YES! There Really is a (Progressive) Kalamazoo!

A HUGE thanks to Commissioner McCann, who on the Monday before his wedding took time out to finally answer my question about whether or not Kalamazoo has (is) replacing it's incandescent traffic lights with LED's. I think this should have been something I could have found out easily — something the City should be bragging about on their website! And, definitely something the Gazette should have mentioned!

Here's the scoop right from the City's "public service staff"

Over the last several years, we have upgrade traffic signals on all the major street corridors in the City that we control. Generally, these upgrades have included installation of new signals with LED technology as well as camera activation which allows for smoother and less disrupted traffic movement.

Currently, the City has been able to reduce electrical usage by traffic signals as a result of these upgrades by 82%. We are currently working with Consumers Energy to get a credit on the City’s electricity bill for this since traffic signals are not separately metered but are billed based on a set calculation. We should have this rectified shortly.

As far as other benefits, four of the major corridors have been evaluated and the following reductions and fuel savings have been calculated just for these four:

Total Emissions Reduced per year:
228.2 tons of volatile organics, nitrogen and carbon monoxide/carbon dioxide emissions

Fuel Savings per year (gallons):
2,095,821 gallons

Fuel Savings per year (dollars):
$4,191,642 (at $2.00 per gallon)

Way to go Kalamazoo! I KNEW it had to be true even if I couldn't find us bragging about it.

Reorganized Junk

A couple of weeks ago in an attempt to lift myself out of the winter-long funk I’ve been in, I was organizing my jewelry making “stuff” when I came across this hideous beaded plant holder that my grandmother had given me in a box of odds and ends a few years ago. The majority of the beads were clear “crystal-like” things, but there were also a variety of fruits, vegetables and leaves.

I always thought it was one of the ugliest things I’d ever seen, but couldn’t bring myself to throw it out thinking I could find a use for all those beads. I have moved it around from place to place for years now. I’d think about taking it apart, but since I didn’t have any ideas for what to do with it, it was easier to keep it in one piece until I came up with an idea.

I’ve been reading Green Gracious regularly and was particularly inspired by the post on uses for dental floss. While organizing all that stuff, I came across stringing materials that I’d bought, but hadn’t tried yet too.


So, I went to work dismantling the plant holder and experimenting with rearranging it into “jewelry” of sorts. The one question I had when I finished was, “Is this like making a dress out of your grandma’s old doilies?” My initial thought was yes, it is very much like making a dress out of doilies. But, the hideous plant holder is no more.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood…er, Nashville!

Congratulations to Frankie Ballard, as the hometown boy makes good with a record contract with Warner Brothers. My friends and family in Battle Creek where Frankie grew up are excited for him too. In fact, they are how I heard about young Mr. Ballard in the first place.

I first saw Frankie playing blues music at Gary Fields in the Cereal City. Not long before, my aunt called me while she was watching him play there. Frankie and her son went to school together, so she’d heard him play many times. She’d been trying to get me to come over and see him for at least a year. When she called that night she said, “I’m telling you, you’ve got to see this kid. He can really play guitar — listen! And he’s just your type with long blonde hair! You’d really like him.” (No matter he was a puppy of 20 or 21 tops! Love my aunt M!) The photo of Frankie is from Clifford Babbcock’s myspace page — that’s how he looked when I first saw him. This is a show at Fields with "Those Guys," the blues band he played with there.

I finally heard him play blues at Field’s a few weeks after that phone call, with a friend who’s daughter went to school with him too. (Battle Creek is a small town!) His blues guitar was stunning. And, long hair is always a good thing on a man — even really young ones. He didn’t sing that night, but I was amazed at his guitar work.

He turned up at Louie’s in Kalamazoo a few months later — playing country music — his true calling. I’m not really a country music fan, but have been exposed to it most of my life through family and an exhusband. The thing about hearing him that night (besides surprise) was that I knew all the lyrics to the songs he covered. I kept saying, “how do I know this song?”

But, as cute as he is, his talent really is his best feature. He has a great voice that adds a lot to the country sound. He’s just one of those phenomenal local musicians you run into once (maybe 3 times) in a lifetime.

His covers of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Pure Prairie League, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the like, will have you up and dancing — or at lest singing along — if you’re an old school country/southern rock fan. His new stuff is in that style, and has me listening to country music for the first time in a very, very long time.

You can catch him before he goes to Holly…er Nashville this Saturday out in Richland. And, a special good-bye party at Louie’s is planned for April 18th. He told the Gazette that he’ll be back to play for us when he can. My guess is that could be a long way off. The kids got talent, and now more than just us hometown folks know it.

Best of luck Frankie. We’ll miss you’re holler ‘n swaller, but I’m sure we’ll see you on the radio!

Speak Out in Support of Kalamazoo's Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

There are only 5 days left to send comments to the Kalamazoo City Commission about the anti-discrimination proposal that would expand protection against discrimination to gay and transgender people. They've gotten an ear full from homophobic religious extremists from all over Michigan telling them they'll all burn in hell if they give "special rights" to "these people."

Imagine this rhetoric with race substituted for sexuality. It takes you back to a time we don't want to return to — ever. You can read more about the proposal (and hear for yourself the hate speech from religious extremists) on the City of Kalamazoo's website.

You have until midnight March 26th to contact the City Commission's Hotline at (269) 552-6089 or email your comments to questions@kalamazoocity.org. You might also want to email each commissioner. I understand the religious groups are. You can find commissioners emails on their profile pages. Commissioners are listed in the column on the right. Click a name to get to the profile and a link to their email address.

P.S. I just found this great video on You Tube. A friend had it posted on his Facebook page. It pretty much says it all.

It's Here!

Isn't there some famous poem about crocuses? There should be!

