Baldwin New Titles March 26th 2013 Include Best Picture nominee Lincoln, Brad Pitt, and Parental Guidance.

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout: Catalyzed by a nephew's thoughtless prank, a pair of brothers confront painful psychological issues surrounding the freak accident that killed their father when they were boys, a loss linked to a heartbreaking deception that shaped their personal and professional lives. 

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Let The Dead Sleep by Heather Graham: A centuries-old bust of an evil, demonic man was stolen from a New Orleans grave. Its current owner shows up at Danni Cafferty's antiques shop, but before Danni can buy the statue, it disappears and the owner is found dead. Michael Quinn, a private investigator, believes that the right thing to do is to find and destroy this object weighted with malevolent powers. He and Danni follow it through sultry nights to hidden places in the French Quarter and secret ceremonies on abandoned plantations.Check Availability

Lincoln (DVD): A revealing drama that focuses on the 16th president's  final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country, and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come. Check Availability

Killing Them Softly (DVD): Jackie Cogan is an enforcer for the mob. When a high-stakes, mob-protected card game is heisted by some small-time crooks, Cogan is called in to track them down and restore order to the local criminal economy.  Check Availability

 

Parental Guidance (DVD): Old school grandparents Artie and Diane get more than they bargained for when they get stuck babysitting their type-A daughter's overprotected kids. But things go from hectic to hysterical when Artie realizes the kids are running the house with their newfangled technology. By playing by his own rules, which include sugary snacks, old fashioned games, and tough love, Artie manages to outsmart the kids and achieve the impossible - bringing the family closer together.

 Check Availability 

Lot Split Question Cuts to Core of City's Character and Charm. Part One. February.

What happened ?
 A  lot split  agenda item took a detour when a resident of the City, spoke against it at the planning commission meeting in February.

At first no one  seemed to be  paying attention to the woman. She spoke from a middle to back row with a slight voice What she said was very compelling and even the Mayor who began the agenda item with  a shuffle of papers and selected documents with all the enthusiasm of one getting an early start on 2013 Christmas Cards was forced to look up. Others found themselves equally compelled.


The speaker was Margret Brophy who is one of the more influential women in the City's recent History. When she talks people listen. In fact it has been said that if you were mailing packages at the post office (when the City had one) and happened to be second in a long line when Margret Brophy joined it, you'd be wise to drop out and get behind her to get her take on the City, .

If it weren't for Margret Brophy you would not be reading this publication, Mayor McClure might not have been elected to City Commission and a half dozen other residents who made a contributions to our City, probably wouldn't have been heard of either.How so ? Margret Brophy is a letter writer who's mass mailings urged citizens to attend  meetings and take an interest in City affairs. My twenty years of civic apathy ended when my wife  took a Margret Brophy  letter, scrawled "go to meetings" on it and tossed it in my chore box. I can tell you the  exact day that happened. Tuesday April 21st 2009. History records that I even had something to say.

At the Planning Commission of  Tuesday  8th 2013, Ms. Brophy had said something to say as well which involved a major and minor concern.
The minor was that despite living more or less across the street from the proposed developmentshe had not received  notification of the meeting in the mail as is required. Amy Burton the City's very efficient City Manager, left meeting to check and reported back that Ms. Brophy and family had indeed been noticed by mail. Thus a most unusual situation  Mrs Brophy has a long history of indicating she knows her way around mailings and envelopes. She also knows what official City Correspondence looks like since her husband was the prior Chairman of the City Planning Commission.  On the other hand it is hard to believe that despite her interest and  dedication to the City Mrs. Brophy would rank high enough to rate placement on an enemies exclusion list. A third possibility and probably most probable  is that the city which notices no more than the absolute required minimum set in motion a miscalculation which occurred at the far end of Cranbrook road, one of the City's longest streets.

The second concern was the the lot split would  change for  the worse the character of the the neighborhood and the City.
Almost  everyone else said it wouldn't, So questions were asked. Even by the Mayor who upon recognizing Mrs. Brophy snappd to.

The gist of prior comments was that everything was zoned  A-3  Single family dwelling of an Acre or more but not two which is more or less how the whole City with a few exceptions is zoned.  So nothing usual there. Instead of a big house on a big lot you would  have a big house on a smaller lot. Instead of three acres  it would be 1.6 and 1.4 acres  which would be comparable to a  large lot in say Rudgate. Jonna Luxury Homes would do well for the City and said we should trust them.

Part of the problem was semantic. Cranbrook is a big word with big impact. A spike Property values is discernible.

