PBS Looks at Detroit's future
As part of their on-going series Blueprint America, a program that reports on our nation's complex, ever-changing infrastructure, PBS took a good look at Detroit with Beyond the Motor City.
Here's a clip:
Two animated sequences take a stab at portaying what a new transportation system in Detroit might look like, and how it could operate. The Blueprint America team collaborated with transportation group America 2050 to create those sequences.
Dig it:
TWO LOCAL GROUPS WIN CASH IN FACEBBOOK COMPETITION
A few weeks back, we took a look at four metro-Detroit organizations competing for a cool million, thanks to an innovative, Facebook-fueled grant giveaway ("Chasing the buck," Jan. 13). Gathering votes from Facebook friends the world over, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, Friendship Circle and Sikhcess, both from West Bloomfield, and the Canton-based charity Hand by Hand all made it into the top 100, each winning $25,000.
Metro Times learned Monday that two of the four, Mosaic Youth Theatre and Friendship Circle won further grant money from the Chase Community Giving Program.
Though Mosaic Youth Theatre came up a bit short in the tally, failing to advance into the next round, the hearts and minds behind the Chase Bank grant giveaway were inspired by the amount of support behind Mosaic and found another $37,000 for the acclaimed youth theater organization. Mosaic recently purchased the former home of WTVS and WJBK in New Center, and there’s no doubt the funds will go toward renovations for their new home.
One of the top vote-getters, and one of five recipients $100,000 awards, is the Friendship Circle. Based in West Bloomfield, the Friendship Circle brings families with children who have learning, developmental or physical disabilities such as autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or ADHD back “into the circle” of community by pairing their children with teenage volunteers who are taught to acknowledge their friends’ place in society and make them feel included. Their facility, the Ferber Kaufman LifeTown, is a 23,000-square-foot building with an activity wing, home to eight different kinds of therapy rooms, and a 5,000-square-foot “indoor city” called the Weinberg Village, which is a place where kids with special needs can learn essential life skills. In the to-scale mock town, kids learn to use crosswalks, do basic banking, how to appropriately tip service people, go the pharmacy, pet store, beauty salon, doctor, library and more. With the help from more than 800 volunteers, Friendship Circle serves 2,500 individuals with special needs from 155 different schools.
The grand, million-dollar prize went to Invisible Children Inc., based in San Diego, Calif., a group that that tries to raise awareness of the war in Northern Uganda and educate its children.
Wednesday night, Don't miss: DIA Gallery talk with artist Matthew Barney (Bjork's brilliant hubby).
He's back ...
Boundary-pushing artist Matthew Barney is in the midst of producing a series of performances and music (with composer Jonathan Bepler) for his new project, which, we hear, is a seven act, seven location, opera that draws its inspiration from Norman Mailer's 1983 novel, Ancient Evening. One act, "Khu," is set in Detroit.
Akin to his highly revered work Cremaster Cycle, Barney's recent also plays with themes pulled from Egyptian ritualism.
Barney will be speaking tomorrow night at the Detroit Film Theatre inside The Detroit Institute of Arts. This event is free and open to anyone holding a free pass. Seating is general admission; pass (want a free pass?) must be presented at registration for entrance to the lecture.
Lecture starts at 7 p.m.
Enter off of John. R.
From Cremaster:
PSST: MONEY FOR MUSICIANS WRITERS, PERFORMERS
Last summer we featured the work of 18 visual artists who — from a field of more than 350 applicants — had been designated Kresge Artist Fellows, and honored with $25,000 fellowships to go along with the title. The grants are part of a program funded by the Kresge Foundation and administered by the College for Creative Studies.
In the latest phase of the program, 18 fellowships are again available to emerging and established artists, but this time for literary arts (criticism in all disciplines, creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, playwriting, interdisciplinary work involving the aforementioned) and performing arts (music composition in all genres, performance art, spoken work, sound, interdisciplinary work involving the same).
The program, Kresge Arts in Detroit, is a community development effort with a goal of strengthening the economic, social and cultural fabrics of our region by strengthening artists. Besides the money, the 18 fellows selected will also receive professional development guidance through ArtServe Michigan. And in addition to the two sets of fellows, the program bestows $50,000 grants on “eminent artists” — painter Charles McGee and trumpeter Marcus Belgrave being the first two given that designation. (Full disclosure: I served on a panel for the program, but wasn’t involved in the artist selection decisions.)
If you’re an interested in seeking a fellowship this is the part you want to know next: Detailed information about the program, application links, reservation forms for an upcoming information session, etc. are online at kresge.collegeforcreativestudies.edu. The information session will be held Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. at the College for Creative Studies (Wendell W. Anderson, Jr. Auditorium, Walter B. Ford II Building, map at website).
Applications are due Feb. 26, and awards will be announced in June.
