Raking It In With the Red Wings

Ever wonder how much money Nemo's bar, located just a few steps from the site of dearly departed Tiger Stadium, makes on a night when the Red Wings beat the Canadiens? I'm not sure of the exact amount, but it's so much they don't even bother with the cash registers. The money just gets piled wherever there's some open space behind the bar until the rush is over.

The Flint Diet

I vowed that on this reporting trip to Flint I would eat better. That means salads, vegetables and all that. I've been pretty good so far, but things went south today at lunch. I guess no matter how good your intentions, sometimes you just find yourself sitting in the parking lot next to Jazz Hair & Nails on Flushing Road near Ballenger eating a coney and a fried Twinkie. It simply can't be helped.

Retro Flint T-Shirts for the Holidays

Each holiday season Flint Expatriate Shawn Chittle opens a retro t-shirt shop with proceeds to benefit the Whaley Children's Center. This year he has recreated 16 vintage Flint shirts that he owns. It's only open during December, so this is your brief chance to get a custom-made memento of Flint landmarks like Smith-Bridgman's, Ace Record Exchange and many more.

Go here to order shirts.

To promote the store, Shawn will be running a weekly trivia contest at shawnchittle.com. The first person to correctly answer the trivia question each week via email gets a free t-shirt of their choice.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman! In Flint!

I'm in Flint on a reporting project and had a chance to meet local photographer Sarah Reed today. She's creating a series of Flint photos based on classic movie posters that are a must-have for Flint Expatriates. Here's the first, and it's available here.

Venn Diagrams for Flint Expatriates

Can Venn diagrams be used to simply sum up complex situations. This Venn by Jessica Hagy at thisindexed.com captures a lot of the emotions swirling around Flint. But it also leaves out much of the nuance that defines the feelings of residents and expatriates alike.

Perhaps a more elaborate Venn — like the one below that attempts to capture "Things That Are Bad" — would be in order for Flint.

"Things That Are Bad" Venn Diagram courtesy of burningdoor.com. Click to enlarge.

Thanks to grumkin for this idea.

Corvair Mania

A Corvair 110 convertible, somewhat worse for wear, spotted this morning near my house in San Francisco. (And lest readers think Flint Expatriates is more profitable than I've indicated, that's not my house in the background. Mine would probably fit nicely in the garage of the house in the photo.)

Wounded Technology

San Francisco In Stasis

UPDATE: Here's the reverse view of the photos discussed below, taken from the top of Bernal Heights with the radio tower directly behind me when I took the shot. The gas station mentioned is just to the left of the street in the center of the frame. Downtown San Francisco is in the distance.

A constant theme of Flint expatriates is the radical change Flint has experienced throughout its history. In addition to the boom and bust economic cycles, the place has physically changed so much that former residents who return after a long absence hardly recognize it.

Given the dynamic nature of San Francisco, where I've lived since 1996, I'm regularly surprised at how little certain parts of the city have changed over the years. It's hard to find places in Flint that don't look radically different than they did 20 years ago. That's not the case in SF.

Need an example? Check out these two identical views of the north side of the Bernal Heights neighborhood where I live. (My house is on the other side of the hill.) The shots are from the newly launched Bernalwood blog, which offers an excellent and often unexpected insider perspective on the neighborhood.

Bernal Heights in 1953. (Photo courtesy of the Cushman Collection at Indiana University)

Bernal Heights in 2008, which is pretty much how it looks today. The gas station is still there, as is the tile-roofed cleaners. The hill has a few more trees and a taller radio tower. Otherwise, the neighborhood has been amberized. (Photo by Todd Lapin)

Photographic Evidence of the Flint Bluegrass Festival

Flintoid Cecelia Waisanen Parks (far right) sports a vintage Flint Bluegrass Festival t-shirt on Mackinaw Island in 1981 before the shirt was considered vintage. Shawn Chittle has recreated the shirt, along with numerous others with a Flint theme, to raise money for the Whaley Children's Center. Go here to check them out.

Flint Northern High School Marching Band

The Northern High School marching band kicks off the Flint Holiday Parade.