Then there is the word "luxury". One of the anomalies of The City of Bloomfield Hills is that it is not pretentious or particularly snooty. You can drive an old Oldsmobile or have a hole in the elbow of your flannel shirt and no one with possible exception of my wife will freak out.
                  
Living in A-3 is OK. Living in a Luxury home is not.Nobody in the City of Bloomfield Hills lives in a luxury home.They just live in homes. Luxury homes are those French Chateaux in the Loire or something.

If anybody understood semantics it would Planning Commissioner Mary Kapur who reads carefully and assumes the placement of words involves a certain amount of intent by the author. It was part of her professional career and one she caries over to concerned city resident  as well. Her reading of the language af the situation was that since  Joanna Luxury Homes met all the legal requirements  we could not refuse their request to split the lot. that was also the the reading of the City Attorney as well. A look of pure triumph overcame Ms. Kapur and if a tennis net were anywhere in vicinity she would have been in midair. Game, Set and Match but just yet.

Newly appointed planning commissioner Mary Juras who had been listening intently wondered what was rush. Planning Commissioner Walter Cuetler had expressed reservations about possible previous splits the property had had and wanted the opportunity to study the matter further. By a vote of 9 to 2 with Mary Kapur and City Manager Jay Cravens voting no, the Commission tabled the matter to the March meeting.

A move that irritated the Jonna Luxury Homes who now saw the matter as done deal now which would require them to wait another 30 days and come back again,

Everyone knew the City would not win. The Attorney said so and as a rule they like to keep the City happy. The City Manager was not happy and glowered.  He may have thought that if that little old lady hadn't showed up the agenda item would have been approved. If that was the case, he was correct. Few if any knew what the Agenda item said or where in the heck 2230 Cranbrook Road was.

The Agenda item was not the real issue. At stake was character of the City which is more than a monotonous stretch of A-3 No one knew that better than Margret Brophy.
 And no one realized what English Language words when strung together meant, than Mary Kapur. 

Both women live on opposite sides of town, Literally southwest and northeast. Both live in distinctive  A-3 neighborhoods which add to the City's charm.

Ms. Kapur lives in what is called colloquially called the Hunt Club. Kingsley trail is the main drag. The Hunt Club neighborhood is Leave it to Beaver Land come to life and the friendly neighbors of the 1950's abound. There  is  more  than one neighborhood  association and once there was even a secession involving a tree regulations that was later patched up, and the details in decades long gone forgotten. In the Spring or summer  front doors are left open. People work in their yard and talk to neighbors walking the dog. If the garage is open and the neighbor is fooling with the car or puttering the garden  it is OK to ask if you can borrow a tool.

In the Cranbrook area where MS. Brophy lives the property values are substantially higher than the Hunt Club as befitting the square footage and proximity of the City's most famous attraction. The neighbors are however more distant. You would not  knock on the door next door to borrow a cup of flour or a monkey wrench, or see if any one was  watching the Tiger game. There would be a certain formality implied but never stated  which for the neighborhood of quarter acre walks to the front door, is quite appropriate.

If you attend in the various Board and Commission meetings the City has you often see building contractors, developers and even the consultants the City employs fail realize the city's unique  neighborhoods. If a house is a house wherever it is located then City of Bloomfield Hills would be Levittowm

A-3 or not Hunt Club and Cranbrok are two unique and different neighborhoods in a charming City like no other. Diminish one and you diminish both and if  nothing else the City had gained a month to think about it.

Minutes of Planning Commission Feb 12th Land Division Discussion

College Basketball As We Know and Love It This Monday Morning.

Two weeks ago,  The University of Michigan,  cheered on by fans in East Lansing, Columbus Ohio, and of course  Ann Arbor, played the University of Indiana in a  Basketball game that would decide the Big Ten (Regular Season) Championship.  

If  Michigan won its last game of the season against Indiana the Big Ten championship  would be shared amongst the four schools with four identical trophies being  awarded.

Michigan, playing at home, and once ranked number one in the nation, blew a lead that looked  certain until snatched away at the very end. Indiana won and kept the regular season title to itself much to the disappointment of fans at Crisler arena and in capitol cities elsewhere. If it is any consolation to the elsewhere crowd, Michigan didn't do it on purpose or even out of spite.

The loss gave Michigan a lousy position  in the  Big Ten Tournament. As a number five seed (or draw) Michigan wasted no time in losing to surprising Wisconsin which then surprised  Indiana, to play Ohio State in the Championship game. Ohio State, a number two seed got there by beating Michigan State. That too was surprising. So much so that a Detroit newspaper rather rudely singled out a Michigan State player for chastisement in a banner headline.

