Therrien.Yes … your friend and mine … Noah Therrien: So we packed up some stuff, got a good night’s sleep and took off for the Eastern Standard Time Zone and the heart of America’s industrial heritage. After beating back a ferocious snowstorm, we made it to my parents’ house where we were greeted with five barking dogs and some really good soup. Our press credentials for the show aren’t effective until tomorrow, so we spent today catching up on the fabric of the Motor City and the motors of the past that made it famous. We spent the morning at The Henry Ford, America’s most impressive history museum, which was founded by Henry Ford himself to house the many innovations, inventions and ideas that are part of our cultural heritage. We saw steam engines, horse-drawn buggies, a 1986 Ford Taurus, antique combines, Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House, the bus in which Rosa Parks refused to move to the back seats, the limo in which John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the chair in which Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, an original copy of the Stamp Act, a 1914 electric car and a 1907 Harley. Oh, also the Ghostbusters car, and Luke Skywalker’s light saber. Enjoy: 1927 Bluebird schoolbus Kennedy’s limo What in the Sam Hill Really old Thor motorcycle Runnerboard from the 1914 Detroit Electric car. Marketed specifically to women – Henry Ford’s wife had one – because they were smaller, quieter, not so smelly and easier to operate. Spending the day in a constant state of awe, glee and giddiness worked up an appetite, so we drove into the city proper and had gyros and coffee in Greektown. Then we took the People Mover – an eloquently titled downtown monorail – on a sightseeing tour before our appointment at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Greektown – just what it sounds like. Opa. Touristing out on the People Mover The Spirit of Detroit. I have a tattoo of this. TIGRRRRRRRR!!!!! The beautiful Detroit Institute of Arts. Shinier than usual. Our granddaddy Henry Ford presides over the Rivera Court — frescoed by Diego Rivera — at the DIA We’ll start a bangin’ web album tomorrow and share it with you. Plus I have it on good word that Mr. Therrien will be posting a video in just a few minutes time. Stay tuned for dispatches from Hitsville USA, exclusive footage of Darth Vader’s death suit and the Batmobile, our enchanted afternoon of chess sets and strolling at the art institute, a scenic view of the Ford Rouge plant and so, so, so much more. You know, like, the Auto Show. We love you, VS On Assignment PS: […]

DETROIT: The video, part one

I promised it and here it is. This kid is a wizard. More where this came from! Stay tuned to Love Letters for more videos, photos and sassy anecdotes. And here’s the first installment of our On Assignment report, posted just moments ago. We’re having a wonderful time. In spite of Matt Wild.

Weighing in on the big announcement

I’m pretty sure this will be the last word on the subject of how it went when we made the announcement to go online full time, but I’ve gotten some really interesting feedback that I wanted to share. With only a couple of exceptions, the response from people was 100% positive, but a few folks had some advice for me on style points, with which I concur wholeheartedly. The letter below is from Shelly Tabor of BizTimes, and came to me through a LinkedIn group to which we both belong. I am publishing it with her permission. Hi Jon Anne, The talk in our office, BizTimes Media (formerly Small Business Times) was that Vital Source was done and the headline on the BizTimes Daily on Monday was “Publishers pull plug on Vital Source magazine”. Our reporters did get the information correct… the second and third sentences of the story correctly state that you are continuing your services and focusing everything to the web. I’m finding that it is more difficult for people to focus on the positive these days. Publishing is not dead… it is just going through a transition (like so many other industries). To survive and to appeal to a younger demographic, the focus must be web-based. I applaud you for taking the appropriate steps for survival and growth. My one bit of advice to everyone is to present information (press releases/ads/commercials) with a positive spin. I didn’t get to see your press release, so I am not saying that you did anything wrong. [Ed. Note: It was “VITAL Publications, LLC to cease printing VITAL Source Magazine”] Using this situation as an example… the first thing you should tell people is that focusing on the web product, planning for the future (and don’t be afraid to add a lot of frill and hoopla)… and then add that you will be discontinuing the print version. I know you are just trying to present the information, but your words paint a picture — and it’s better to paint a pretty one. The headline of our news report was so glum… you are not pulling the plug, you are simply regrouping and focusing on your future in publishing — a much greener future (both environmentally and economically, I hope)! I wish you much success in 2009! Can’t wait to see the website relaunch! Sincerely, Shelly Tabor Art Director BizTimes Media LLC — Biztimes.com | BizTimes Milwaukee | BizTimes Events | BizTech Expo | BizTimes Custom Publishing She is absolutely correct. I wrote the press release from a reporter’s viewpoint, not thinking about it through the lens of how it would be received, and the poor choice of headline was the kicker. I should have led with the good news and maybe some of the flap that’s ensued since the unfortunate MJS brief was posted last Sunday evening could have been avoided. And for my part in all of this, I owe MJS business reporter Rick Romell an apology. While his choice […]

