The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy has, shall we say, fallen in esteem in recent years, but that’s what happens when your feel-good, rah-rah, only-happy-news nonprofit has $40 million embezzled from it by its own CFO. Nevertheless, the conservancy was able to complete the last part, for now. That’s the Ralph C. Wilson Jr, Centennial Park, at the west end of the Riverwalk, just east of the Ambassador Bridge.
This weekend was the park’s grand opening, and the weather was cool but sunny. Seemed a good day to combine a little exercise with a little exploring. We parked near Belle Isle and rode the bikes four miles down to the new spot.
Bottom line: It’s a very nice park, particularly the children’s play area, which has some wonderful slides and climbing structures. There’s a bear.
And a beaver.
Pretty sure this is an otter.
All species native to Michigan, so points for that. The footing underneath the structures kids would be likely to fall near or from was soft and springy, and I hope it can survive a few winters. Wilson was a wealthy man, of course, and owned the Buffalo Bills, so the foundation his estate formed is spending his money on projects with a physical-fitness and outdoor recreation component. However, there are/were other zillionaires in town, including the Davidson family, who owned the Pistons. Their contribution is an open-air — but protected — pair of basketball courts.
There was also a food-truck row, and one of them was run by a barbecue dude with an array of trophies on display. What do you put on top of a barbecue trophy? There’s the obvious:
And in place of a golden athlete, this:
The angle’s not great on that one. It’s a rack of ribs.
I tried to avoid the news this weekend. It helped. But now we go on to the next one, which feels like climbing back into a demolition derby car. Let’s see what will be revealed.
Deborah said on October 26, 2025 at 9:35 pm
That playground is fantastic, I tried to find out on google who designed it. I found that Michael Van Valkenburgh designed the park but I couldn’t find out if they did the playground equipment too.
It’s funny when I was recently in Boston we went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum and there was a really cool, very small garden there called Monk’s Garden, that was designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh too. I was quite taken with it and got a book about it in the gift shop. https://www.mvvainc.com/projects/the-monk-s-garden
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Sherri said on October 26, 2025 at 9:58 pm
If you’re feeling frustrated by the fact that Trump has spent $40 billion to bail out Argentina (and it hasn’t worked), but will let SNAP benefits go unpaid next month, because he doesn’t care whether the federal government exists or not, you might consider donating to your local food bank. We just doubled out usual annual donation to ours.
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susan said on October 27, 2025 at 12:37 am
Sherri, do you donate food goods or money? I’ve heard food banks would rather have money donations so they can buy what is needed and what people want.
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Sherri said on October 27, 2025 at 2:42 am
Money. I always donate money. The food bank I support is more than just a food bank; Hopelink.org provides resources to fill the gap for people in the community who experience insecurity, due to poverty, disability, being an immigrant, or a refugee, or whatever.
It’s also the organization my daughter works for, in the energy-assistance program.
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David C said on October 27, 2025 at 5:42 am
Money (almost) always. Food banks have access to food they can buy for much less than it can be bought in stores so your dollars go further. The one exception is personal care items. There’s a big need and they can’t get them for much less than we can in stores.
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Jeff Gill said on October 27, 2025 at 7:32 am
Shading my eyes with a rack of ribs, I look up towards the sun with hope . . .
Today we dedicate the renovation & restoration of one of Louis Sullivan’s eight jewel box banks, ours here built in 1914. My first one is in West Lafayette just off the Purdue campus, and is still in use; the one in Newark, Ohio had a rugged history, but is coming back now as offices for our county CVB, Explore Licking County. Taking the small victories as they come:
https://www.thelcfoundation.org/louis-sullivan-building-of-newark/history.html
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Julie Robinson said on October 27, 2025 at 8:49 am
Beautiful building, Jeff. I’m so glad y’all saved it. NYC’s architecture always leaves me gaping like the tourist I am, from the theaters to the tiles in the subway. We went to the Humans of New York exhibit at Grand Central Terminal and I blessed Jackie Kennedy once again for her preservation efforts.
Our little church would rather you bring food for the sharing pantry. Money has to go through the odious PowerChurch and Chart of Accounts. We’re all volunteers, and as the person in charge of disbursement, food donations are best.
As we pulled up to the airport last week we saw a collection point for TSA agents. We hadn’t known about it in advance so money was the answer there.
