Only in Michigan

The economy in Michigan stinks right now. I know it's nothing new to hear about the economy stinking, but here in Michigan it's pretty bad. There are many theories out there as to why it stinks so bad, but some of the reasons are the car manufacturers, people moving out of state, and students going to college here not sticking around.

Regardless of the reasons, one way (among many) that they're trying to jump start the economy is by encouraging movie makers to film in Michigan. Lately, there has been a flurry of action around the Detroit area. Drew Barrymore filmed a movie here in Ann Arbor, Clint Eastwood filmed one near Detroit, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. is currently filming one near Detroit. Clint Eastwood even filmed a commercial promoting Detroit as a good place to film movies, and the state is giving extra incentives for film companies coming here. I hope it works. The state definitely needs the boost.

Just a few words of advice to all those people coming to visit the state: there are a few things that you have to know about this place. A few things that only happen in Michigan. It's taken me a while to understand some of these things, but here they are:

• Party Stores. Growing up in Chicago, a store which sells alcoholic beverages is logically named a "liquor store". Here in Michigan, that store is called a party store. I always thought a party store sold plates and cups and balloons for parties. But here, there's beer, wine, and liquor.
• The Michigan Left. On many four-lane streets around Michigan, in order to go left, you need to go through the intersection, do a U-Turn in the designated place in the middle of the road, and then turn right at the street you want to go onto. Sound strange? It is, but I guess it decreases the amount of accidents of people going left.
• Coney Island. Here in Michigan, there are diners that are mostly owned by Greek families called Coney Islands. The signature meal at these diners is the Coney Dog, which is a hot dog with chili, onions and mustard on it. But besides this, the menu is basically a diner breakfast/lunch menu. I guess the name started with the hot dog? So you'll see all kinds of Coney Island restaurants around: Main Street Coney Island, Frank's Coney Island, etc. They all have the same food, don't worry.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the movies made here. Maybe they'll film in front of a coney island or party store and you could see them for yourself.