Visit the Penobscot, Detroit's 47-story treasure

Named for a Native American tribe in Maine, the Penobscot Building is probably the most recognizable building in downtown Detroit not called the RenCen. Or Joe Louis. Or the Book Tower. Or Comer...OK, so maybe it only used to be one of the most recognizable buildings downtown. But it's still an awesome place, and much like the Guardian Building nearby (recently profiled on the Kage) the Penobscot is worth a quick tour if you're ever downtown with a half-hour to kill. Somewhat secretly, it offers decent (but not great) shopping that most people don't know about.

While you may be familiar with the Penobscot (it's the one at Fort and Griswold with the huge red beacon at the top that lights up at night) here are a few factoids that show just how prominent the building once was.

• When it was built in 1928, it was the eighth tallest building in the world, and the tallest anywhere outside of New York and Chicago.

• It was the tallest building in Detroit until the RenCen was built in the '70s.

• Somewhat less impressive, its lobby was used during filming of "Eight Mile". You'll see it when Eminem walks through on his way in to a radio station.

• Its huge entrance arch alone is worth checking out, and looks much better when there isn't an SUV parked in the way of what otherwise would've been a nice picture.

Detroit's other tribute to boxing great Joe Louis

On one side of Cobo Hall stands Joe Louis Arena, at least for now. A few blocks the other way, there's the widely known and often controversial Fist of a Champion sculpture. Both are Detroit's way of saluting homegrown boxing hero Joe Louis.

But in between, a lesser-known tribute to the Brown Bomber stands in the Cobo Hall concourse, an unfortunately low-traffic area unless you really like new cars, and even then you likely only set foot in the place once a year. It's a cool sculpture, and it stands just inside Cobo's main entrance.

In researching the statue a little bit, I stumbled upon some interesting facts about Joe Louis. As a child, he grew up in a section of Detroit known as "Black Bottom", an all-black neighborhood in what is now an area near the current-day ballparks. It was called "Black Bottom" not because of its all-black residents, but because of the very dark soil there. "Black Bottom" was a nationally famous area, and featured jazz clubs where people like Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie played. All of that has nothing to do with a statue in Cobo Hall, I realize. But it's pretty interesting.

It's Winter Blast time - and Spongebob's back!

We haven't enjoyed a Spongebob sighting downtown in a few months, not since I stumbled upon that parking lot sign that made little to no sense. Well, the yellow and squishy one is back, except this time, he's neither yellow nor squishy. He's clear and particularly hard, and alongside his lovable (and comically superior, in my opinion) friend Patrick, he's one of many ice sculptures on display this weekend as part of the Motown Winter Blast.

All the fun happens this weekend, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. This year's Winter Blast includes all the stuff we've gotten used to over the past five years, except for the sledding hill, which has been nixed. (Good call, in my view. The hill was never big enough to be cool.) There's ice skating, marshmallow roasting, lots of food and drink, and live music all over the place. This year, they've added carousels and other rides for the kids to give the whole Campus Martius area more of a carnival midway feel.

If you make it downtown for Winter Blast but find that being cold and looking at things gets old in a hurry, the Kage's crack research team has been hard at work rounding up a list of bars very near the festival. I recommend the Grand Trunk Pub on Woodward, but to see the entire list, click here.

Sam Riddle spotting: Part Deux

How's this for timing? A short while after posting a few words about spotting Sam Riddle on the street the other day, I happened by the federal courthouse today where a mob of media types were gathered around the front steps. In the middle of them was Riddle, who had just come out after the judge excused the still-deadlocked jury for the weekend. It's looking more and more like Riddle might skate. Not it really makes me wonder how he was standing by himself a few days ago.

As a sidebar, I will say this much: Sam Riddle has one sweet hat collection!