Michiganexpats – Culture – See All Culture
By Guest Contributor – Dax De La Monta
Dax de la Monta sent us details about a Michigan party he held in New York. Sounds like a good time!
I'm an Okemosian writing from the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. There are a lot of Michiganders here in the Big Apple, as you might imagine. When I moved here about 4 years ago looking for work, I only knew a handful of people from college. Since then, I've reconnected with a bunch of folks from the Mitten and met friends of friends; at this point I know more Michiganders here than I do back home. Last year my housemates and I struck upon the idea of having a Michigan-themed party (I live with a couple other members of the diaspora -- when I first landed I was calling Craigslist sublet ads and randomly hit on someone from high school). It went over pretty well, so this year we ratcheted it up. Highlights included:
- Decorations -- a wall of celebrities hailing from the Great Lakes State, maps and flags, state symbols (bird, rock, tree, etc.).
- Euchre.
- People wore Michigan-related apparel and had their first name and hometown written on nametags.
- Corporate sponsors -- Meijer, Dart, Carhartt, Whirlpool, Kellogg's, 5 Hour Energy, etc.
- Coney dogs -- Koegel's Viennas were overnighted from Detroit; we weren't ambitious enough to make pasties, maybe next year.
- Movies -- Roger & Me, Evil Dead, The Big Chill, 8 Mile, American Pie.- A mega-mix of Michigan music spanning multiple genres which included, but was not limited to, post-War blues, rockabilly, rock 'n roll, garage rock, psych, hard rock, hardcore, techno, horror rap, blues punk, hip-hop, indie rock/folk/pop, and outsider.
- Reading material in the bathroom included the Wikipedia entry on Michigan and Pure Michigan tourist brochures.
Hey Dax – any music suggestions for the podcast?
This was a great idea… maybe the Doctor and I will drive up there next year!
