bladerunner charm
Bladerunner Charm - Last week I met Charles Munat, Seth Russell, and William Loughborough at a Tully’s in Seattle’s Chinatown. After a very interesting few hours of conversation, I got lost on my way home, and ended up in an area of Seattle I have never been before. One intersection I remember is 4th ave SE and Michigan. If you ever want to get a feel for what Detroit is like, go visit this area - the surroundings are exactly like Michigan Avenue in Detroit, with the only difference perhaps being that there are Teryaki places on the corners instead of Popeye’s or Coney Islands. This experience got me wondering about how Detroit has been doing since I left, and thanks to the wonderful world wide web, I soon was looking at a site called The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit, that captures the city just as I remember it. I was saddened to see that The Soup Kitchen is now closed (this was one of my favorite restaurants). The Wonder Bread factory that gave out free bread to the victims of the great ‘97 tornado is now gutted for Casino development. The first time my car got stolen (shortly after the tornado), it turned up in the projects, which have been demolished since I left. The Fisher Building had great egg salad and shoe-shines; I used to go to church right near this place (it looked just as bad then). I used to work right across the street from these buildings, which are apparently all torn down now, and this fortress was abandoned even when I could see it out my office window five years ago. My parents saw the Doors and Cream at this place; now abandoned, it has served as venue for a few raves. Some of my favorite parties were in the old Packard Plant, which is apparently being demolished now, too. I could tell a story about every place pictured on that site; but what’s the lesson? I guess it would be that nothing lasts forever, and all we get to keep is our memories of our experiences. Perhaps the best example of this attitude is the Hudson’s Building, which was imploded right in downtown Detroit. In the months before the implosion, the City of Detroit allowed area artists to paint whatever they wanted on the sides of the building. Everyone knew the building was coming down, but that just made it seem all the more important to experience and remember the paintings while we could.