Tulip City Dispatch

No. Per a series of interviews in the 1920s and 1930s, Adolf Hitler set the framework for his National Socialist agenda by pointing out that Nazism is not  leftist or liberal in any sense of the phrase: "When I take charge of Germany, I shall end tribute abroad and Bolshevism at home." Adolf Hitler drained his cup as if it contained not tea, but the lifeblood of Bolshevism. "Bolshevism," the chief of the Brown Shirts, the Fascists of Germany, continued, gazing at me balefully, "is our greatest menace. Kill Bolshevism in Germany and you restore 70 million people to power. France owes her strength not to her armies but to the forces of Bolshevism and dissension in our midst. The above taken from a Guardian article, citing a George Sylvester Viereck interview in 1923 (republished by Liberty  magazine in 1932, shows Hitler's eagerness to eradicate Bolshevism in Germany...Bolshevism, of course, being the Russian Communist-style government adopted after the ...

 I have so many thoughts and ideas swirling around my head - a notebook full of ideas, and dozens of saved bookmarks across 2 laptops and 4 browsers waiting to go.  I tried forcing some steam back into the engine with the 100 Things To Do In Holland Michigan  prompts, but even lost momentum with that. I'm still getting tons of traffic from my Eddie Bentz article.  And, as mentioned above, I still want to keep on researching these topics!  There's tons of cool stuff around ol' Tulip City! But, I'm still here...

 While we couldn't actually phone in the order (that side of the restaurant was closed for a private event), we did eat at the OG Russ' Restaurant at the corner of 8th and Chicago Drive in Holland!  Spittin' distance from Holland's Energy Park , sharing a parking lot with West Michigan Cycle Shop , and just a few blocks away from (potentially?) the oldest building in Holland , I'd actually like to offer Russ' Classic Double Cheeseburger as a late entry into The Best Burger In Holland debate. Founded in 1934 (meaning, 2024 is their 90th year in business), J. Russel Bouws bought Doc's Diner at the corner of 8th and Chicago Drive in Holland.  The original building(s) were torn down, and a new shop was built in the 80s or 90s.  There are pictures of the original sandwich/ice cream shack in the current restaurant, as well as pictures from slightly later when they went to a diner/drive-in format.  They also have locations in Holland at 210 River Ave on the north ...

 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 Mo...

 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 ...