Kudos to Larry K for making me remember some things I had almost forgotten about.
You Might Be From Michigan If:
You've ever been to Hell. Hell, Michigan that is. Hell is actually down in the area called Chain of Lakes and is a beautiful area. There's not much to Hell, mostly just Screams Ice Cream and the Damn Site Inn, but it's a fun place to go and a lovely drive. My husband and I often talk about buying a house in that area. I would love to live on a lake and I love the area.
Cruisin' Gratiot and Woodward. Everybody, at some point, Cruises Gratiot. You shine up your ride, grab your honey and blare the WRIF, Detroit's old school Rock N Roll radio station. I used to cruise Gratiot with my not-so-charming ex husband in my red Corvette. He was always pissed because I wouldn't let him drive. This is a man who did not know how to drive a stick shift until I taught him. When we were cruising Gratiot, he would whine about being a passenger and I would look and him and say, "Are you stoned or just stupid? There is no way you are driving my Corvette."
The WRIF...The HOME OF ROCK & ROLL....BABY! 101.1 on the FM dial. Home of Arthur Penthallow, a long time disc jockey. When I first was discovering real rock & roll, I listened to the WRIF. (Pronounced the "riff".) For a long time, t-shirts saying BABY!, Arthur Penthallow's trademark saying, were all the rage. He did afternoon drive time and his sign-off was "Come get me Mother! I am THROUGH!" As an interesting side note, Arthur Penthallow lived in Howell, where I live, and I went to school with his stepdaughter.
Detroit and miles of the outlying suburbs are made up of the Mile Roads. Eight Mile was made famous by that idiot, Emimen. Eight Mile Road effectively separates Detroit from the burbs. The Mile Roads, however, have no relationship to real miles. Eight Mile Road is not one mile from Nine Mile road, nor is Nine Mile Road ten miles from Nineteen Mile Road. This is confusing to out of town guests.
Pine Knob. Oh, I know its called the DTE Theater now, but it is and always will be Pine Knob. It's way up in Clarkston in northern Oakland County and I have been going to concerts there since I was 12. It used to be this outdoor sort of shabby venue. You could bring in coolers and your own beer. The first concert I ever went to see was with my mom and her gay friends Rose and Ruth. We went to see Chicago. It was the first time I smelled pot. No, my mom and Rose and Ruth weren't smoking it. The first concert I saw without the mother unit was the Kinks. It was raining that night. My friend Julie and I sat on Hefty bags and tried not to slide down the hill. It was great fun. It's now reportedly one of the highest grossing outdoor venues in the country. Some musical acts I have seen there: J. Geils, Bob Segar, The Lilith Fair, the Black Crowes, the Grateful Dead, Steely Dan, Jimmy Buffett, The Cure, Tom Petty.
Detroit Music. Detroit has a fabulous music scene. Some bands I listened to and saw as a teen-ager: The Romantics, The King Bees, Marshall Crenshaw, Bob Segar, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and some bands that adopted Michigan, such as the J. Geils Band and Kiss. We have lots of great concert venues nearby and I've seen a lot of great music. Detroit bands tend to have the real rip-em-up bar band feel to them. I just scored a Kingbees CD after months of looking.
People in Michigan tend to like to have fun and party. Just like in New Jersey, where people say,"You're from Jersey? What exit?" people in Michigan put up their hand and say, "I'm from here", pointing on their mitten map. You can be a thousand miles from Michigan, meet someone else from here, and they are instantly your friend. And you never really leave Michigan behind. The years I lived out east, I loved. But Michigan was my home and will always be my home. I love this place. Where else can you go where no matter where you are, there is some body of water real close? After all, Michigan million of years ago used to be a swamp. There are lakes, streams, rivers, creeks and ponds everywhere.
Yes, Michigan has its issues. But overall, a really nice place to be with all sorts of fun.
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