What’s going on

What’s going on? Monday was kind of crazy around here. We announced that we are ceasing printing of our beloved VITAL Source, effective immediately, which in turn led to a (bigger than we expected) flood of emails, phone calls and damage control. But wait… immediately? Seems kind of sudden, doesn’t it? Seems so to us as well, but it’s like this… pardon the descent to metaphor, it’s one of my favorite literary devices and I’m short on time this morning. We went into 2008 with a burlap bag that had a little sand in the bottom. The sand represents revenue and resources. Over the year we filled it up pretty well for the first time, the customary numerous tiny rips seemingly repaired at long last. Then in late fall, we started to see signs of stress on our poor burlap receptacle. As the grains started to trickle out of a new little tear, we found ways to plug the hole or use less sand. Then suddenly, near the end of the year, we were faced with a couple of MAJOR cost increases. Which created a rip in the other side of the bag. Now there was a hole in each side of the bag and not enough sand coming in to keep it heavy. So we looked at every aspect of our bag and what caused it to rip most often. Sadly, it was producing the magazine in print form. Our printing costs increased dramatically January 1 and our revenue was somewhat weak – not terrible, but not enough for a small business with limited resources. The other parts of the business are still doing pretty well but the losses from the magazine would have ultimately emptied the bag entirely unless the economy magically turned around in less than a year. Which it’s not going to do. So we made a difficult decision. In actuality, this only affects the timing of an already-existing bigger plan. The new web portal we will now launch in February instead of April has been long in the planning and we would have liked to have done both simultaneously for awhile to see how the two worked together. But as unfunded operators with no desire to take on additional debt in these uncertain times, we had to make a choice: keep shoring it up and hope for the best or use our small reserves to follow through with our plan. We chose the future over the present. Our new site will be a forum for many voices within the community, expanding on the great base we’ve already built. We’ll continue to offer most of what was best about VITAL Source – SubVersions, REEL Milwaukee, Chow Baby!, One World, Stripwax, Talk Derby to Me, my column, What’s Happenin’ Milwaukee and more. We’ll also continue to steward Fan-Belt, Milwaukee’s most excellent independent music blog. And who knows? Maybe you’ll see VITAL Source Magazine on the streets again. Maybe sooner than you think.

VITAL Source is NOT calling it quits

So Rick Romell, who I was told was one of the best business reporters in the newsroom over at the ailing Journal Sentinel, posted a news brief on their website this evening that was cause for concern in several areas: 1. It was embargoed until Monday – a BIG journalistic no-no 2. It was grossly inaccurate in both spirit and fact 3. This guy pulled my chain for 30 minutes on the phone doing an interview, then basically condensed a statement I’d sent the paper, editing for length by removing important pieces of the truth and substituting some sort of sloppy interpretative dance version of of the facts. I know I’m not supposed to be rude, being a comrade in arms in the so-called journalism brotherhood, but hey, he shot at me first. And if it was an accident, well, I’m still bleeding, so if I poke him in the eye it was self-defense. I’m so angry I could spit, and I let their deputy business editor know it. In fact, that’s a direct quote from my email to Jim Nelson. Jim asked that I not be too quick to judge Rick personally, as it could have been the copy desk who took his story and dramatically changed it. The specifics of who did what don’t matter to me; the fact remains that this is some seriously sloppy, potentially damaging “reporting.” So what’s really going on? Here it is, in plain English. Just the facts. I’m pasting the press release itself so you can decide whether we’re going out of business by evaluating the same information received by the professionals. And the media wonders why nobody believes a word they say… FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jon Anne Willow 414-372-5351 jwillow@vitalsourcemag.com January 5, 2009 VITAL Publications, LLC to cease printing VITAL Source Magazine; move will strengthen other business lines [MILWAUKEE, WI]—The majority partners in VITAL Publications, LLC, announced this morning that, effective with the current issue (January 2009), the company will no longer print local culture magazine VITAL Source. The company will continue to provide media distribution and creative services (including design, writing and copy editing) to Milwaukee businesses and non-profit organizations, and to operate its popular website, vitalsourcemag.com, which will relaunch in early February with a new focus and feature set to better meet the needs of its audience. Further information on the new site will be available soon. Though the magazine had a record year in 2008 and the company as a whole is expected to turn a profit for the first time since it was founded in late 2001, the recent sudden downturn in the economy has dramatically changed the magazine’s revenue forecast for 2009. According to the owners, the reduction in overhead realized by taking VITAL Source out of production will keep the company cash-positive and positioned to continue its growth trajectory. “This is what makes sense right now,” said Editor in Chief and co-Publisher Jon Anne Willow. “It breaks our hearts to think we won’t be […]

