Listening to the CBC the other morning they were talking to the a county official about the idea of shrinking Flint Michigan. Sounds like a really interesting idea. It also sounds like Flint might be a place I want to visit before they do that, just to see all the abandoned houses. I've been mildly interested in the idea of abandoned houses/buildings/neighbourhoods for awhile now, but have never really checked any out. A couple summers ago I wanted to go looking for Ontario ghost towns (there are many), but then I found out that they weren't so much abandoned towns as just towns that are gone.

Speaking of abandoned houses and Michigan, this post here about Feral houses in Detroit has been making the rounds lately. Crazy, interesting stuff.

The idea of a road trip to Michigan has been discussed before, to check out the nice things highlighted in their amazing ad campaign, but I'd say if we went, I'd definitely want to make a stop to look at all of the decay along the way.
------
A quick poke around Sweet Juniper! (where the Feral houses post comes from) reveals many other fascinating examples of Detroit decay. Here's a quickly cobbled sampling:
A street where 60 of 66 homes are abandoned
An abandoned Zoo
An abandoned school (this one is especially good/bad as I was in awe at everything left behind, including student psych records, of students still in the system, with social security numbers listed. That's just not right, but would be interesting/terrifying to see/read)
------
As you may know, I am pretty excited about spectacle when it comes to my movie going experience (either that, or the most accurate reflection of how I feel life is, like Away We Go, which was amazing by the way). As such, the movies I have seen in the theatre most recently tend to be 3D (My Bloody Valentine, Coraline, Up) or IMAX (Watchmen).

Possibly breaking new ground to this end is XGames 3D. It could quite possibly be terrible, and totally not worth it. And, of course, there's the corporate aspect to the whole thing. But seriously, "extreme" sports in 3D? I definitely hope I'll get the chance to see this.
------
Here's a movie I'm going to have to see. (finally something design related in my blog!)
------
This is weird.

I believe I've said it before, but I have to say it again, you really should check out the Studio On Fire blog Beast Pieces. They're consistently doing super nice letterpress pieces and sharing them with the world.

Here're two I've been keeping unread in my reader to share with you:
Birds of Sadness poster
Shine flashlight (yet more self promotion that I'm loving...)

And an example of how they're just straight up bad-ass: Vintage beer can wall. The image above comes from this one. That would pretty overwhelming to stand in front of, I think.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So it's been awhile since I've posted. Not much time to relax and compile stuff lately, lots of other things to do...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This one's from a little while back on Deputy Dog: weird church ceiling. Seriously, why would someone do that?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Does anybody want to give me $6000(us) so I can buy this? I've been thinking for awhile that at some point I'll want to move up to the MacBook Pro, but the problem is, none of them are black. Good thing these people solved that problem! Matte black, soft touch, limited edition of 10. Ridiculous. Amazing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amazing promotional material for a library. Seriously. Nice stuff. (via draplin)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This clock clock looks pretty amazing. Gonna have to look into how it works a little more, 'cause that second picture just looks nuts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may or may not know that I'm a fan of vintage office supplies, particularly staplers. As a result, this Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies particularly appealed to me. Going to have to keep an eye on this one for gems like this colour wheel, and this lead pointer and lead cleaner. Nice stuff.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watched the movie of the 2003 edition of the Gumball 3000 last night. Envious of those cross country racers, for sure. I kept thinking, there's gotta be people who do this in regular cars and close to the speed limit, don't there? The $44,000 entry fee ($120,000 last year because they flew the cars to numerous locations) would clearly be a hindrance too, but still, a guy can dream, can't he? Here's hoping we'll be able to get another road trip in this fall like last fall. Maybe around Michigan?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The best party of the year is almost here. Disc Golf is on the 27th, and I am so looking forward to two days of not thinking about doing any work at all. Stressful times for sure being a new home owner, and having lots of stuff at work (and getting asked last second to design disc golf materials...).

Funny thing about the new house? I was so excited about getting away from the Erb St. construction, and what happens today? They start ripping up our street. Yay.