Robert Downes

Random Thoughts Robert Downes The Two Child Solution
Want to save the planet? Then forget about solutions like wind power and Earth-friendly fluorescent light bulbs. Forget recycling, “green“ building and carpooling. Forget buzzwords like “sustainable resources“ and all of your good intentions, because they do far too little, too late. There‘s only one obvious way to stop global warming and save ourselves.
We need fewer people on Planet Earth.

Features Robert Downes Walk into Rooted to Nature and you’ll be overwhelmed with the rainbow of creative, fun clothing made from organic materials and natural fibers.
Located two miles south of Elk Rapids at 11672 US 31 South, Rooted to Nature is packed with clothing options from around the world, with fabrics made from renewable resources such as bamboo, soy, hemp, cotton, merino wool and other natural fibers.

Books Robert Downes The Bush Tragedy
By Jacob Weisberg
Random House
269 pages, $26



With the presidency of George W. Bush wrapping up as an historic disaster, authors are lining up to dissect how the president managed to pull so many blunders, including the war in Iraq, the wreck of America’s reputation around the world, and the disaster of New Orleans, to name a few.
Author Jacob Weisberg offers insights in “The Bush Tragedy,” a biography that explores the psychological issues that influenced George W. Bush. The book also examines the motives of Bush’s misguided advisors, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, who led the inexperienced president into a series of poor decisions.
Weisberg compares Bush to Shakespeare’s Prince Hal, a ne’r-do-well youth who became the warlike and religious King Henry V of England. Like Prince Hal in Shakespeare’s plays “Henry IV” and “Henry V,” George W. stands in the shadow of a famous father: he’s desperate to live up to his father’s legend, and also to outdo his father to make his own mark as a man.
The editor of Slate.com, and a former writer for The New Republic, Weisberg notes that both George W. Bush and Prince Hal also play out roles drawn from even older stories: that of the prodigal son in the Bible and the father-destroying legend of Oedipus.

Random Thoughts Robert Downes Remember Auto World?
Auto World was the theme park that opened in Flint in July, 1984. It was supposed to tell the glorious story of the automobile with exhibits like a giant car engine. It had all the goodies: animatronic robots, an amusement park... even a mannequin representing Jacob Smith, the founder of Flint. You walked into Smith’s humble cabin, pressed a button, and a film was projected onto the mannequin’s face, welcoming you to Auto World.
But this was one jalopy that soon ran out of gas. It proved to be about as popular as “Refrigerator World” or “Naugahyde Seat World.” Auto World went bankrupt within a year for lack of customers... possibly, they headed just up the way to “Chicken Dinner World” in Frankenmuth instead.

Features Robert Downes Everything old is new again at Union Street Station in Traverse City, where the popular music destination has had an extensive makeover.
The upgrade began last year when owners Dave and Kate VanOcker painted the exterior of the 114-year-old bar in a rich ocher-red. The new paint job combined with the building’s exquisite stained glass and etched windows gives Union Street Station a pleasant jewelry box look.
But the big change that’s got every customer talking is the addition of 17 high-top tables which have done away with furnishings that were decades-old. Gone is an ancient row of booths, a wall of theater seats and the old tables which hosted thousands of beer glasses.

Music Robert Downes Country rock meets modern rock this weekend when two acts at the top of their games perform at Streeters’ Ground Zero. On Friday, April 11, country-rock star Eric Church performs; meanwhile, Chevelle brings more than a decade of mod-rock hits to the stage on Sunday, April 13.
Both acts will be bringing plenty of backup: Revving up the show for Eric Church will be JoCaine & 75 North along with David Shelby. Opening for Chevelle will be Finger Eleven and God or Julie.
Doug Street, owner of Streeters, says the country show is a bit of a new direction for the club, which has backed down somewhat on its hip-hop acts this year, owing to the unreliability of the performers. “Eric Church offered us a good show with tickets at just $15, so we’re happy to have him here,” he says.

Here’s the lowdown on both acts:

Random Thoughts Robert Downes There’s a new gadget on the market which promises to revolutionize the way we read books.
Or, to put it more simply, it promises to destroy books. Forever.
The Kindle, from Amazon.com, is a reading tablet the size of a paperback book which has a high-resolution display screen that’s easy enough on the eyes to be considered “electronic paper.”
Using wireless technology, owners of the Kindle can download books, newspapers and magazines over a “Whispernet” service on their cellphones. And publications are available for half the price -- or less -- compared to the printed versions.

Features Robert Downes Call it a party on wheels with world-class scenery. That’s the spin on the 19th Annual Zoo-De-Mackinac Bike Bash, which travels 51 miles along the famed “Tunnel of Trees” route north of Harbor Springs, to a night of celebration on Mackinac Island.
On May 17, more than 2,400 cyclists are expected for the bike tour, which heads north from Boyne Highlands and up the coast of Lake Michigan along US-119. The Tunnel of Trees route is draped with superlatives from travel writers the world over, not to mention carpets of trilliums and lilacs in bloom beneath its leafy bower. Riders continue on through the farmlands and forests of Wilderness State Park and finish with spectacular views of the Mackinac Bridge and a party in Mackinaw City.

