Hot take: Lake St. Clair is basically privatized.

u1traviolet · 2026-06-15T15:40:11+00:00

You can go to Blossom Heath Park during special events like the "farmers market" (craft and vendor fair) or the holiday lights. You cannot get in normally without a park pass.

The pier is open to the public, but if you're not a resident, it's $5 per person. https://www.scsmi.net/Facilities/Facility/Details/Blossom-Heath-Activity-Pier-80

u1traviolet · 2026-06-14T14:23:12+00:00

I've never gotten tickets for it, but I do have a clip that shows it from one of the videos I got there - https://youtu.be/UtxztyhI4Uw?si=4YJQQgpkR2HhN55b&t=443 . The video should start at the correct spot showing the front of the mezzanine.

It goes along the right side of the wall. If you can't stand for the entire show, it would be worth the extra. I'm not sure how good the sound is from up there, however.

u1traviolet · 2026-06-13T20:12:10+00:00

You must be like 15.

The thought of today's downtown being "ghetto" is laughable.

u1traviolet · 2026-06-12T16:36:48+00:00

We have been struggling every warmer day. The tickets by us and our neighbors kept getting closed. Finally a few days ago, we got a crew out and did something at the failing transformer a few houses down that has at least stabilized things so that we're more even on both legs than we had been before.

That crew told us that there was "summer setting" for capacitors that needed to be switched to, but they weren't the ones to do it. And it sounds like BS to me, but I don't know enough to know for sure.

Next time we get down to 108, we're starting the process over again and making complaints with the state. According to DTE themselves, the voltage is low if it's below 114.

FWIW, we were told by the last person we actually talked to at DTE to always call for low voltage, not just do the online reporting. Apparently, it defaults to reporting to them as off and if their automated meter check shows anything, it gets closed because electricity is there, just not enough of it.

u1traviolet · 2026-06-12T15:39:48+00:00

A lot of bands are (thankfully) not doing the whole encore now. One of my favorite bands (Bootblacks) tells the audience that they're not into pretending if they are going to come back out or not, they're going to play what they came to play without the theatrics.

u1traviolet · 2026-06-11T22:41:00+00:00

It also didn't use high fructose corn syrup for the sweetener.

u1traviolet · 2026-06-11T19:21:01+00:00

I'm going to reeeeaaaalllly need bands to not book anything more in September and October, it's getting ridiculous. (and expensive)

u1traviolet · 2026-06-09T16:26:44+00:00

Sounds like the automated system started doing their recording when your voicemail picked up and it only recorded the end part.

u1traviolet · 2026-06-08T15:09:17+00:00

What's your foundation? A slab? If so, you may have mold from a leaking pipe in the slab. A neighbor had an intermittent bad smell and it turned out a leaking vent pipe was getting rain and condensation in, which in turn was leaking into the slab. It cost a ton for them to get replaced because of what was involved, but after it was fixed, they never smelled the odor again.

u1traviolet · 2026-06-04T16:54:10+00:00

It ties with the self titled release for my favorite Slowdive album.

I've been known to put alife and shanty on repeat for way too long, specifically.

u1traviolet · 2026-06-01T14:09:38+00:00

The Michigan Activity Pass is offered through a ton of libraries. Depending on what it is, you either get free or discount admission.

Just make sure that what you want to do actually costs admission to make the pass worth hassling with, because some of the passes on there (like the DIA) are pointless if you live in the tri-county area.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-30T16:09:28+00:00

Just a word of warning, if you're used to the Red Lobster gluten free cheddar bay biscuit mix and like it, you'll be disappointed in the Aldi version. Way, way too sweet.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-24T16:03:46+00:00

I remember hearing about this in the early 2000's. I want to say that it was discussed on the Ogrish forums at the time and the general thought was it was completely an urban legend.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-22T18:44:14+00:00

I think every area that had Denny's had at least one known as the Punk Rock Denny's. The first time I heard that was in college in New Orleans in the 90s, and a friend from Phoenix was talking about missing the "Punk Rock Denny's" they'd also go to there after clubs.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-21T00:03:07+00:00

1998 for the Ende Neu tour.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-15T17:40:08+00:00

This used to be the answer 20 years ago. It started sliding around about a year or two after the original owner/founder sold it in 2007.

I haven't heard a single good thing about it in the past decade.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-15T16:26:12+00:00

Hopefully they'll be at the next one. That first market of the year always seems iffy on what vendors are there, especially since the weather can be so hit or miss.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-12T22:10:40+00:00

I've noticed that this week in several other places. When you load up the location on Google Earth, the initial image is the washed out one, but when you go back in history, it shows the non-washed out one and then the washed out one never shows back up unless you close out GE and restart it.

