Friday, June 03, 2011

FAMW: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Somewhere in America, a magazine which presumes to be an expert on the subject (that would be "Newsweek"), decided that Grand Rapids, Michigan, a city best known as the location of five of the world's leading office furniture companies -- they don't call it "Furniture City" for nothin'! -- belonged on a list of "America's Dying Cities."

So, a bunch of Grand Rapidians got together and decided they didn't have to stand for that. The result is what Roger Ebert has called "the greatest music video ever." A cast of five thousand, in an effort financed to the tune of $40,000 raised by a few individuals, did this ten-minute lip sync of Don McLean's "American Pie" in one take. That's right, just one take. It holds the record for the largest "lipdub" to date. You can read about the people responsible here, as well as find out how to support their endeavor.

Give someone the proper motivation, and there's no limit to what they can do. Something to consider for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy. (By the way, Don McLean still performs this song, but he HATES being asked to explain it. Remember that if you ever run into him. Meanwhile, H/T to Allahpundit at HotAir.com.)
 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I live in Grand Rapids. While the furniture business is dying down, it would be hard to find a "dying city" in our "medical mile."

stories like this one, might lead one to believe that they will need to kill us more than once.