Metro Times makes the connection
After we asked everybody to share their worst New Year’s Eve stories, we had a ball reading through them. One of the funniest came from former Metro Times staffer Jen Lumpkin, who shared this doozy:
One New Year's Eve, I was a "Kiss Sandwich" — it's true and tragic! I thought a guy was coming up to give me a New Year's Eve kiss and the clock was counting down. This gorgeous 6-foot-tall man was walking my way. I thought it was my moment, until I felt something touch my back. When I looked up I saw that an equally gorgeous 6-foot-tall girl was receiving my kiss. I am only 4-foot-10. So right above my head, lingered two tall pretty people kissing with me in the middle. Kiss sandwiched!
So imagine our surprise when Lumpkin got in touch to point out this Craigslist post:
Jen 4'10, the meat in a kiss sandwich - 31
How about a chance to redo your New Year's moment? Here's a six-footer who promises to never look past you. All it takes is an email.
See, sometimes it pays to share. And with two home slices poised to come together, we’d say 2010 is already looking promising.
Motor City Motors premieres tonight @ 10
From the people behind The Deadliest Catch comes a brand-new Discovery Channel show, and it's set in Detroit.
Motor City Motors follows custom-bike builders Dave and James Kaye, the dudes who run Detroit Bros. Custom Cycles in Ferndale, as they take on Jesse James' old gig and try to build motor revvin' monsters from the ground up.
Each week the Kaye brothers (with their father, John, the wise old owl) tap into
the bottomless pool of Detroit gearheads, finding machinists, mechanics and fabricators to take on the task of building a one-of-a-kind vehicle in just five days.
''From turning a 1929 Model T into one of the coolest gassers in the city to transforming a 1992 GMC Suburban into a pothole filler, the builds are limited only by the ingenuity and imagination of the Detroit Brothers and their crews. The Kayes hope the series gives the local community, as well as their own struggling business, a much-needed boost."'
Motor City Motors premieres on Discovery Channel tonight, Monday, Dec. 28, at 10 p.m.
Best use of youtube in 2009?
Perhaps it is the best sonic youtube collective project of the year. It's at least the most original.
See and hear for yourself. Turn up your speakers. 
Have a Very Scary Christmas, it's the bloodiest time of year ...
Cartoonist Sean Bieri set out to deck the halls with blood and horror last holiday season, but we thought his carnal cartoons worthy of another go-round as we head into 2010.
Check out Bieri's 12 Days of Zombie Christmas project, which he launched last Dec. 22. Each morning, till the second of January, Bieri posted a new cartoon.
There's some pretty great New Year's postcards to boot.
Bieri's favorite zombie moment in history comes by way of George A. Romero's Day of the Dead (1985) when a zombie climbs onto a helicopter only to be decapitated by the deadly edge of a helicopter's rotor blade. Cinematic beauty!
Enjoy! And have a very scary Christmas!
WDET 101.9 fm shakes things up heading into 2010
Just taking this decade into consideration, Detroit Public Radio (WDET-FM 101.9), has seen its fair share of programming tweaks, shifts, and flips. Come December 26, the station will transition programming once again, implementing substantial changes to both weekday and weekend broadcasts.
With one year as general manager tucked under his belt, J. Mikel Ellcessor says he's making these changes to fill in some gaps he sees in the market. "There are too few opportunities for
curious adults to stay informed," Ellcessor says in this morning's press release. "These changes will make more relevant,
high quality news and information available and create many more opportunities
for people to engage in the Detroit conversation locally and nationally.”
With the addition of WDET-TV and the launch of the Support The Arts (STAR) program -- which will set out to provide cost-free
on-air air time to small, nonprofit arts and cultural
organizations -- Ellcessor also sees community outreach as pivotal to the station's future.
Monday-Thursday: It's all about talk news.
From 5 to 10 a.m., everything's pretty much the same with Morning Edition and The Takeaway, although a new voice, that belonging to Detroit Today producer Amanda Le Clair, will be heard on Morning Edition.
The 10 a.m. to noon block, once anchored by On Point and Tell me More, will now feature The Craig Fahle Show with, yes, none other than expert interviewer Craig Fahle himself, whom we used to hear from 1 to 3 p.m. on Detroit Today.
On Point and Tell Me More move to the 12 to 2 p.m. slot and will be followed by a with a new music show called Soundcheck. Expect live performances, interviews and critiques.
Nothing changes from 3 to 7 p.m., with Fresh Air, and All things Considered and Marketplace running at their usual times.
From 7 to 11 p.m.. the Craig Fahle Show will re-air, backed by re-airings of Tell Me More and Soundcheck.
Insomniacs and gravediggers can still catch BBC World Service.
Jazz DJ Ed Love, who once held down the signal from 8 p.m. to midnight will now be heard Saturday and Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m.
What's new on Friday?
Daytime programming mirrors Monday through Thursday's lineup with the exception of the 3 to 4 p.m. block, when Speaking of Faith will air in place of Fresh Air.
From 7 to 11 p.m. everything changes, with cornerstone public radio production This American Life kicking off the evening. That show will be followed with more music programming. A couple Chicago music journos nerd out on Sound Opinions and we'll pre-party with local radio talent Jon Moshier from 9 to 11 p.m. on his show, Modern Music.
What's with the weekend?
With several new programs on the bill, WDET says goodbye to some old staples.