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Jeff Gill said on October 27, 2025 at 9:18 am
Also, 59 years ago tonight. 25 indelible minutes, burned into Boomer & GenX brains every October.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_the_Great_Pumpkin,_Charlie_Brown
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alex said on October 27, 2025 at 11:35 am
Van Valkenburgh designed Maggie Daley Park in Chicago and has been commissioned to do the grounds at the Obama Presidential Center.
This weekend I celebrated turning 64, not that it’s anything to be too excited about. My dad’s going to be 98 in a couple of weeks and repeats himself a lot, mostly saying “Don’t live to be this old. It’s the worst thing you could do to yourself.”
I doubt I’ll survive all the stress from the second coming of Hitler, so there’s that.
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Deborah said on October 27, 2025 at 12:27 pm
Beautiful building Jeff G. Before I retired the company I worked for moved to the Carson Pirie Scott Building designed by Sullivan in Chicago. I had one of the beautiful columns with the ornate capitals right in my workspace, I loved it. There are a number of Sullivan buildings in Chicago that are stunning.
There’s a lovely bank building in Grinnel, Iowa that I’ve seen, and the Wainwright building in St. Louis was one of my favorites when I lived there.
Also, Sullivan’s grave is in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, which is a cool place to visit. Unfortunately he died a penniless alcoholic. Apparently Frank Lloyd Wright who revered Sullivan paid for his funeral.
You can see the colummns inside the Carson Pirie Scott buildings and a lot of Sullivan’s detailing here https://picnicatthecathedral.com/2020/11/28/louis-sullivan-saved-chicago/
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Jakash said on October 27, 2025 at 1:31 pm
Thumbs up to Jeff’s “Great Pumpkin” reference. “Linus and Lucy” is a favorite, but script-wise, the thing I always liked best was Charlie Brown’s “I got a rock” sequence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tIhwITwhSg
Yeah, didn’t know one of those Sullivan bank buildings was in Newark. Wonderful. In addition to the buildings mentioned by Deborah, there’s a well-cared-for jewel in Jeff B.’s neighborhood with a facade designed by Sullivan:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krause_Music_Store
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Dexter Friend said on October 27, 2025 at 2:32 pm
The truck area displaying the pig trophy might be heading to Porkopolis next, or Chicago Park District. Just a guess.
Trump had an MRI on 10-10-2025. He said the doctor told him he had the body of someone 14 years younger, and the MRI results were “perfect”. Dr. Gupta was on cable TV saying nobody gets an MRI unless something bad must be ruled out. Trump has serious blood flow problems from his legs upward, and his dark-blue hands are from “aspirin”. Is war with Venezuela imminent, maybe Colombia too for good measure?
An American citizen, US military veteran of the folly in Iraq, was gassed, dragged out of his car, arrested, cuffed, held for 3 days. His crime was being seen by the fucking racist Trump ICE goons. I think this was in Chicago, but I am not sure. Source: live TV, MSNBC, 1300 hours today.
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Suzanne said on October 27, 2025 at 3:01 pm
I am not sure how many of you can access this Instagram reel but the pastor that Sen Durban mentions went to high school with my husband and is a decent, honest person, not given to histrionics.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQJ0XPMDUQT/?igsh=NHFkN3BmcjNxZnlo
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Little Bird said on October 27, 2025 at 5:29 pm
Reporting from sunny Honolulu! All flights were on time and had no issues at all. We actually flew Saturday to the big island (we went to see the volcano, which I highly recommend) and it was rainy the entire weekend. We got back to Honolulu last night. Word to the wise, if you have a cane, travel with it. You get to pre-board and it makes it just that much easier to get on the plane. My hip has been acting up again and I knew we would be walking a lot around the volcano area so I brought it with me (and I did end up needing it) so I’m doubly glad I did.
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Brandon said on October 27, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Kilauea Volcano updates page from the U.S. Geological Survey.
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Deborah said on October 27, 2025 at 7:46 pm
I got the jeep a much needed wash today at Squeaky Clean the place we usually go. The line was a mile long and there were hardly any people working, they are usually all hispanic young men and those of us waiting for our cars speculated that it was because of fear of ICE the regular crew weren’t working. I mean even if you’re an American citizen you can get disappeared and have to stay in some pretty disgusting places if you look hispanic, even for a day that would be upsetting.
