Fat Chiroubles

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Who funded the acquisition of all those diamonds? The theme of temporal wealth's ultimate futility pre-dates Adam Smith: this almost looks like something you'd dig up in the crypt of a medieval German monastery, except for the platinum.

For the Love of God

Saw this before, thanks - says the diamonds are 'ethically sourced,' but not who put up the money for this rather extravagant memento mori - the essential concept of which the more budget-conscious can glean by watching the news on any given night. It's enormously hilarious that the asking price is $100 m.

 

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

originally posted by MLipton:

It is indeed all relative, Mark, but I see it from the mirror image perspective, having grown up on the West Coast and spent copious amounts of time in Northern California and Oregon. I'm not disputing your comparison, but saying rather that -- for this part of the country -- what Michigan offers is hard to find elsewhere. The Smokies are beautiful in their own right, but they are deciduous hardwood forest. For an evergreen forest, Michigan is the best option, the SE region notwithstanding. YMMV, as it must.

Michigan drivers, OTOH, get no props from me. I can always tell when a Michigan driver is behind me because they tailgate no matter what the speed, whatever the circumstances. Michigan drivers are marginally less aggressive than Illinois drivers (who are almost uniformly complete assholes on the road) and less clueless than Ohio and Indiana drivers, though that's a pretty low bar. Of course, what trumps even location is vehicle: pickups are the most aggressive, followed closely by SUVs. I attribute those characteristics to an artificial feeling of invulnerability instilled by the size of the vehicle. Or it could just be testosterone poisoning at work.

Mark Lipton

There was a New Yorker article some years back about a study indicating that SUV owners tend to be relatively poor drivers, relying on vehicle bulk to protect them, rather than driving skill and attention.

Personally, I think road safety would be much enhanced if Humvees became the standard vehicle, equipped in and ideal world with front seat-mounted 100-round-clip AR-15s, in order to discourage those other, careless drivers from running into you.

 

[fillay]

There was a New Yorker article some years back about a study indicating that SUV owners tend to be relatively poor drivers, relying on vehicle bulk to protect them, rather than driving skill and attention.

What was that psych study of France's high road fatality rate - the one that found the culprit to be French drivers' high opinions of themselves and low opinions of others? That, in my experience, is closer to the mark in MI.

The classic Michigan (highway) driving experience is everyone crammed in the left lane doing 80 with about a 1/2-car length between them. Everyone's a passer, except there's nowhere to pass. The right lane, on the other hand, is populated with Ohioans and Canucks spaced about 1/4 mile apart, meaning that it can't substitute as a passing lane.

 

[Todd Abrams]

originally posted by MLipton:

I never made it as far as Boyne City, staying most of the time around Grayling and Gaylord. Typically, we combined fly fishing and camping in the National Forest campgrounds that abound in those parts.

Mark Lipton

You must have stayed at Keystone Landing, Burton's Landing or Canoe Harbor campgrounds on the Au Sable. I love that area. The jack pine ecosystem is unique and a lot of fun to explore. I’ve made friends with many a barred owl while camping around there.

Nearby Rifle River Recreation Area is also a great place to hang out. We often do late autumn, winter, and early spring camping there as they offer rustic cabins with heat.

I too have dabbled with fly fishing but found it much more appealing in theory than practice. And this is after fishing the Fox River in the Upper Peninsula. (Hemingway’s Big Two-Hearted River story was based on his time fishing the Fox. He used the Two Hearted name, which is an actual river very close to Fox, for literary effect.)

I think realized this one morning while fishing the Mason Tract of the Au Sable South Branch -- a blue ribbon, fly fishing only, catch-and-release stream. I spent most of my time watching a family of river otters playing rather than spoil the scene flinging my line around.

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Todd Abrams:

You must have stayed at Keystone Landing, Burton's Landing or Canoe Harbor campgrounds on the Au Sable. I love that area. The jack pine ecosystem is unique and a lot of fun to explore. I’ve made friends with many a barred owl while camping around there.

That could be, Todd. I've long since forgotten the names of the campgrounds, though I still fondly recall going out in the mornings and picking wild raspberries and black raspberries in the Summer months.

I too have dabbled with fly fishing but found it much more appealing in theory than practice. And this is after fishing the Fox River in the Upper Peninsula. (Hemingway’s Big Two-Hearted River story was based on his time fishing the Fox. He used the Two Hearted name, which is an actual river very close to Fox, for literary effect.)

I think realized this one morning while fishing the Mason Tract of the Au Sable South Branch -- a blue ribbon, fly fishing only, catch-and-release stream. I spent most of my time watching a family of river otters playing rather than spoil the scene flinging my line around.

I am far from a hard-core fly fisherman (if I were, I would already have booked my rooms for the Hex hatch this Spring and be busy tying nymphs in preparation) and much of the appeal of the activity is simply getting out into the wild and communing with nature. The degree to which one actually pursues the fishing depends on one's own interest, though to me it's part of a gestalt.

I learned to fly fish in Montana during Summers spent there in my youth, before catch-and-release was vetted as a concept. We would catch our limit of the native trout species, take them back home and cook 'em up, which to me was a not insignificant amount of the appeal. When I first tried fly fishing in MI, I had to make certain adjustments, first to the idea of catch-and-release and secondly to the idea that I might not have a back cast. After retrieving a handful of snagged flies from overhanging branches, I took it upon myself to learn the roll cast (I was mentored in this by one of my grad students who grew up fly fishing in central PA). These days I fly fish purely as an "amateur" and feel rewarded if I catch a few trout while out communing in nature.

Mark Lipton

 

[Mark Davis]

originally posted by MLipton:

originally posted by Mark Davis:

Mark:

It's all relative.

I spent about 26 years in SE Michigan. To me, Oregon is worlds more beautiful in both arboreal splendor and lake, strike that, ocean-shore...I did travel to the UP several times as well and it was OK.

I do really miss Zingerman's though - world class Deli IMHO. I miss the sports and agree that it is debatable.

People know how to drive there as well.

It is indeed all relative, Mark, but I see it from the mirror image perspective, having grown up on the West Coast and spent copious amounts of time in Northern California and Oregon. I'm not disputing your comparison, but saying rather that -- for this part of the country -- what Michigan offers is hard to find elsewhere. The Smokies are beautiful in their own right, but they are deciduous hardwood forest. For an evergreen forest, Michigan is the best option, the SE region notwithstanding. YMMV, as it must.

Michigan drivers, OTOH, get no props from me. I can always tell when a Michigan driver is behind me because they tailgate no matter what the speed, whatever the circumstances. Michigan drivers are marginally less aggressive than Illinois drivers (who are almost uniformly complete assholes on the road) and less clueless than Ohio and Indiana drivers, though that's a pretty low bar. Of course, what trumps even location is vehicle: pickups are the most aggressive, followed closely by SUVs. I attribute those characteristics to an artificial feeling of invulnerability instilled by the size of the vehicle. Or it could just be testosterone poisoning at work.

Mark Lipton

Oregon drivers are at the opposite extreme - they often drive 50 in the left lane of a busy highway with no idea they have 20 cars behind them, they cannot merge and have no problem slowing down to 35 on a highway to "help", they are often texting, etc...why can't we have a nice middleground?

I agree that pickups seem to be the most oblivious drivers and often I think they are over-compensating for something....Lincolns & Buicks are almost never good. The most irresponsible may be the aggressive kiddies in the punked out cars.

Sincerely, -mark