Cover Story
Fairground zero
Sitting in the bright and airy living room of their Detroit home, Frank and Karen Hammer recount the battles involving the Michigan State Fairgrounds they’ve engaged in over the years. Both are retired now. He worked for General Motors; she held a number of jobs including teaching school and working for a nonprofit social service…
City Slang: Weekly music review roundup
Remember – if you send it, it will get reviewed. That’s the City Slang promise. It doesn’t matter what genre the music is – as long as it has a Metro Detroit connection, it’ll get in. Preferably, we’d like to concentrate on new releases but, while we’re getting warmed up here, feel free to send…
Film Review: Greedy Lying Bastards
Greedy Lying Bastards| B Climate change docs are about as common as freakish superstorms these days, and most of them, like the recent, visually mesmerizing Chasing Ice, lay out their case with a numbing assault of overwhelming data and sobering statistics. Greedy Lying Bastards possesses a good deal more energy, and a sort of snotty,…
City Slang: DSO at Planterra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Neighborhood Chamber Recital will perform at the Planterra Conservatory in West Bloomfield Township on Tuesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. They say, “Programmed by DSO musicians, the recital will feature selections by Haydn, Beethoven, Bach and more The recital will be preceded by the DSO student group, Civic Paray String Quintet…
City Slang: Boldy James EP out now
Rapper Boldy James’s six-track EP, Grand Quarters (Decon Records), is available now on iTunes. According to his people, this project serves as a lead in to his Alchemist-produced LP dropping this summer through Decon. You can hear the album here, or find it on iTunes here. Click here to join the City Slang Turntable community!!!…
City Slang: Trick Trick to star in Landlord
Rapper Trick Trick is in the cast of the movie LandLord, currently shooting in Hamtramck, where the story takes place. According to the synopsis, “LandLordis a dark thriller with spiritual undertones set in and around Hamtramck. It tells the story of Elvis Martini, a landlord struggling to raise his beloved daughter after her mother’s death…
Film Review: Oz the Great and Powerful
Oz the Great and Powerful | C+ Please make it stop. Since the billion-dollar success of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Hollywood has been churning out retooled fairy tale blockbusters at a furious rate, and most can’t escape the economic, rather than artistic, calculus behind their creation. Red Riding Hood, two Snow Whites, Hansel and…
Hooligans For Heroes
These Hooligans have big, humble hearts. They’re rallying once again to help their heroes, the Wounded Warriors, returning servicemen from overseas. Gene Butcher, Ken Butcher and Drew Gentry are the founders of soccer solidarity group Northern Guard Supporters (of the Detroit City Football Club), started a grassroots non-profit organization called Hooligans for Heroes a year ago to spread awareness…
City Slang: Louder Than Love to screen in Florida and Cali
Director Tony D’Annunzio’s acclaimed documentary movie about the Grande Ballroom, Louder Than Love, will screen in Florida and California this month. The movie will be shown at the Gasparilla International Film Festival in Tampa on March 20, and then at the Sebastopol Film Festival in Sebastopol, CA, on March 24. It has already been a…
An emergency manager and Detroit’s undue process
As far as we can tell, not a whole lot of attention is being paid to a resolution introduced by Detroit City Council member Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr. yesterday. That’s unfortunate, because the issue it attempts to address is potentially of immense significance. At stake is the ability of Detroit’s elected officials to have at…
City Slang: Sweet Crystal to rock Psalm Sunday
Christian rockers Sweet Crystal will play a perfectly apt show on Psalm Sunday at Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar”, Great Lakes Crossing, Auburn Hills. The show starts at 6.30 p.m., it’s free, and the bill also includes singer/songwriter Gail Engling, plus fellow Christian rock bands Waking Vegas (Flint) and Sons Of Rachel (Westland). In…
Locking it up
Q: My girlfriend and I read your column religiously, and I have you to thank for being comfortable enough with my kinks to tell her about my interest in BDSM. She is very GGG and has indulged all my kinky fantasies and discovered some of her own. Our latest adventure has her locking up my…
Targeting violent crime
There are many layers to the problems Detroiters are trying to overcome. The issue of the emergency financial manager has been dominating the headlines and emotions of many the past few weeks. We’ve argued about Belle Isle and consent agreements and wondered who is willing to run for mayor while the shadow of Gov.…
Carnival Fresh Mex
Carnival Fresh Mex 645 Griswold St., Detroit 313-223-1400 carnivalfreshmex.com Open 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday; closed Saturday and Sunday. Though there’s no carnival inside, this fairly new downtown eatery lives up to its name with a menu full of tasty dishes loaded with fresh ingredients — offering a nice break from the drudgery of gray winter…
Film Review: John Dies at the End
John Dies at the End | C+ Or does he? Giving any thought to what this movie is about is overthinking it. The point is that there is no point. Get the point? Which means, of course, that John Dies at the End, the new film from Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep), is a hopeless…
Gutter Ghouls are Totally Psycho
Psychobilly, rockabilly, murderbilly — call it what you want, but there’s something fundamentally cool about a punk band that uses an upright bass. It’s as if different eras are meshing. Of course, much of the early rebel music, be it blues or bluegrass, used an upright; somewhere along the way the instrument got forgotten. That…
Letters to the Editor
Snap in time I am writing to tell you how much I enjoyed the “Glossed Over” article (by Michael Jackman, Feb. 20). The pics are a real hoot and take me back. I remember a lot of those groups firsthand from that decidedly different era of PR. Also, the band you refer to as “The…
Getting the lead out
When Renee Thomas moved into her two-story home two years ago, she had no idea it posed a hidden threat to her four children. But a new city law forced her landlord to check the century-old house for lead contamination. Old, deteriorating paint had left lead dust on its windows, floors and porch. Through a…
Immaturity on the left
Three weeks ago, this column appeared under the headline: “Time to support Snyder.” From the start, I made it clear I was not arguing in favor of everything he’s done. Far from it. Nor did I say people ought to re-elect him, and I listed all the areas where I sharply disagreed with the governor,…
Food Stuff
Corktown pops — Think of it like a guest star, but in a restaurant. It’s the St. CeCe’s Takeover, in which Brad Greenhill of righteousrojo.com will command the kitchen for a pop-up dinner. There will be a small a la carte menu and dinner service in the evening. Starters will include buttermilk biscuits, steamed mussels,…
Film Review: Lore
Lore | B+ It’s the final days of World War II. Germany is in the hands of its enemies, and the Nazis are either fleeing their homes or doing their best to hide any evidence that they were part of Hitler’s regime. Some have abandoned their children, leaving them to wander the war-torn streets. This…
Comedian Bill Burr brings his prickly energy to Royal Oak
Every Monday morning, legions of devoted, bleary-eyed fans listen to the ranting and ravings of an angry, youngish man with a thick Boston accent — and we don’t just mean the homeless guy down by the bus stop. The irritated man in question is comedian Bill Burr, who all by his lonesome, produces the very…
City Slang: The Stooges unveil Burn
Iggy & the Stooges, with James Williamson alongside Iggy Pop, Scott Asheton and Mike Watt, have unveiled the first single from the band from forthcoming album Ready to Die. The single, “Burn”, can be heard here. First impressions from this end is that this is a much cleaner tune than those that appeared on The…
City Slang: Weekly music review roundup
Remember – if you send it, it will get reviewed. That’s the City Slang promise. It doesn’t matter what genre the music is – as long as it has a Metro Detroit connection, it’ll get in. Preferably, we’d like to concentrate on new releases but, while we’re getting warmed up here, feel free to send…
