Ego boosters

Jack Lessenberry

Melissa Giannini

All of them

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Jan. 10-16, 2001)

Best of Detroit

Red Meat

Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward, Detroit, 313-833-9700

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Nothing, it’s perfect (awww, shucks)

Me (But are you real or fictitious?)

Recycle

It’s free

All those annoying ads

3. Gotta pic?

2. Is that your final answer?

1. Isadora jar when it’s open?

Real-y the best

Wow. I've always known I was cute as a button, but who knew I had talent too? So by this you're saying you really like my obtuse metaphorical descriptions and stuffy deconstruction of rock music? Well, thanks. Specifically, I'd like to thank my parents for bringing the Best of ballots to work just like they used to with my Girl Scout cookie order forms. I have to thank my Uncle John for all those CMJ subscriptions (and for only making fun of me for about a decade after I asked if he had heard of this "great new group," the Steve Miller Band, as a naive preteen.) Thanks to the MT editors for supporting my "crazy ideas" and to my high school English teacher, Mrs. Dobblestein, for teaching me that "being verbs are bad." And I couldn't forget to thank a "certain local entertainment weekly" for having impeccable timing when they decided to "let me go" the same day MT advertised a music-writing position. Last, but not least, many thanks go out to all the super-sweet musicians in town for being so damn cool and innovative and giving me way more to write about than there ever will be column inches to fill. And, oh yeah, everyone who voted for me, meet me upstairs at the Magic Stick tonight for those shots I promised. Cheers! —Melissa Giannini

Magical moments

Being a gossip columnist is really rough. You get paid to go to the latest, trendiest nightspots, mercilessly stick your nose in other people’s business, and talk trash in print. People hate you, either because of what you wrote about them or because you didn’t write about them at all. Oh, the suffering Mr. Coston and I put ourselves through just so you can be privy to the best dish in Detroit. Why, if one more promoter sends me a VIP invite, or if another cute boy flirts with me and buys me a drink just so I’ll mention his band in my column …

OK, so maybe my job isn’t so hard. But sometimes it can be challenging. What do you write about when there’s nothing fantastically earthshakin’ and groundbreakin’ going on? You fall back on a few reliable standards — one of them being the Magic Stick. With a consistently outstanding schedule of the hottest local and national acts, the Stick is the place to go whether you’re into rock, pop, funk, blues, rockabilly or garage — or if you just feel like shooting some pool and knocking back a few with your pals. It’s even great for partyers(cq) on a budget; the Stick often packs three or more bands on a bill for a low cover charge, so you get the most entertainment bang for your hard-earned buck. Not to mention you’re guaranteed to bump into the who’s who of the Detroit music scene, out to support their friends’ acts and promote their own. And if for some reason you get bored, you can scamper off to explore the rest of the Majestic Entertainment Complex o’ fun, by bowling a round at the Garden Bowl, grabbing a tasty little nosh at the Majestic Café, or dipping into the Majestic Theatre to hear even more exceptional music and special events. If only you could sleep there so you’d never have to leave. —Sarah Klein