NEW Global Issues column debuts this month!

One World, by former Slightly Crunchy Parent columnist Lucky Tomaszek, takes a look at global issues through a local lens and focuses on living in the world with as little damanging impact as possible and facing the challenges our families and communities face environmentally, economically and ethically. Check it out this month, let us know what you think and come back to this blog often for updates, information and resources for living consciously on our planet. -ed. BPA – you’re soaking in it About ten years ago, I started hearing quiet murmurs about Teflon pots and pans, Styrofoam cups, plastic dishes and disposable flatware. They were just rumors, really. Things mentioned quietly, in passing. At first I ignored it. Then I started asking a few questions. None of the people doing the whispering really seemed to know a lot about it – they had all just heard similar rumors and were passing it on. Finally, I got a short summary. There were a few theories being tossed around about the safety of consuming hot foods and beverages using any of these kitchen supplies. Maybe it wasn’t as safe as it seemed. A little online digging (in the very early days of the internet – pre-Google!) afforded me more parts of the rumors. The potential danger stemmed from the possibility that certain chemicals might be leached from the plastic by heat and absorbed by the macaroni and cheese or hot chai that was about to be ingested. This concept rocked my whole world. If this theory was true, there were so many things I had been doing for years that could be dangerous. It didn’t seem possible to me – everyone I knew used Teflon and plastic spoons and Styrofoam cups. No one seemed to be suffering any ill effects. There were no cases of cancer, no ongoing or mysterious illnesses. I tried to dismiss it. But the rumors persisted and I started noticing things. Like, how some of my plastic cups changed colors when I put hot cider in them, or how you could burn a hole clean through the layer of plastic wrap by overheating it in the microwave. I watched my food bubble up through those holes and realized it was entirely possible that whatever was in the plastic could be in my food. And though I didn’t know any of the science behind it, I knew that humans shouldn’t be eating plastic. Slowly, we started changing the way we did things around the house. No more foam dishes, very little plastic flatware. Hot food was served on regular old dishes, always. I ditched the coated pans, upgraded for cast iron one piece at a time. For the most part I did these things quietly. The whole concept was still so new, and I was well aware that it could all turn out to be a wave of hysteria that would be laughed at a decade later. At the same time, I wasn’t willing to risk it. So, […]

Roses in December

Artistic Director Mark Bucher is quite proud of the fact the Boulevard Theatre consistently produces plays that are premieres in Milwaukee. The most recent premiere produced by the Boulevard is Roses in December, by Victor L. Cahn. A play composed entirely of letters with no true interaction between characters can be daunting for both the director as well as the actors. However, the Boulevard proved incredibly capable with this early work of Cahn’s. The correspondence begins with a young woman, Carolyn Meyers, inviting a writer, Joel Gordon, to a college reunion. Even though Carolyn writes in a professional capacity, she also has a few personal reasons that unravel as their letters become less perfunctory and more intimate. Although Joel sees her letters as mildly annoying he begins to enjoy them and appreciate his growing relationship with Carolyn. With only two characters that are never physically in the same location, both actors need to respond to a growing relationship with another human being via letters. In the first half of the show, Bucher allowed his actors only a single moment of eye contact. As their letters deepen and explore the past, Bucher allows more direct interaction which helps to heighten the devotion both Joel and Carolyn feel towards their long distance relationship. Anne Miller, playing Carolyn, is as charming as Carolyn’s self-description. Miller’s exuberance and refined determination drive the play forward making a series of what could just be monologues into a lively exchange. David Ferrie lends an oddly engaging allure to a character that could easily be played as a one dimensional curmudgeon. Ferrie gives his character layer after layer of history and pathology that shape Joel’s entire adult life, lifting each overlay only when appropriate. Miller and Ferrie’s work together build the complex relationship that this type of play demands. Roses in December runs through January 18 at the Boulevard Theatre in Bayview. 414.744.5757 or boulevardtheatre.com.