Happy Spring!

The View is Anticipating Spring!

I took these photo’s over a month ago. It was around 12 degrees this February 4 when I brought a camera with me on my walk. The brilliant blue sky and sun I’ve missed so much this winter helped me see things differently that day.

Maybe it was the influence of Charles Stroh’s Hidden Kalamazoo column that’s been running in the Sunday Gazette for … I think a year. The Hidden (View of) Kalamazoo has been a wonderful study of our city and its amazing architecture. It wasn’t until the last column appeared March 1, that I remembered the photo of the Ladies Library Gargoyle that HE took. (Though when I saw the gargoyle with all that ice hanging out of it's mouth, I laughed out loud and HAD to take a photo!)

Gargoyle Spitting Ice 2.4.09 — Grandpa Carpenter's Birthday too!

Whether it was some hidden memory of the article, or the life I’ve lead here noticing these small details subconsciously for years, who knows. Chances are, it was just the opportunity to walk downtown — not only to work, but in general for a few years now, as it’s not far from the hill.



It’s been getting warmer, the temp reached about 60 degrees today. The days are longer (especially with daylight savings time — that’s a whole blog. I hate it!) and I must say, I am feeling much more energetic. Longer days do wonders for ones disposition.

I’ve been walking downtown the last few days as well, and I feel like I’m looking at the City for the first time. (Ah spring! It IS coming.) I am paying attention to the physical Kalamazoo — the guts, the small details of a large thing block after block. It’s fun discovering and re-discovering the history — and the modifications.



Hope you enjoy the "Hidden" View of Kalamazoo and the few shots I've shared with you from my walk February 4. I’ve promised myself to take my camera with me on my next trip. There are amazing details and grand architecture all along the way! The KIA is going to be one of my first stops!

Metal Children Look Toward Spring. Bronson Park 2.4.09

Next I’ll dig up the photo's I took about 10 years ago for a class. It should be an interesting comparison – not so much for the cities history, but for the history of my own perception and a chance to reflect on what was interesting to me then. The shots are mostly black and white, but a couple of them I edited in Photoshop, so they have an interesting digital twist. Stay tuned!

The Jetson's Meet Art Deco. An example of the change.

Home again. There really is a great view from and of Kalamazoo from where I sit on the hill. This "scene" can be really intense certain times of the year. Spring and Fall mostly, because the leaves on the trees are gone. It's a scene I can see from the new patio I built in 2006, my kitchen (both windows), my dinning room, my bedroom and the nursery off of my bedroom. This is "Kalamazoo on Fire" from my bedroom window. The photo doesn't do it justice, but it gives you an idea!

Oats!

The night before last the cat was insistent on going into the sun room. She just wouldn’t stop pawing at the French doors. I was sick, and it irritated me because the usual routine is for me to get up and open the doors, she goes out, walks around once and comes back into the living room. Then I get back up and close the door. So I yelled (I never yell at my cat), stomped my foot, and finally threw a pillow at her. She still didn’t give up, but I did, and went to bed.

Last night, she started at it again. This time I just played the game and opened the door for her. But, instead of her playing out her usual role, she paced and cried, and paced and cried. “What is it?" I said. "Did you find a mouse?”

Nope. Didn’t bring me a mouse. (I found out this winter that she’s an excellent mouser! Then was horrified that I had mice!) I just thought to myself, “Crazy cat.” and laid back down to watch TV (I was still feeling pretty crappy) and ignored her.

Well, when I was talking with a friend last night, I went out to the sun porch myself, and there sprouted up nice and big on the bookshelf, were the oats I planted a few days ago and forgot about.

She could SMELL them! And, it was driving her crazy! So I moved them to the floor for her. Now she knows they are there, so when I got home tonight, that was the first place she wanted to go.

Miss Kitty got a bag of Oat seeds for Christmas a couple of years ago (from her cat friend Zima). She is an indoor cat, so they were a special treat. She viciously chewed them down and ripped them right out of the container as soon as they sprouted. So now I keep them away from her long enough for them to take strong root.

The folks that package them have a great label (pictured above) — it made me laugh — even before I knew how my cat would react to them — almost exactly as it was pictured! They really should have a contact info on it somewhere.

See for yourself how crazy Miss Kitty is for oats in this video. I have one from earlier this winter, but I couldn’t find it so I recorded this when I got home tonight.

Like Relgion!

Daylight savings time that is.

We follow this practice blindly without knowing why. Or rather, because of many reasons, none of which are true! It drives me up the wall. If we want an extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day, move it to the end of the day and leave it there. Time has no meaning to begin with. It's a man-made construct, so who cares (besides your boss)!?

I watched Religulous the other night. Great questions, but he should have been nicer. Lots of the same information from "The God Who Wasn't There" but good to hear again. Then, when the time changed EARLY this year, I couldn't help make the comparison!

I was just reading hilarywho's blog and she mentioned a list of possible blogs. I too have one of those. Daylight savings time is one of the subjects. I knew this would be something hard for me to keep up with, so for now, this is all I've got time to say about this ridiculous practice!

Another Update on DC Voting Rights

From the League:

Amendments Stall Voting Rights Legislation

Movement of the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009 through Congress has been stalled. Even though the bill passed the Senate, debate in the House has been postponed. Opponents of DC voting rights are attempting to derail the bill using an amendment that would repeal DC's gun laws. Click here to see how your Senators voted.

The vote that was scheduled for March 5 has been postponed. Now, more than ever, it is important to urge your Representative to support DC voting rights and oppose all amendments!

In order to keep you updated on all the happenings with the legislation in the House (HR 157), we're going to be posting new alerts and information on our site regularly. Click here to go straight to our action page. Check back often so you can be sure Congress knows you support DC voting rights!