I haven’t heard about ICE being here in Santa Fe much, but I’m sure it must be worrisome for a lot of people in the city.
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Little Bird said on October 27, 2025 at 9:25 pm
Brandon, we didn’t get to see any lava activity, but there was a lot of steam! The crater is huge, and it was definitely a little scary being that close to an active volcano. People have definitely been talking about the last episode, those fountains must have been really amazing to see.
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Dorothy said on October 28, 2025 at 8:38 am
Jeff @8 – We were a Charlie Brown household when our kids were growing up. I forget which movie or special had a scene with Snoopy kissing Lucy – and she exclaimed YUCK – DOG GERMS!!! After he saw that scene, the next time my mum bent down to give our Josh a kiss on the cheek, he yelled YUCK – DOG GERMS!! I was horrified but my mother laughed when I explained why he had said that. I still think of that anytime my dog kisses me or anyone else. But I like being licked by a dog. It makes me their friend and I never mind it.
That playground looks really great! Can I ask what you meant by saying the basketball courts are ‘protected’? Did you mean the roof over them? I’m guessing that’s what you were referring to. A very slick design and I’m sure the youngsters using the courts will appreciate being able to play in any weather – as long as they aren’t wearing winter coats.
Happy belated birthday Alex!
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Julie Robinson said on October 28, 2025 at 1:55 pm
Dorothy, not too many youngsters I’ve known would wear winter coats, except under extreme situations. “It’s just a block, Moooooom,” said with total disdain.
Happy belated birthday, Alex! My turn tomorrow.
Just came from church, where we are being inundated with calls and emails from desperate people. We are tiny and fighting to keep our heads above water (20K property insurance bill, for example). So we can’t do much, especially not make car payments. But it’s heartbreaking.
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Deborah said on October 28, 2025 at 6:01 pm
Alex happy birthday late and Julie early happy birthday early.
I’ve been reading everything google says that can help pass kidney stones and some of them are pretty interesting, jumping up and down for one and orgasms (works more for men than women they say). Hmmmm.
It’s going to get down to 29º tonight in Santa Fe, first freeze of the season. I put the thingies over the spigots outside to keep them from freezing and I brought in the last potted plant that was still outside. We are having an uncolorful season compared to others I’ve experienced here. I got here a bit too late for the peak of the aspens up in the mountains which is usually spectacular.
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Peter said on October 28, 2025 at 6:41 pm
Re: DOG GERMS – When I was a youngster and set the dinner table, my sister would replace her setting – her brother was full of germs. Yet she would take a popsicle, take a few licks, let the dog take a few licks, etc.
When I complained to my mom, she said “well, you really can’t blame her, can you….”
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Dorothy said on October 28, 2025 at 7:58 pm
Yes Julie I was being sarcastic about them wearing winter coats to play basketball!
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alex said on October 28, 2025 at 10:34 pm
We had a hateful old harridan next door whose dog used to come over to eat our cat’s shit and give its owner schadenfreude kisses.
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ROGirl said on October 29, 2025 at 4:52 am
Not a dog person, I was always grossed out by dog kisses, wet noses and slobbery tennis balls.
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alex said on October 29, 2025 at 8:49 am
Happy birthday Julie!
It’s off to the dentist for me this morning to fix a broken front tooth. This just after having the adjacent tooth fixed last week. I suppose I could have delayed the appointment and built a Halloween costume around my jagged dentition but I’m eager to talk to the dentist about doing something other than all these constant cosmetic repairs with composite resin. This one cracked while eating a pizza. I also tend to lose crowns on molars a lot while eating soup. But I’m not ready to have them all yanked and replaced with those pink castanets like my grandma used to wear.
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Jeff Gill said on October 29, 2025 at 9:00 am
Alex & Julie, joy of the day and the week and the end of the month to you both, and to anyone else all hallowed at October’s end.