Betamax, you’re off the hook. The makers of Sparks, not so much

Fig.1: a fish killed by Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia, or VHS. This is not the “VHS” we will be discussing here, but as maladies go, it has a pretty cool name, don’tcha think? The era of VHS is at its close. Pop culture is finally hitting the eject button on the VHS tape, the once-ubiquitous home-video format that will finish this month as a creaky ghost of Christmas past. After three decades of steady if unspectacular service, the spinning wheels of the home-entertainment stalwart are slowing to a halt at retail outlets. On a crisp Friday morning in October, the final truckload of VHS tapes rolled out of a Palm Harbor, Fla., warehouse run by Ryan J. Kugler, the last major supplier of the tapes. “It’s dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt,” said Kugler, 34, a Burbank businessman. “I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I’m done. Anything left in warehouse we’ll just give away or throw away.” … Kugler is president and co-owner of Distribution Video Audio Inc., a company that pulls in annual revenue of $20 million with a proud nickel-and-dime approach to fading and faded pop culture. Whether it’s unwanted “Speed Racer” ball caps, unsold Danielle Steel novels or unappreciated David Hasselhoff albums, Kugler’s company pays pennies and sells for dimes. If the firm had a motto, it would be “Buy low, sell low.” VHS has been very good to me over the years; my band used to “enhance” our live performances (and by “enhance” I mean “mask the lack in quality of”) with VHS footage of cheesy old sci-fi (the Desi Arnaz Jr.-anchored Automan), Japanese techno-virus art films (Tetsuo: The Iron Man), and blow-up doll porn. Sure, that could all be done with DVD now, but there’s something romantically punk rock about spackling together a cheap light show out of the refuse of your local Goodwill, and back in the early ‘00s, nothing spelled “kickass thrift store throwaway” like outmoded technology. Fig.2: VHS enabled my band to introduce Automan to literally dozens of Manitowoc punk kids But earlier today, as I read the LA Times article linked above, I didn’t find myself pondering nostalgia as much as I was thinking about how finally, at long last, the people who fucked up the marketing of Betamax are off the hook for letting the market flood with a subpar video format. Revolutionary for its day, the Betamax format was on its way to becoming the industry standard until the appearance of JVC’s VHS a year later. Betamax was probably a bit sharper and crisper, but VHS offered longer-playing ability, which made it possible to record an entire movie on one three-hour tape. The two formats were locked in a struggle that was eventually won by VHS. A number of theories as to why VHS emerged victorious have been floated, but the longer playing time was certainly crucial, as was the fact that VHS machines were cheaper […]

Milwaukee Actor is “GANGBANGER 1” in GRAND TORINO

lets end the REEL Milwaukee year with a warm n fuzzie. Peep a letter we received at Vital from Elvis Thao repping all the indie-film-actor-milwaukee-hmong’s out there. Peace y’alls: Howie ____________________________________________ I’m a local Milwaukee resident that just landed my first major film. Yes, as a cast. The title is Gran Torino and hits theatres here on January 9th, 2009 (wide). A Warner Bros film directed by Clint Eastwood. It is a four star movie and is in chase of an Oscar award. This is his LAST film acting, at that. Plus, hes already nominated for Best Actor. This is HUGE! All the major television and publishing companies nationwide already have their hands on this. The limited release had already come out December 12th. And the reviews are high. Check your search engines for ratings. However, the film has NOT landed here yet. SOON! This city needs some exposure to it. Lets create a demand for Milwaukee actors and city exposure. By increasing ratings. Also being Hmong, Id like to shed light on our community. Let me know how I can contribute to your corporation and yours to mine. We can even attempt to promote advanced ticket screenings and things of that nature directly from the WB. I have those contacts. Hope you catch the movie and hope to hear from you soon. Take care Elvis Thao

Riders on the Earth Together