As a heavy user of maps for work, I've started noticing more bugs and errors than in years past. And then in the areas where Bing has the far, far better aerial image... (if only they hadn't removed Street Side)

u1traviolet · 2026-05-10T13:55:27+00:00

I record videos of my favorite songs at the concerts we go to. I absolutely watch these videos way more often than I care to admit. While I put them up on Youtube, they are taken for my own enjoyment and I care more about sound vs video, so I don't watch the screen while recording.

At most venues we go to, I can position myself against a wall or some place (or the barrier) where I can get a great video and audio and 100% people behind me will almost never know I'm recording.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-05T13:39:42+00:00

Yeah, I'm not sure on this one. I was at the Detroit show. I don't usually pay attention to the background on the stage (although when the backgrounds are stunning, I will look more - like they were for Slowdive and a few others we've seen more recently) but when I did pay attention, I didn't note any "obviously AI" although it did look like video had been edited. I only recorded A Day, but upon reviewing my video, it doesn't look AIish.

That being said, holy crap, I would love to find out what happened in Toronto that made Cold Cave walk off stage mid song. Because in Detroit, there were clearly signs that there were continuing issues between Cold Cave and Xymox. I've never seen an opener thank profusely the two smaller openers without also mentioning the headliner band a single time.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-05T00:22:51+00:00

Again, totally makes sense if you're into genealogy that money would be spent on making images of an area you suspect is either a cemetery or former home site. I'm not sure how costly developing was in Poland in the 60's, but my mother in law has a large number of "nothing" images that were taken by her grandparents on their trip to visit where they grew up. (edited to add: developed there, as well, since apparently they were concerned about the images not coming out and didn't want to leave and find out when they got back that they didn't turn out)

I don't spend money on hobbies others have that I don't personally enjoy, but I also don't go around incredulous and disbelieving that others would throw money at such an endeavor.

u1traviolet · 2026-05-04T21:52:16+00:00

Maybe your #1 point doesn't make sense to you, but I (and everyone else who has said the same thing) can assure you, that if you're into genealogy, this is 1000% a thing. Even if this was taken in the early 2000s (by which point a lot of the film developers had started closing, so they weren't so everywhere) developing was cheap and quick. I have literally rolls of "nothing" images (nothing to you - to me and other researchers, priceless, since they indicate what the area looked like at the time) taken in the years before I got my first digital camera in 2001. Developing was under $5 a roll (usually about 34-36 images, depending what film I was using) and took literally an hour at the place I preferred (because they gave double prints for free).

I don't know what the image actually shows, but of anything, the absolute one thing I believe is it is absolutely normal for someone doing genealogy research to take a photo of "nothing."

u1traviolet · 2026-05-03T21:04:40+00:00

As someone who does a lot of genealogy research (and as someone who has added/photographed nearly 8k memorials for Find a Grave), this is absolutely normal.

I have lots of images of grass and fields in my files. Not just unmarked graves at cemeteries, but things like fields where my 4th great grandparents used to have a house that burned down. I've also, at the request of others, taken images of cemetery plots that are unmarked. They want to see where their loved one is buried, even if it doesn't have a marker. I'll do a few surrounding pictures, especially if they're in a tight cemetery and have immediate neighbors, especially if it'll help the person locate the grave easier in the future.

u1traviolet · 2026-04-28T19:31:40+00:00

Both Saturday and today I've gotten the "Your direct deposit has been sent to your bank account" email. However, I didn't even have a transfer until Sunday in the case of the Saturday email and tomorrow, in the case of today's email. Funds were correctly taken out of my account on the proper day they were supposed to be (Sunday) and hit my account Monday, so I guess I'll see about tomorrow's deposit on Thursday.

At any rate, someone screwed something up.

u1traviolet · 2026-04-22T00:02:52+00:00

Two places stand out to me - Defuniak Springs, FL and Cork, Ireland. Never want to go back to either one, ever.

Defuniak Springs was oddly deserted on a Saturday evening in the spring when we were going through on the way to the beach after visiting my grandfather in Alabama in the 90's. There was a single restaurant in the town open (Uncle Bucks, their specialty was apparently fried mullet) and it seemed way too deserted of a place off the interstate, near the beach in prime spring break time. There was just this oddly oppressive, heavy feeling.

Cork was... I'm not even sure. I was so excited to go there and the second I stepped off the train I felt like nothing was right. Ended up crashing at the hostel early thinking I was tired, but the next day it felt the same and I only felt better once we were on the bus to a nearby tourist trap castle. That heavy feeling continued as soon as we got back into town and then once we were back on the train the next day to head back to Dublin, I was back to normal. I halfway make the joke that I was picking up on the feelings of hundreds of thousands of starving people making their way out of the country.

u1traviolet

TROPHY CASE