Tulip City Dispatch

 Title says it all!  In 2023, my wife and I set a resolution to see one concert or music show per month in 2023.  We fudged the rules a bit, and while we didn't actually see one per calendar month, we definitely averaged 12 shows over the course of 2023. On December 30, 2022, we saw the Mustard Plug holiday show in Grand Rapids at The Intersection.  They were led by Big Timmy & The Heavy Chevies, Dance Contraption, and The Koffin Kats.  The Koffin Kats are homies - friends of a friend, so it was fun seeing them again.  We actually counted this one as our January concert, but I definitely posted about it on the ol' blog here . February brought us to the Pyramid Scheme, where we saw the homies False Harbor play along Detroit's Remnose and Grand Rapids' own Ten Peso Version.  Very psychadelic, very jammy.  All of the bands were great! March we doubled up - saw Flogging Molly at 20 Monroe, then saw Dropkick Murphy's a week later.  Flogging Molly was opened up by Ski

 Fricano's Too ( 174 S River Ave, Holland, MI 49423-2848) just off the beaten path in Downtown Holland boasts pizza that, according to a former boss of mine, was the best in North America.  There was a firm I worked for in Zeeland that was owned by a conglomerate out of Italy - whenever the head honchos would come stateside for various meetings or whatever, they'd ALWAYS cater in lunch from American Char in Drenthe , and they'd wine and dine the department heads at Fricano's Too.  They always said it was the most authentic pizza they'd ever had in the States. I, personally, dig the old-school vibe...the paper wrapped pizza served on cardboard reminds me SO much of being a youngster and getting pizza while Dad was playing hockey or whatever.  It's a little basic, the "gimmick" is how simplistic the pizza is, or how there isn't any gimmicks at all.  They got an honorable mention in my Best Pizza In Holland article back in 2020 . Earlier this year,

 Going WAY back to the very first post I made on this here blog , I talked about deep cuts, hidden spots, locals-only venues, and other truly weird stuff...It was apparently in my handwritten notebook that I mentioned "eccentric business owner with a squadron of garden gnomes," because I distinctly remember having the realization that there was, in fact, a business owner with a squadron of garden gnomes:  Lemonjello's Coffee. Now, I graduated from Jenison High School in the heat of the 2000s, when emo and indie culture were starting to blossom in a big way - I had friends who have posted things like "I'm so bummed, I just heard my favorite band on the radio :(" and I myself have unironically said "They're a pretty obscure band, you probably haven't heard of them."  And, from Jenison, there's this weird paradox where Holland is SO FAR AWAY, but Grand Rapids is *just right there*.  The faraway, exotic locale of Holland had this legendary

 I came across this book, written by Veronica Bareman, by way of Instagram.  She and I have quite a few followers in common, so it's natural that her book promo came up on my feed.  I picked up the book and started paging through it, and realized that I've already done a LOT of the things in there, and continue to actively participate in a lot of them!  It seemed like a natural fit for me to take my historical perspective and apply it to some of the stories and recommendations in the book, and I certainly hope I can do so in a manner that'll uplift and support Ms. Bareman's vision and add some new context.  Words and thoughts are my own, and I'm in no way affiliated with her, Reedy Press, or anything...we may have shared a beer at Brew Merchant or something at some point, but I have no idea. With all that being said, I'll add the label "100ThingsToDo" to each blog post about an entry in the book, and if possible, I'll add corresponding pics to the

 The assignment was to take an old disposable camera that I'd found in the basement, jimmy-rig a polarized filter out of an old pair of sunglasses, then shoot what I saw in and around Downtown Holland, Michigan. Some key takeaways? It's not necessarily worth using a filter like this when the clouds are making diffuse light anyway (except when it is) Rule Of Thirds is a general guideline, and I hope I didn't create too much imbalance Holland has some really cool architecture!   A view of the sidewalk in Holland Heights, looking westward along E. 8th Street The entryway to the Windmill Way subdivision, at the corner of Paw Paw Drive and E. 8th St. A retaining wall looking west on E 8th St, just a bit down the road from Windmill Way Construction in front of Barber Ford, looking westward at US-31.  Background has the Shell Station and the plaza where Ditto and the Secretary Of State office are Barber Ford looking south along Homestead Drive.  Love that Blue Oval! The same const

  On Friday, August 4, 2023, Amagansett Press hit the mean streets of Holland, Michigan for purposes related to auditing the First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Basically, the dude stands in front of storefronts or on public sidewalks and just...films people.  The people are either entering or exiting businesses, or just walking down the sidewalk.  His goal seems to be to get police to interact with him , then he'll sue the police departments .  Heralded as a folk hero by some , he's pretty financially successful on his Youtube channel , having monetized it to almost $300,000 per year according to this Redditor . A quick Google search for "Amagansett Press" shows a library of news articles about him suing various