Ohio  State which did not have a basketball team (in the true sense of the word) until three days after Valentine’s Day was crowned the Big Ten (Tournament) Champion.

Almost immediately after the Big Ten Title game  the  NCAA  Men’s Basketball  Tournament Selection show began. 68 teams were selected to play in a whopping 48 basketball games in less than a week. Four would be played on Tuesday and Wednesday. 32 would be played in on Thursday and Friday and 16 more on the weekend in eight locations coast to coast.

The Palace of Auburn Hills was one of the eight locations chosen.

 The NCAA  Basketball Tournament and the Motor City  have had  a nice working relationship  for decades. 

• In 1988 The Pontiac Silverdome hosted a NCAA Regional Tournament featuring four of the so-called  Sweet Sixteen Teams.   That’s the 16 teams who survived the Basketball Marathon the week prior to play for the four spots in the tournament's prestigious Final Four. Kansas was in the Detroit regional that year  and the Jay Hawks went on to win the National Title. Kansas folk often refer to the 1988 tournament run as "Danny and the Miracles." Not being Rock and Roll  or Biblical savvy  this writer has no idea of what that means. 
• In 1990 another NCAA regional was played at the Silverdome. This time Duke was the winner and the eventual National Title runner up  to the University of  Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV).
• In 2008 the City hosted an  regional NCAA regional at Ford Ford Field. Kansas, Davison, Villanova and Wisconsin competed. Kansas fans liked playing in  Detroit. Not only did it remind them of 1988, the location of all their 2008 Tournament games that year was identical the the road taken by Danny and the Miracles of twenty years prior.True to form the Jay Hawks won the regional title in a last second nail biter, and the National championship in a come from behind overtime victory.

The Detroit 2008 regional  arguably was one of most significant regional tournaments in the history of college basketball. The NCAA had long toyed with the idea of a National Championship played in a big arena where  80,000 instead of 20,000 could  attend the game  and enjoy the spirit of the Final Four, which some say is the greatest spectacle in sports. In 1968 in a regular season game,  some called the  Game of the Century, the University of Houston upset UCLA in the Astrodome.  Unfortunately the basketball court in the put in the middle of the arena seemed tiny and the players running around even smaller. In the years that followed College Basketball in the big arena meant cutting seating area in half with a giant curtain. That is how it was at NCAA  games played at the Silverdome and the Georgia Dome in 2007 which is the site of this year’s final four.The Ford Field Regional in 2008, considered a dress rehearsal for the 2009  Final Four National  Championship also played at Ford Field changed that. 

In both cases it was demonstrated that record breaking crowds could enjoy basketball in the big arena. After 2008 the NCAA Final Four moved to venues like the  Lucas Oil  Stadium in Indianapolis (2010) and Reliant Stadium in Houston (2011). Last year the New Orleans Superdome hosted the Final Four where the event  played before but in 2012, for the first time, it played before a full house. 

• In 2006 and 2013 the Place of Auburn Hills  hosted first rounds of  NCAA Tournament. That is a four game (approximately a noon to midnight extravaganza) followed a day later by a 2 game championship conclusion that sends two teams to the sweet sixteen.

This year as luck would have it, Michigan and Michigan State played the Palace most  impressively and won spots in the sweet sixteen. So  at other locations did Indiana and Ohio State. 

All four play in separate regions  which means they won't play each other until the Final Four. It also means that all four could wind up in the Final  Four which boggles the mind.  Two teams from a single conference is not uncommon. In recent Big Ten history it has happened five times  in four decades.

• In 1976 Indiana and Michigan met the title game with Indiana winning.
• In 1989 Illinois lost to Seton Hall who lost in the championship game to Michigan
• In 1999 Ohio State and Michigan State lost to UConn and  Duke before UConn won the title game.
• In 2000 Michigan State defeated Wisconsin and then Florida to win the National Championship.
• In 2005  Illinois lost to North Carolina in the final.  UNC had beaten Michigan State in the semifinals.

But four in the Final Four from  a single 

conference ?  Never. Even Big Ten enthusiast par excel lance, Dick Vitale predicts only three.

What is interesting is that two weeks ago, riding on the outcome of a single game, was the Big Ten regular season title for four schools. This week Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State, control their own destiny. A national title requires for straight wins.  A final four visit, a very worthy consolation prize requires only two. This Sunday before 60 Minutes we will know how many if any, are still dancing at the big dance.