Hundreds of adults and children have bundled up in winter garb at Freedom Hill County Park in Sterling Heights, hoping to get vaccinated at the last H1N1 clinic in Macomb County this week.

Despite the numbers, the line has been orderly and has moved efficiently. About 3,000 doses are to be distributed by health workers at 45 stations.

california, on the other hand, is deeply dysfunctional and humungous. the government feebly tries to fix overcomplex system, and what happens?

Confused and bored by the wonky and tangled wording on the ballot, most voters ignored the election entirely. Those who did turn out rejected all measures except one that freezes legislators’ pay during budget-deficit years—a ritualised form of venting general anger.

the budget, which they haven’t been able to pass on-time in years, leaves state agencies near broke for months, and the number of ballot initiatives it puts forward each year is absurd (12 in 2008? what normal person can keep track of that?) california actually has viable industries, yet it still is in a severe budget crisis. plus, no one in michigan wants to split the state into four parts. i’d much rather be jennifer granholm than arnold swarzenegger.

nerd points if you know who this is.

Pilot News: Minka Kelly and Jason Dohring Hot for CW’s Body

Friday Night Lights’ Minka Kelly has landed the female lead on Body Politic, the CW’s pilot about an absurdly pretty gathering of D.C. up-and-comers.

Kelly will play Hope, a sweet Michigan gal who, after her mother dies, moves to Washington to connect with the father she never knew — a senator-turned-attorney general (played by Animal House’s Tim Matheson).

Also on board for Body Politic is Jason Dohring, playing a reporter for the Washington Post. Following his run as Veronica Mars’ Logan, Dohring most recently had a series regular role on CBS’ short-lived Moonlight.

let’s discuss how great this is.

1. minka kelly (friday night lights) is from MICHIGAN and moves to DC. sound familiar!?!? unfortunately, no one from michigan looks like her. actually, no one from dc looks like her.
2. jason dohring (veronica mars) is a washington post reporter. hahahahahhaahahahhaha. now we’re definitely in twilight zone. aside from the wire, the portrayal of journalists is always a travesty.
3. is it hard to believe that her father became a senator even w/ a bastard/estranged child? this plot point is actually likely the least absurd of the three. i mean, david vitter is still a senator …

i’m just … really excited about this. i just hope they don’t mangle DC geography like they always do. do you think they’ll be partying it up at smith point? or vomiting on the sidewalks of adams morgan? and let’s predict how many romantic strolls they’ll be taking on the steps of the lincoln memorial or along the tidal basin. dear body politic, here’s some advice: locals NEVER take leisurely visits to the mall unless their cousins are in town. way too many fat tourists waddling along the wide sidewalks or, even worse, riding on segways. i bet a lot of the action will happen in georgetown, where no young washington post reporter could possibly afford to live. unless it’s in a horrible group house or actually glover park.

i think i’d be a pretty badass consultant on a show like this. HIRE ME.

“for lease” was the theme of the weekend. bah. these 5 pics are probably only even mildly interesting to you if you’ve been to birmingham. otherwise, you can move on.

three of the justices are pretty old and could retire in the next term. one guy says that obama would likely pick a woman, especially since ruth bader, the only female justice, is one of the more geriatric ones.

this would be ridiculous because 1) granholm was born in canada. have we ever had a foreign-born justice? and 2) have we ever had a governor-turned-supreme-court-justice? maybe both of these things happened way in the past, but how about 20th century? or even late 19th century.

one thing that’s nice about granholm if this happened: her confirmation hearing wouldn’t be too scandalous since she’s already been raked through the coals at least twice as governor. no surprise illegitimate children or sexual harassment allegations. but i suppose her political views are obviously well-known and may embolden the GOP. either way, this is cool.

thanks to sean for the tip

1. this is walt (in yellow).

you may not know walt, but that knowledge isn’t necessary to find this photo hilarious. what you should know is that walt loves michigan football. he will not get married during football season for fear that one of his anniversaries in the future may fall on the same day as an important game. consequently, when michigan sucks at football, walt gets sad and sometimes drinks. when this happens, walt sometimes falls into lakes or wanders 2 miles to a kroger to get carpet cleaner at 4am. this weekend, walt sang songs (his own impromptu “songs”) featuring the names of past michigan football greats while freak dancing a dude in a robe. i’m pretty sure grinding a guy with bad hair in a robe on the street in the freezing cold is something that only happens in college. which is why i’m glad i’m out of college now.

2. another reason why sadness-induced drinking may not be the best idea: the guy who fell from a 2nd-floor foyer and spilled blood all over the floor outside the bar. all this happened while i was cluelessly sipping my delicious canadian brew inside mitch’s, but you know nothing good happened when the owner shoos you out 30 min before closing, the cops are wearing blue latex evidence gloves, and there is crime scene tape all around. the ann arbor news has the details:

A Birmingham man is in critical condition this morning at the University of Michigan Medical Center after falling from the second-story balcony of a downtown Ann Arbor bar while apparently attempting a stunt, police said.

The 30-year-old man suffered a fractured skull and other serious injuries after landing head-first on the concrete outside Mitch’s Place, 1220 S. University Ave. about 1:15 a.m. Sunday, Detective Sgt. Richard Kinsey said.

Witness reports indicate the man attempted to slide down the railing of a stairway from the balcony.

The first officers to arrive at the scene said a large crowd of people was surrounding the man, who was unresponsive and lying in a large pool of blood.
…
Police estimated he fell roughly 18 feet. They confirmed he had been drinking at the bar but are awaiting tests result to determine his level of intoxication. Kinsey said no foul play is suspected and the incident remains under investigation.

i’m hesitant to post this photo, but it’s almost 4am and my judgment sucks. in my infinite wisdom, i took a pic of the bloody scene and got thoroughly reamed out by the cops. i deserved it, but in my defense, i didn’t know what had happened at the time.

you can’t see much, but perhaps that’s for the better.

moral of the story? don’t drink so much. you might do stupid stuff.

holy crap now i’ll actually have to watch it.

premieres tonight at 9pm on bravo.

i hope he’s not a total douche, although will any of us troyalty really be that surprised if he is?

interesting facts:
1. michigan is #24, right in the middle
2. wisconsin, home of the beast, is #1, not surprising since beer basically grows out of the concrete there.
3. alabama is #50, which i suppose is also not that surprising since they have some of the most ridiculous blue laws. then again, i also imagine there’s a lot of reason to want to drink in the lovely heart of dixie.
4. i’m impressed with RI, NH, and VT for bringing the pain at #7, #9, and #10. who woulda thought new englanders could drink like us from the midwest?