Monthly Archives: March 2011

Fantasy JOA, Round Two

By Joel Thurtell Guess I was ahead of my time. I could have won myself ten thousand big ones if I’d just been a little patient. But now, I had to shoot off my big mouth. Actually, I’m glad I … Continue reading

Posted in future of newspapers, Joel's J School | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Book talks: ‘UP THE ROUGE!’ & ‘SEYDOU’

Northville District Library, 7 p.m., April 13. Joel Thurtell will lecture on the 27-mile canoe trip he made in 2005 with Patricia Beck up the Rouge River. Their journey was the subject of a Wayne State University Press book, UP … Continue reading

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Sham environmentalism

By Joel Thurtell I’ve got to hand it to Friends of the Rouge and the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority. When it comes to finding ways to waste money on high-gloss publicity stunts while ignoring the need for ongoing evaluation and … Continue reading

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Which one?

By Joel Thurtell Which will it be? Both, maybe? The Musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra are giving two — TWO! — performances on Sunday, March 6. At 3 p.m., the MDSO are playing at Kirk in the Hills, a … Continue reading

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How to cut your booze bill to zero

By Joel Thurtell The simplest way to cut your booze bill to zero would be to just stop buying liquids with alcoholic content. That would be so easy, such a certain shortcut to success, that we the writers and editors … Continue reading

Posted in Cider, retirement | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Conyers vs. Dingell?

By Joel Thurtell If Republican mapmakers pit the longest-serving U.S. representative, John Dingell, against the second-longest-serving rep, John Conyers (both Democrats) in a new congressional district that includes liberal Ann Arbor, the fur is gonna fly. I’ll be watching for … Continue reading

Posted in JC & Me | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

‘Patten Bay’ it’s not — except that it is

By Joel Thurtell Canada’s geographic names board says a little lake in McGregor Bay where some of us have cottages is not called Patten Bay. They are wrong. I just got a note from Zoe McDougall saying her request to … Continue reading

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