Watch classic horror movies for free at Google Video

No, these movies are not Michigan-related (at least not that I can tell). I just thought that with Halloween coming up people might be in the mood for some campy horror movies. Thanks to the wonder of the internet, those of us with broadband connections can watch these movies for free online at Google Video. Get that popcorn poppin' and settle down for some classic horror movie fun. These movies fell out of copyright and are currently in the public domain which means that you won't be in trouble for watching them ;). You can even download them to your computer if you so desire.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) - The radiation from a fallen satellite causes the recently deceased to rise from the grave and seek the living to use as food. This is the situation that a group of people penned up in an old farmhouse must deal with.

Nosforatu - the silent and original Dracula movie

Phantom of the Opera

Bride of the Gorilla - The owner of a plantation in the jungle marries a beautiful woman. Shortly afterward, he is plagued by a strange voodoo curse which transforms him into a gorilla.

The Vampire Bat - When the villagers of Klineschloss start dying of blood loss, the town fathers suspect a resurgence of vampirism...

House on Haunted Hill - Five diverse people are invited to a 'haunted house' party. They are offered $10,000 each by an eccentric millionaire and his wife to spend the night in a house with a murderous past.

Movie summaries via The Internet Movie Database.

Remember these 3 things when sending gift baskets

With the busiest time of the year coming up for the gift basket industry I thought I should impart a few tips that will make sure the gift baskets you send are fully appreciated by the recipient.

1. Have the correct shipping address for the gift basket recipient. I cannot tell you the number of times that people have entered incorrect shipping addresses for gift baskets. Most of the time it is an easy fix, but a few times have required a lot of work on my part and the gift giver to track down a proper address for someone.
2. Make sure that you fill out the Gift Card Message in the checkout phase of our website. There have been a few instances where some folks have neglected to fill it out and I just give them a quick call and ask them what they would like the gift card to say. More often than not, people fill out the gift card message but do not sign it. You know, like, "Love Mom & Dad" or something to that effect.
3. We are able to ship about 90% of our gift baskets via USPS Priority Mail (the other 10% are shipped UPS Ground - 3 to 5 days) which gets your gift baskets to the recipient in 3 days (not counting Sundays). Depending on where your gift basket is being sent you might need to allow for the full 3 days when you want to make sure it arrives by a specific date. Towards the end of November I will post the deadlines for shipping gift baskets that you want to arrive by Christmas.

I hope these tips are beneficial and help you make your shopping experience with us even better. We always look forward to assisting you with your gift giving throughout the year.

Look over our bestselling gift baskets for some quick gift ideas.

Auction to benefit Marquette County History Museum

A November 2 auction at UpFront & Co. in Marquette will benefit the Marquette County History Museum. Antiques as well as some unique experiences will be auctioned off to raise funds for the museum's operational expenses. Collectibles, sports memorabilia, and just about anything else have been donated by community members and folks across the U.P. for the auction. A chance to have lunch at Peter White's camp on the Laughing Whitefish River, fly-fishing, a history tour of Northern Michigan University, and other unique Upper Peninsula experiences will be up for auction too.

Via The Mining Journal.

Losing friends to Michigan's crummy economy

A good friend of mine recently moved out to Boulder, Colorado for a better job in a better economy. He was making decent money working in Accounting/Finance here in Michigan, but without any health insurance benefits. He would wait weeks or months here after sending out dozens of resumes for a measly one or two interviews. In just one week out in Boulder he has had multiple interviews in just ONE day. It's no wonder states like Wyoming are recruiting for jobs here in Michigan. When your state's economy ranks 49th out of the 50 states every other state's job market looks promising.

Neither Granholm nor DeVos has come out with a definitive fact-based plan for job creation here in Michigan. Neither candidate has come up with a feasible health care plan. Neither candidate has much of an idea on what it will take to improve the results of our education system.

Does either candidate deserve our vote?

I was ticked off about our state's economic woes long before my good friend finally gave up on trying to make things work in Michigan. The biggest deciding factor in where he moved to was not the job market, it was the weather climate. It came down to Texas heat or the moderate climate of Boulder.

In case you were in denial about the state's economy – just how bad is our economy when people don't care where they move to as long as they move out of Michigan.

It didn't matter where he ended up as far as he was concerned. He knew getting a job somewhere else would be relatively easy compared to Michigan.

Our State is Broke - Will Somebody Please Fix it?!?

The election is two weeks from today. It might as well be two years from today. We have a long road to economic recovery before us. The question is, how many more wrong turns can we afford to take?

Michigan gas prices bump up a couple cents

Today's average price of gas in Michigan is up a couple of cents from last week at $2.176. One month ago the average price of regular unleaded in Michigan stood at $2.274. One year ago we were paying $2.59 on average across the state of Michigan. OPEC recently decided to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels of oil per day so who knows if gas will dip below the $2 threshold.

Fuel price data courtesy of AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.

Mysterious Paulding Light - haunt or hoax?

Some folks say that the mystery light near Paulding, MI is merely headlights and taillights from U.S. 45. Others believe that it is not so easily explained. On almost any given night you can head out this spot near Watersmeet and see a mysterious light floating above the ground between the rows of trees that border the old road bed. Ripley's Believe it or Not supposedly offered $100,000 to anyone who could solve the mystery of the light.. One of myths that seems to have the greatest hold among believers of the "mystery light" is that it is the ghost of a railroad brakeman.

Directions: Take U.S. 45 north out of Watersmeet Michigan. About 5 miles out of Watersmeet, the road will begin a slow bend to the right. Watch for a road on the left side of 45 named "Robbins Pond Road" (old state hwy 45), there is usually a brown park sign right before, turn left on Robbins Pond Road. Follow the gravel road down about 3/8 mile until you see the dead end.

This video is just under 2 minutes long. To me, it sure did look like headlights from passing cars. Locals will tell you that this light people are currently seeing is NOT the true Paulding Light. That mysterious light has not been see in years. Heh, heh, sounds like the locals will do anything to keep the curiousity seekers coming.

If the video player does not appear you can view this over at YouTube right here.

P.S. I should have posted this last Friday (Friday the 13th) ;)

P.P.S. There is a 70 minute long movie along the lines of The Blair Witch Project that was made concerning The Paulding Light. You can watch, The Paulding Light, in its entirety at PauldingLight.com. You will need a broadband connection to view this movie as it is a rather large file size.