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Friday, July 19, 2013

The Twerk Bone Is Connected To The Detroit Bone

I was going to lay off the Detroit bankruptcy and a few more thoughts on Charlie LeDuff's Detroit: An American Autopsy, but fate conspired against me. This morning I bopped around the Interweb Tubes and came across this LOLcat about twerking.

I didn't know what twerking was, but it took no deductive power at all to quickly figure it out. A YouTube search led me to this video, which has had over eight million hits.


Which brought my thoughts to Detroit where they are shocked to discover that a city full of single moms can't pay its bills. David Freddoso has laid out the gory details for all to see.

Because Mr. Freddoso's outstanding Storify piece on Detroit, shown below, is so long, I'll put my punchline here and close with Dave's tale of Motown woe.

Twerk away, kids. In a few years, come on back to the twerking craze over a bowl of ramen and marvel at what we all did to ourselves. You'll be amazed that we ever thought civilization could be maintained by a society obsessed with sex.

Take it away, Mr. Freddoso.


4 comments:

  1. Two years ago, while visiting in-laws in Michigan, one of my many sons convinced me to drive him down to 8 Mile Road to see the sights. So we did.

    It's really hard to convey what it's like to drive through neighborhoods in which half or more of the houses in a block are burned out hulks. Or blocks that give off a rural vibe, because all but one or two houses have been bulldozed and the lots reclaimed by nature. Or blocks peppered with signs offering houses for $5K.

    When I embarked on this field trip, I thought I might be fearful of the denizens of such neighborhoods. Because I've visited some tough neighborhoods and felt that fear. But I never did in Detroit - because there are hardly any people!

    I encourage anyone who gets within hailing distance of Detroit to copy this exercise. It is far more effective than any documentary or written account.

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  2. My favorite tweet on the subject came from Frank J. Fleming @IMAO. Has Detroit considered raising taxes? Tweeted on July 18, 2013

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  3. Jeff, thanks for the brief travelogue. If I get to the area, I'll take the drive. The aerial photos from the Storify piece reminded me of bombed-out German cities from 1945.

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  4. B-Daddy, I loved that one. I'd missed it, so thanks for sharing.

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