Come One, Come All

This is a remarkable year for the Traverse City Film Festival.  Their premier theater "The State" was named first by the Motion Picture Association in the world. It is a beautifully restored theater. 

But, they also have a second theater called "Bijou by the Bay." The theme is similar to that of a "Summer House." Done in pastels it has a theme far different than The State Theater. The new theater is slightly smaller than the state theater only seating about 180 people, but, the movies will be current and box office blockbusters. 

The 9th Traverse Film Festival is happening this week with many talented and dedicated independent filmmakers. The age of the people staffing the event impressed me, they are young. From videographers to venue managers they are young people getting experience and building their resume. It is a great event and I encourage all that can and enjoy great movies come and be exposed to thinking people without powerful messages.

Traverse City Film Festival 2013 (click here)

I'll write more about the movies I attend, but, I have to run right now. There is a Cinema Salon I want to hear and participate in. Until later.

This is a funeral procession of the 1913 Massacre at the Italian Hall

It was a Finnish mining town. Woody Guthrie wrote and performed the song, "1913 Massacre at the Italian Hall." 

This is 100 years later.

The local newspaper rarely published anything in English as the community didn't speak English, but, this editorial appeared.

“The most appalling disaster in the history of Michigan occurred last evening at the Italian Hall in Calumet where hundreds of men, women and children had gathered to witness Christmas exercises for the strikers[’] children. The program which was quite lengthy had just begun when a strange man ascended the stairway, yelled “fire” and quickly made his escape to the street. Several persons who stood near the entrance where this man appeared, state that he had his cap pulled down over his eyes, and that pinned to the lapel of his coat was a Citizen’s [sic] Alliance button. At the cry of fire the great crowd arose as one and made a mad rush for the exit in the front of the building. In the rush down the stairway many fell and being unable to regain their feet were trampled to death, their bodies acting as stumbling blocks for others who followed, until the hallway was entirely blocked by the dead and dying. The fire alarm was soon sounded and those responding were forced to gain entrance to the hall by ladders at the front windows. Firemen entered the building in this manner and stopped the panic stricken crowd from further crowding into the hallway upon the dead bodies of their friends in a frantic effort to escape. The bodies in the hallway were so tightly packed that they could not be released from below, and firemen were compelled to remove the dead from the top of the stairway carrying the dead and dying back up into the hall before the stairs could be cleared. At the time the cry of fire was sounded in the hall Mrs. Annie Clemenc was making a talk to the little ones present who naturally were crowded as near the stage as possible, their little faces beaming with happiness, their hearts bounding with Christmas cheer. In less than three minutes afterward fifty of their frail little bodies were jammed and crushed in the hallway being used as a roadway over which their companions were vainly endeavoring to escape. The scene was a horrible one, and will never be effaced from the minds of those who witnessed the terrible tragedy.

The bodies of the dead were taken to a temporary morgue established in the town hall as soon as they were removed from the building. As soon as identifications were made, the bodies were removed to their homes. In some homes the mother and all the children lie cold in death, the husband and father crazed with grief. In others the mother being the only one spared has been plunged into despair and sorrow that yet dazes her, the full truth not yet dawning upon her terrified brain.”

Never worry about starting the charcoal again.

July 30, 2013
...Now, the focus shifts to what caused the blasts. (click here)
The Blue Rhino facility refills propane tanks used in gas grills. The company's tank exchange service allows customers to trade in an empty tank for a full one at retail locations.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Blue Rhino in 2011 over a "serious" safety violation involving tools and equipment. It is not clear whether safety violations had anything to do with the fire.
According to Brockelmeyer, the 2011 OSHA violation was due to an air nozzle at the facility that had a missing component....