Blind pig
The Pig sticks to its original down and dirty blues roots by proudly defying the current trend of programming DJs and electronic music. The sounds from this stage are made by real people playing real instruments, which makes the Blind Pig an oasis in a digital world for local groups as well as national acts.
No reason to be nice
Q: I’ve been dating this man for about five months and he eats the nastyst shit in the world. Every night it’s crap like wopers and fries or he’ll buy a stake from the most gheto supermarkit he can find and eat it like it’s his last meal. He is fat and it grosses me…
Picture With Moving Parts
This small book of poetry is an antidote to any number of misconceptions about the art of making language sing. Writers who steer the genre into such dead ends as "self-expression" and "narrative structure" will experience Rick London’s work like a glass of cold water in the face. Hard-core poetry fans will be delighted to…
The trouble with playing nice
“I have a simple question: Is everybody having a nice time?” Well, yeah, Moby, we are, and thanks for asking. See, Moby’s the kind of nonrock star who doesn’t say stuff like, “Helllloooo Deeeeetroitttt!” or ask women to bare their chests. He queries the heaving throng at DTE if we are having a nice time.…
Chained heat
You can tell from Baja Fresh’s motto, “No microwave! No can openers! No freezers! No lard! No MSG!” that this chain of Tex-Mex fast food is a king among men, so to speak. You can eat food that is fast and tasty, and not overwhelmed by a dunk in the deep fryer. And it’s cheap.…
For the love of pigskin
“Smash.” “Grunt.” “Bang.” “Crunch.” Ah, yes, the familiar sounds of the all-American, modern-day gladiatorial pastime. What compels these hearty souls to hurl their bodies in the direction of a speeding locomotive, putting their necks on the line for gridiron glory? For many it’s the hope of making it with the homecoming queen. For others college…
Murray Street
Easily the finest offering from the Big Apple foursome — actually, a fivesome now — since 1988’s epochal Daydream Nation, Murray Street is a muscular, artful continuation of the band’s creative comeback that began in 2000 with NYC Ghosts & Flowers. While Sonic Youth’s ’90s output wasn’t subpar by normal rock-band standards, albums such as…
A primer on the primary
If Jennifer Granholm murders a Cub Scout with a machete sometime before Nov. 5, she won’t be elected governor. Otherwise, this election is essentially over. She won last week’s primary by a stunning margin in a higher-than-expected turnout. Granholm got half a million votes, nearly as many as Dave Bonior and Jim Blanchard put together.…
Heathen Chemistry
More than a year after Noel Gallagher modestly admitted that Oasis is no longer “the most important band in the world,” the cantankerous guitarist/songwriter has given the world reason to believe that he and his brother, lead vocalist Liam, are still capable of compelling rock ’n’ roll. To be sure, Heathen Chemistry is an uneven…
Just legalize it
Surely we know by now that the only real difference between taking a sip of Scotch whisky at the Polo Club and smoking a joint under cover of darkness is an outdated, hypocritical, embarrassing law that needs to be scrapped. That probably explains why the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs — the state’s largest…
Dreamland
Robert Plant has never been afraid to depart from the well-beaten path of hook-driven hard rock that he all but paved over during his early years as Zep’s in-house Jesus. Whether embracing his inner Elvis on 1984’s The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1 or retreating to his folk roots on 1993’s Fate of Nations, Plant has rarely…
The Book’s next chapter
Fate of venerable hotel to be decided soon….
Hot stuff
Ghosts of the Fireground: Echoes of the Great Peshtigo Fire and the Calling of a Wildland Firefighter Peter M. Leschak Harper San Francisco, 269 pages, $24.95 The Seasons of Fire: Reflections on Fire in the West David J. Strohmaier University of Nevada Press, 172 pages, $21.95 Fire fascinates — because it is raw power, because…
Radio killed the underground star
Thursday night’s Taste of Honey at Panacea seemingly has all one could hope for in a club night: A great sound system, free admission before 11 p.m. — $5 after — drink specials (ask before you order … seriously), a beautiful club, and some of the best house music Detroit has to offer compliments of…
Clint on the trail
This subtle, well-crafted film balances mystery, police procedural, melodrama and romance with an apparent ease that only a cinematic tightrope walker like director-star Clint Eastwood can demonstrate. The ride may be too smooth, though, in the most well-mannered serial-killer movie yet.
Lips — Moving with intent?
