My wife has been going to the Chinese restaurant down the street getting carry out and puts the left over in the fridge. I come home late at night hungry as can be, start typing up the column and before you know it I am trying to choke down this cold day old sweet and sour chicken. Have I mentioned cold rice is tuff to eat? Even if I mix in the sticky red sauce. Its great on the computer keyboard too.

 

I have been spending a lot of time downtown Farmington. My band has been playing every other Thursday at John Cowley's Irish Pub. Hmmm, great place to eat, maybe they should feed me more often. Geez I should mentioned Tita Si's on Fridays too. Tita Si and interesting Filipino restaurant and lounge is on Ford Road just west of Middlebelt. Not only the band playing but we have been doing Karaoke during the breaks. So if you are a singer or know some Karaoke singers sent them our way.

 

I get to talk to a lot of Gazette readers at Cowley's. Gazette readers are a diverse group. Young, old, married, single, students, professionals but the one thing in common, which I think is good for the Gazette, Cowley's and the city is, they all live here.

 

You need people to live in your city. To eat, meet, talk, play, in the city they live. That is what makes a city like Chicago great and one and one of the problems with Detroit. Hard to be a cool city if no one lives there. Working visiting are nice, but you need people using the city day and night to be cool.

 

Growing up I spent a lot of time in Detroit and back in the day they really rolled up the sidewalks when the sun went down. Plenty of hustle and bustle during the work day but at night people couldn't get out of town fast enough. It is changing now streets are busy. lots of things to do. But for the most part it is people from the suburbs going out for a night on the town.

 

My band played in Chicago and they had a different feel to that city. We were unloading equipment in an alley in a big downtown theater and there were kids riding their big wheels. I was shocked what are little kids doing downtown on big wheels? They lived right across the street. In nice homes in the city. It just seemed so foreign to see people living downtown.

 

That is why I am so glad to see people in Farmington. I know it is a much different scale then Chicago or Detroit. But big or small you are not going to be cool or successful without locals enjoying the city.

 

OK enjoy the city. Chef Jeff at Gala Bistro enjoys seared fennel dusted salmon, with plum tomatoes, egg olives and artichokes over mixed greens in a banyulas vinaigrette. Did I mention I am eating cold day old Chinese?

 

Josh enjoys the Farmington Civiv Theater. Lots of people talking about the Joaquin Phoenix movie Walk the Line about the life of the late Johnny Cash.

 

Kathy, Sue, Pam and Bonnie enjoy the Starbuck Coffee when they walk downtown Farmington. Hmmm I bet a hot Frappuccino would go good with this day old dinner. Or is the breakfast? Geez is a Frappuccino supposed to be hot or cold?