Features Robert Downes Wondering where to paddle that new kayak this summer? In Northern Michigan, your biggest problem will be trying to choose from among the many spectacular rivers.
Here’s a rundown on some of our favorite rivers in the region, based on hours of exploring fun. Needless to say, there are many others worth exploring: the Platte, the Bear, the Fox and the Grass rivers all come to mind. But these will get you started:

Features Robert Downes While the rest of us were shivering through March, wondering when the winter would ever end, John McClorey of Boyne City was enjoying the trip of a lifetime, riding solo through the mountains and along the seashore of the Carolinas.
The owner of Bikefix Cycling Center in Boyne City, John left Asheville, North Carolina on March 11 and wrapped up his ride on March 29, meeting his wife, Meg, in Conway, South Carolina.
“I rode around 600 or 700 miles,” he estimates. “North Carolina is nice because they’ve established about seven bike routes around the state. The one I took was Bicycle Route 2, called the Mountain to the Sea. Then I followed the intercoastal road to South Carolina.”

Music Robert Downes Musicians throughout Northern Michigan put a measure of heart & soul into their CDs, which tend to be locally recorded and sold from the bandstand at their shows. Here’s the latest from songwriters and singers around the region.

A Little Slice • Jenny Thomas

Perhaps the greatest challenge for any musician is to craft a song that will live on in the listener’s memory. How many times have you gone to a concert and come away unable to recall any memorable songs or what the singer had to say?
That’s not the case for singer/songwriter Jenny Thomas, who has a gift for writing acoustic songs that take root and blossom in the listener’s heart. She wins you over with vivid images, optimistic melodies and a percolating, upbeat tempo. As a singer, there’s a shot of honey in the timbre of her voice -- a gift which draws the listener in, making you feel like a close friend. Her live performances are also noteworthy for their inviting, even delivery and assured stage presence. As one fan says, “Everybody likes Jenny Thomas.”
Examples of her best work are on this six-song EP, particularly “Oh My Soul,” a bouncy melody that captures the spirit of Northern Michigan with a driving rhythm and zinger lines such as “Take me for a ride on the back of a whitetail deer.” Another standout is “Betsy Brown,” about a pillar of the community who seems to have it made, but is in fact fatally unhappy. Its shocker ending puts one in mind of classic ballads such as Simon and Garfunkel’s “Richard Corey” or Dylan’s “John Brown.”
A graphic designer from Traverse City, Thomas’s themes embrace a love of family and friends. On this CD, which is available at Horizon Books and Border’s, she gets an assist from Will Thomas on drums, Crispin Campbell on cello, and the recording talents of Patrick Niemisto. “A Little Slice” is a great representation of her live show -- increasingly, she is in demand as the opening act for folk stars passing through venues such as the InsideOut Gallery.

Random Thoughts Robert Downes A year ago, John McCain was written off as a has-been with no hope of securing the Republican nomination for president. And just a few months ago, conventional wisdom had it that the presidency would surely go to a Democrat.
But now that candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are tearing each other to bits, John McCain has a better shot at becoming our next president than anyone might have imagined.
Except for those of us who‘ve read his excellent, heartrending memoir, Faith of My Fathers, that is. The book offers a spellbinding story of a man who never surrendered, even when the price was five-and-a-half years of torture, beatings and imprisonment in North Vietnam.
John McCain‘s war experience is worth examining in light of his support for the war in Iraq and his statement that America could end up occupying the country for 100 years.
My interest in reading McCain‘s book was sparked by a visit to the infamous “Hanoi Hilton“ prison in Vietnam in January. Hoa Lin Prison is an anonymous looking compound in downtown Hanoi which was used to imprison captured Americans during the war.

Features Robert Downes In a world that is increasingly looking for ‘green’ solutions, the recyclers of Odom Reusable Building Materials provide a great role model.
In fact, since its establishment in Traverse City in 1998, Odom has salvaged and sold three million pounds of recycled building materials -- everything from windows, doors, light fixtures and plumbing to entire walls.
“Recycling gets in your blood and we’ve been very well received in this community,” says Bruce Odom, who launched the business 10 years ago after having success with a similar outfit on the West Coast.
Things have gone so well that Odom is planning a 10th anniversary celebration on Saturday, April 19 at the store in Grawn, south of Traverse City, along with its Fifth Annual Used Materials Building Tour.

Random Thoughts Robert Downes Rolling down M-55 between Cadillac and Manistee last week, an offbeat sign caught my eye: “Bear X-ings Next 7 Miles.” It included a picture of a mama bear and two cubs crossing the road.
How cool is that? There aren‘t many places in the country where you find wildlife coexisting with a boom in urban growth.
A big part of the fun of putting together our annual tribute to the “Best of Northern Michigan“ is driving around the region, collecting the photos and stories it takes to put one of our most popular issues together. It‘s a team effort that involves everyone at the Express, including the ad reps, office manager and delivery staff, as well as the writers. It‘s our biggest and best chance of the year to get out and circulate with those of you who make Northern Michigan such a superb place to live.

Books Robert Downes It was just an obscure diet book on the shelves a little over a year ago, but today, Skinny Bitch and its sister publication Skinny Bitch in the Kitch
are two of the fattest books on the bestseller charts.
Specifically, Skinny Bitch has spent the past 30 weeks at the top of the New York Times Paperback Advice Bestseller List, with Skinny Bitch in the Kitch weighing in at number four, along with nine weeks on the list.
Both books offer “vegan diet advice from the world of modeling.” Author Rory Freedman is a former agent for Ford Models and a “self-taught know-it-all,” while Kim Barnouin is a former model who holds an MS degree in holistic nutrition.