“I don’t usually like alternative music, but those guys rocked!” —Steve Saunders (Ian Ziering), “Beverly Hills 90210” ca. 1994, giving props to the Flaming Lips’-synched version of “She Don’t Use Jelly,” their outta-nowhere hit from “Transmissions from the Satellite Heart.” Almost 10 years and one bona fide masterpiece down the rock ’n’ roll road, this…
The Piano Teacher
Michael Haneke’s latest work is a monotone of despair, a case study in the ludicrous, and the winner of the Grand Jury prize at Cannes in 2001. It seems like one of those films that people congratulate themselves for being able to discuss with a straight face. Isabelle Huppert, also praised at Cannes, plays the…
6 degrees of torture
This year’s annual Fash Bash was Paris juxtaposed with rural Louisiana in the heart of Motown.
The Good Girl
Justine (Jennifer Aniston) feels doomed at 30, trapped behind the cosmetics counter at work, disappointed by her pot-head husband at home. Then her attentions unleash a love-sick Frankenstein in a co-worker (Jake Gyllenhaal) and new depths in herself.
Affair of the heart
In praise of the meaningful fling….
Who’ll get last Lafayette?
Lawyers and the help of City Council look to keep open Lafayette Park Shopping Center, at least for a while.
Possession
This is such a sub-Merchant-Ivory confection that it hardly seems worth mentioning that it was directed by Neil LaBute, past master of the harsh scenario. Aaron Eckhart, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle star in parallel love tales playing out a century or so apart.
Jockeying for position
Q: I’m trying to understand why it is whenever I put on a tight pair of Jockey shorts I get an overwhelming urge to have a woman give me a spanking, first with her hand then continue with a belt. The thought of a matronly woman 35 to 45 years old taking me across her…
Dancing to Lansing
Dark-horse candidate Steve Tobacman has won for all the right reasons.
XXX
Like any hard-core porn that bothers with story, this film mostly jury-rigs setups for the explosive money shots. Vin Diesel plays an extreme sports hero who takes on a lethal mob of Russian anarchists.
Still in a Grand Funk
How the boys from Flint exploded, imploded & still haven’t patched things up….
Men leaning on shovels
Summer highway closures are leaving drivers lost, dazed and confused.
Songs from the Second Floor
A poor soul who has burned down his furniture store for the money finds himself dogged by the ghost of a man he once swindled, who in turn is being followed by the ghost of a hanged man still wearing his noose. Swedish writer-director Ray Andersson is, at turns, original, impressive, slow and obvious.
Grand Funk Railroad: Back to Cobo
David Tedds, 46, grew up a teenage AM radio fiend in Redford. He got a copy of Grand Funk’s On Time for Christmas 1969 and later, by a stroke of luck, he found himself in London for Grand Funk’s 1971 Hyde Park concert. A lifelong obsession was born. Tedds moved to LA about 20 years…
Hotel landfill
The formerly grand front entrance of the Hotel Granwood in Highland Park yawns open, revealing a cavernous mouth full of trash. Glass and other debris littering the decrepit structure on the corner of West Grand and Woodward, deters certain flip-flop clad members of the ASS (that’s Abandoned Structure Squad for the uninitiated) from exploring the…
Night & Day Center
15 THU • THEATER The Little Prince — Planet Ant’s staging of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s heart-warming tale of The Little Prince will run Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays (8 p.m.) and Sundays (2 p.m.) at the award-winning Planet Ant Theatre (2357 Caniff Ave., Hamtramck. Call 313-365-4948). Directed by Alexis Williams, the tale of the intergalactic and mysterious…
Abandoned Shelter of the Week
The formerly grand front entrance of the Hotel Granwood in Highland Park yawns open, revealing a cavernous mouth full of trash. Glass and other debris littering the decrepit structure on the corner of West Grand and Woodward, deters certain flip-flop clad members of the ASS (that’s Abandoned Structure Squad for the uninitiated) from exploring the…
Letters to the Editor
The honest truth I’m so appreciative of Brian Smith’s eloquence in writing the story about my former husband, David Gilbert ("Rocket to the crypt," Metro Times, July 31-Aug. 6). He really captured the truth and emotions of David’s life! I’m grateful that he wrote with honesty and dignity, and he didn’t misconstrue any of the…
Hot sauce and cool tunes
Memphis Smoke offers more than juicy ribs and pulled pork po’boys — it also plays a gracious host to many of the area’s best blues acts. Local rock bands are becoming more popular here, as well.
Nuts and bolts
I was walking through a local park with my mother, a woman who, had she grown up in this era instead of the miserable World War II period, might have been a neo-pagan. They didn’t have pagans in the ’40s; they had cocktails, sweater sets and rationing. Still, having dismissed the churches available at the…