Brace yourself.
Car Talk, The Tavis Smiley Show, Deep River (with Robert Jones), Folks Like Us (with Matt Watroba) and Arkansas Traveler (with Larry McDaniels) will no longer air.
Instead we'll get Ann Delisi's Essential Music a bit earlier in the afternoon -- 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. -- and an hour less.
Following her show is Ann Arbor radioman Rob Reinhart who'll bring us his Essential Music followed by Acoustic Cafe, a culmination of live performances.
Reinhart takes listeners to 7 p.m. and will be followed by two hour blocks coming by way of Ed Love and Jay Butler, the latter of whom is taking Michael Julien's late slot, as he moves to Sunday afternoons.
Sunday's are a bit different, too. Instead of Weekend Edition Sunday, we'll hear This American Life at 8 a.m., followed by Acoustic Cafe, Ann Delisi and Michael Julien.
Another addition comes by way of Nick Austin's New Soul Sunday, which, Ellcessor says, will be an excellent mix of both modern and classic soul sounds.
Interesting to say the least -- tell us what you think.
IDIOT BOXING & TIM ALLEN IN ST. LOUIE
Allen doesn't live here anymore.
ST. LOUIS — Tim Allen has found a new sound to replace the unintelligible, Neanderthal male grunts that propelled him to the '90s sitcom classic Home Improvement and, ultimately, to stardom. It's "doh-de-doh-de-doh."
On the current 10-city standup concert tour to promote his forthcoming movie Crazy on the Outside, in which he stars, makes his directorial debut and served as financier, Allen claims it's the sound you swear airport security guards, post office counter workers and similar service employees are making as they dawdle nonchalantly while wasting your time. Fortunately for the former Detroiter, it's not the sound packed audiences are making while attending screenings of his disarmingly entertaining romantic comedy, which isn't opening nationwide until Jan. 8. Before his campaign brought him home to the Birmingham Palladium last night (Dec. 10), Allen arrived the night before at something called Ronnies 20 Cine outside St. Louis.
Mimicking the marketing approach of documentary makers like fellow Michiganian Michael Moore, who frequently show up in person to introduce their films, Allen is so proud and excited about his first dual role as director-star that he's making his first legitimate standup tour since Home Improvement took off in 1991, armed with more than an hour's worth of new material he's parceling out in 25-minute opening routines before unveiling his cinematic pride and joy. "I do appreciate you coming out, because I know this is kind of a risky thing," he told the crowd. "God knows, this could be Santa Clause 4, you don't know.
"I love movies, and I want you to like it a lot and I want you to tell your friends," the Toy Story co-star said. "And if you don't like it, then it's a Tom Hanks movie."
His opening set was slightly blue and unusually uneven for anyone who remembers Allen in his standup heyday, as he rambled through observations from his new baby daughter, Elizabeth, and President Obama ("the venti mulatto!") to Glenn Beck and antics on the Santa Clause set. But for a man who hasn't strolled a stage with microphone and attitude in hand for nearly two decades and was trying earnestly to mature beyond his tools-cars-grunting comedy adolescence, it was a more than serviceable special event.
You may be pleased to know that Crazy on the Outside is even funnier. The story of an ex-con living with his family after three years in prison who develops a relationship with his female probation officer, the movie won't force Allen to polish an Oscar speech but it is a breezy, upper-tier rom-com with an outstanding cast, including Sigourney Weaver, Ray Liotta, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Julie Bowen, Kelsey Grammer and Detroit native J.K. Simmons, and a solid first effort as director. You also may pleased to know Allen remains true to his roots: Even though the film is set in southern California, all the vehicles are Ford Motor Co. products, and you'll undoubtedly notice the scene where a "Seaholm" T-shirt is prominently displayed.
The Jacksons meet reality TV
The real thing: Jackie, Marlon, Tito and Jermaine.
Oh, we think we know them very well, here in Motown’s ancestral home. In all the whoop-dee-doo over the record label’s 50th anniversary, it’s been almost wholly ignored that 2009 marks four decades since the Jackson 5 cruised up I-94 from Gary, Ind., and exploded on the music business. A specific generation would like to remember Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Tito Jackson as four impressively talented, dazzlingly choreographed, instantly charismatic youngsters prancing behind a magnificent moppet with a once-in-a-lifetime voice.
The stated occasion for the Jack5ons limited series is an unprecedented private-lives look at the brothers as they announce and rehearse a 40th anniversary LP and concert tour, and there’s no reason to disbelieve their on-air claim that this TV project was in place since last January. Yet the earth-shattering, inescapable event of June 25, the sudden death of baby brother Michael — “as surprising to us as it was for you,” Marlon intones in the series introduction — gives the whole affair a kind of unsavory, money-grab atmosphere.
We know the Jacksons, all right. They are highly eccentric, egomaniacal, weathered middle-aged men who today all look like character actors on Sanford and Son. The question is, will America care about their petty internecine squabbles for six televised hours, no matter how slickly produced? More about this in next week’s (Dec. 16) “Idiot Boxing” column.
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