And everyone remember your local food pantry organization can usually take cash contributions and do eleven times what donations of canned goods will (but they’ll take those items with appreciation). Preaching mostly to the choir here, but for those trolls who need to hear it: lies are being told by senators and others who know better about SNAP — seniors, disabled, and parents/guardians of children are almost the entire population. In our county where I’m on the JFS Planning committee, we have almost 19,000 receiving SNAP assistance, and last I asked, there were about 184 able-bodied adults without dependents getting an EBT card . . . and most of those were people who had documented they were in process for disability benefits, and qualified for SNAP that way on a short-term waiver. The idea that SNAP is keeping able bodied people out of the workforce is a bald-faced, mean-spirited, ill-tempered, mendacious & willful lie being told purely for partisan advantage.
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Icarus said on October 29, 2025 at 11:12 am
Alex @ 25: I literally feel your pain. On the first Saturday of this month, I was flossing my teeth and my crown came off. I mention the date because the next week my kids were on Fall Break and we were headed to St Louis so I had a 3 day window to get a dental appointment in.
Alas they saw me the following Wednesday but just an evaluation. Not sure why they couldn’t have put a temp crown in but it was what it was. When we got back from STL I got the temp. The tooth is really bad, I was terrible at brushing teeth as a child (and I think the fluoride thing was just kicking in).
Anywho, yesterday was the appointment to get the permanent crown. I waited in the chair for 45 minutes without anyone doing anything. It turns out they were understaffed. Also, the dentist did such a good job with the temp crown, that it didn’t come off as easily as one would expect.
Finally, they new crown is in place and if this guy is a good as I think he is, I should never need to replace this again.
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Sherri said on October 29, 2025 at 1:14 pm
Can you imagine being Usha Vance? Here you are, an accomplished woman of color with three multiracial kids with JD Vance, who is constantly saying incredibly racist things about nonwhite immigrants. Like how it is totally reasonable and acceptable for Americans not to want to live next door to people who speak a different language.
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alex said on October 29, 2025 at 1:27 pm
Well, the dentist wants to send me to a prosthodontist to see about changing my bite before he can consider applying crowns to any of my front teeth, so it looks like this will be dreadfully painful and expensive.
A friend shared this week that he had a crowned front tooth fall out right before he was to give a eulogy for his father at the funeral. Teeth seem to have a way of always choosing the wrong time to go bad.
So I’ve got my smile back but I’m glum because our toilets started gurgling air bubbles and now have stopped working altogether and they were unresponsive to augering so we’re waiting for the plumbers to show up.
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Suzanne said on October 29, 2025 at 2:48 pm
My last dentist visit the hygienist told me that the only place that my gum numbers were sub-par was where my only 30+ year old crown is. I told her that I don’t floss there because I am too afraid of flossing the crown loose! Our son has a crown that fell off twice in about 3 months time so I am very cautious. I crewed gum a lot in my younger years but once that crown was on, all gum chewing stopped. I am surprised my teeth are as good as they are as growing up, we never went to the dentist, never flossed, and didn’t brush our teeth all that faithfully. Our water came from a well, so no fluoride either.
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Deborah said on October 29, 2025 at 3:27 pm
I remember going only once to the dentist when I was a kid and that was because one of my front teeth came in way above the gum line. The dentist said not to worry that it would eventually come down to a normal position and it did, almost. It’s slightly shorter than the other front tooth but it’s not horrible.
I never got braces as a kid and my teeth are not straight, mainly because when my wisdom teeth came in they pushed things around. We had no money then for braces for me.
I guess I could have gotten braces later in my life, paying for them myself, but it hasn’t been a priority, I just didn’t/don’t care to go through that. I take care of my teeth but as far as looks go, meh.
I had my wisdom teeth extracted when I was in my 20s and my teeth weren’t as crooked after a while.
LB inherited the bad teeth gene, she had braces as a kid, her teeth are straight but not in great shape. My parents had bad teeth and had dentures by the time they were in their 40s.
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Sherri said on October 29, 2025 at 3:39 pm
Let me say a little bit more about why I always give money to food banks, rather than food. I mentioned one reason, which is my food bank is more than a food bank. But beyond that, they are simply closer to the problem than I am.
Giving something tangible like a can of beans might make me feel better, like I’m doing something more real than just giving money, but I don’t know what the people with the problem really need. I’m putting my white middle class blinders on and guessing what I might want were I in that situation, without ever experiencing that situation personally. I don’t know what the food bank already has, what the food bank has access to, what the people the food bank is serving need, what is culturally appropriate for that community, etc. just because someone is in need is no reason not to treat them with dignity, and no reason to assume that they should eat whatever castoffs I in my benefice throw their way.
In general, if you aren’t close enough to the problem to have direct contact with the people experiencing the problem, give money. You don’t understand enough about the problem to give anything else.
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Dorothy said on October 29, 2025 at 6:39 pm
Happy birthday Julie!
ROGirl. I understand your aversion – I head to the sink to wash my hands immediately after touching slimey dog toys. But they have other amazing qualities that make the occasional wet toy handling worthwhile. I’ve had one cat and lots of dogs. I’ll take a dog anytime over a cat. Unpredictable deployment of claws and pooping outside the litter box turned me off big time when we had Lucy.
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David C said on October 29, 2025 at 7:30 pm
When I did volunteer training at the food pantry in Oshkosh, one thing the director told us is “We have enough damned peanut butter”. Their pantry is set up pretty much like a store. In fact, it’s part of a former store. The clients can pick out what they want, so there’s much less waste. Like Sherri said, they know better than we do what their clients want because they interact with them every day.
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Icarus said on October 30, 2025 at 10:02 am
every so often, we clean out our pantries and take any food that is past the expiration date, or stuff our kids* won’t eat, and I put something on Facebook Marketplace. I clearly state that some of it is past the expiration date.
My inbox always blows up.
* our kids are like cats = we find something they like, we buy it in bulk and then they decide they don’t like it anymore.
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Jeff Gill said on October 30, 2025 at 4:13 pm
This is just enough to get you in the mood: the opening two minutes of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”! Beggars Night is tonight in much of Ohio; in Indianapolis it’s Friday as God (and one assumes Satan) intended.
https://youtu.be/TRGkEDADmRU
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Julie Robinson said on October 31, 2025 at 8:42 pm
Great Pumpkin was on a loop down at church, where a gazillion families were hanging out for our annual party. The new costume darling this year: KPop Demon Hunters, which I still haven’t watched, but understand (creaky voice) is wildly popular.
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Sherri said on October 31, 2025 at 8:45 pm
Trump said he wants the GOP to get rid of the filibuster to open the government. I’ve long been clear how much I hate the filibuster, so I say: Please do. Nuke the filibuster into oblivion. The filibuster is yet one more anti majoritarian choke point in a system with too many structural choke points already built in, and we don’t need one that’s simply a Senate rule.
Congress has abdicated too much responsibility, and the filibuster encourages this by making it more difficult to do anything.
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David C said on November 1, 2025 at 5:38 am
I also hope they nuke the filibuster, but does anyone have any doubt that when (if) Democrats regain control of the Senate that they would reinstate it as a goodwill gesture to fascists?
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Jakash said on November 1, 2025 at 12:29 pm
As far as this food donation discussion goes, it seems to me that giving money for the people in charge to use more cost-effectively than we can, and for what they’ve determined is needed in their situation makes the most sense.
But Julie @ 7 made an informed, on-the-ground, solid point about BEING one of the people in charge at her “little church” who “would rather you bring food” to their pantry for practical reasons. David C. @5 also made a good point about personal care items maybe being an exception to the “they can get stuff cheaper” concept.
Neither of those things had occurred to me, but it seems like finding out what the particular organization you’re supporting prefers might be a good idea.
Meanwhile, here’s what the orange felon thought about a government shutdown when he was on the outside pissing in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyAH6dntDqw
And here’s the opinion of a local Halloween pumpkin about a different matter:
https://bsky.app/profile/robertloerzel.bsky.social/post/3m4l7onlfls2a
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Julie Robinson said on November 1, 2025 at 9:45 pm
Our next big push will be making blessing bags, which we do about three times a year. We get mini backpacks, the thin polyester type that are often used as promos for products. You can buy them in bulk. Then we fill them with high protein and shelf stable foods, along with toiletry items. We work with two different organizations that hand them out, but anyone who wants can also take them in their cars to give out at corners like the underpasses where some folks have to sleep. That population is graying, thus the frequent requests for reading glasses.
Apparently planes had to wait three hours to land in Orlando because so many controllers called in sick. They anticipate shutting down the airport once no one is available. Very savvy–hoping the going-to-Disney people will complain to their Congress critters.
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