This scone stands alone
Like many other food items that are a point of national pride, the simple scone and its origins are claimed by more than one nation. I’m fairly satisfied, however, that it comes to us from the Scots. Others throw in with the Dutch because its name is supposed to be similar to the word schoonbrot,…
Realms of the Unreal
Academy award-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu presents a smart, engaging documentary on the famous outside artist, Henry Joseph Darger. A Chicago janitor who shook up the art world, Darger was a recluse whom no one really knew. Yu fills in the blanks with readings from Darger’s journals and animations of his illustrations, but eschews commentary from…
Power company
When a definitive history of the Black Nationalist movement is written, no doubt Detroit will loom large. The stories of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X and the Republic of New Africa, for instance, all weave through the streets of Motown. In celebration of Black History Month, the Shrine of the Black Madonna, itself part…
Inside Deep Throat
1972’s Deep Throat was a Z-grade porno flick made for a little over $25,000 that became a cultural phenomenon and grossed over $600 million. This fast paced and hugely entertaining documentary doesn’t entirely explain why, but offers a heady look back at the sexual revolution, and the rather tragic downfall of the film’s two stars.…
12″ pop shots
Detroit Underground #4 Featuring: Kero, Richard Devine, Apparat, Venetian Snares, I:GOR and Derek Michael detroitunderground.net This release is scratchy and rough, using Detroit techno nods to Kraftwerk and ’80s laser sounds to create danceable white noise. A majority of the five tracks here are remixes of Sohail Azad’s (aka Windsor-Detroit’s multimedia producer Kero) miscellaneous debris…
The Merchant of Venice
Though Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice was originally intended as a romantic comedy, that notion is hard to accept, given the troubling figure of Shylock. This film adaptation puts the focus on Shylock, but the end result is a rather tedious anticlimax, but it’s a solid attempt at tackling a problematic play, and performances…
We have his number
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was in full spin mode last week. But then again, when you’re laying off workers and cutting popular and needed city services like bus routes, you need all the spin you can get. In an effort to cut city services without pissing off his constituents too much, the mayor has been…
Hitch
Will Smith’s action flicks aren’t the must-see films they used to be, and his tough-guy persona has worn thin. Fortunately, Smith takes a departure with this romantic comedy, and dusts off his charmingly boyish old persona of the Fresh Prince. Although the film is expectedly predictable, the niche works well for Smith, who’s best advised…
This is pop?
The last place you’d expect to find smart, pop-minded rock — with influences ranging from Sonic Youth to the Police — would be from a metal band that writes such songs as “My Nordic Butt Can Ruin Nations.” But that’s exactly what you get with Detroit’s melodic-rock torchbearers, Ten Words for Snow. After serving time…
Bride and Prejudice
Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha is back with her latest feel-good multicultural trifle, a mix of Bollywood musical, British domestic comedy and Jane Austen update. While great fun for its first third or so, Bride and Prejudice goes from gleefully cheesy to just plain uninspired in its last hour.
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai wants to wipe out his country’s opium fields. To do so would destroy the lucrative heroin trade, and local warlords couldn’t use their ill-gained profits to influence the parliamentary elections coming up in April. But American military leaders don’t want to burn all the poppies. They fear…
N&D Center
Thursday • 17 Faruq Z. Bey vs. Warn Defever MUSIC One of the most savory combinations of musical talent in this town, Warn Defever and Faruq Z. Bey, takes to the stage this week. Bey, best known for his work with the super-groovy ’70s-’80s sci-fi band, Griot Galaxy, and Defever, whose schizophrenic band, His Name…
On your knees, boys!
Nothing clears a room faster than a little electronic Euro beat or retro lounge. As genres, they’ve become so precious and self-indulgent that, if they don’t bore your ass off, they’ll have you shoving finger sandwiches in your ears just to escape the musical ennui. That’s why you should get down on your knees and…
Players & playaz
Hip hop today is a far cry from its underground roots in the ’70s; these days it’s a bona fide consumer industry, spawning almost as many post-adolescent millionaires as the NBA. The genre’s gradual integration into the American mainstream has been met with both open arms and outrage over perceived commercial exploitation. The rap-artist persona…
Overdue at the library
Tempers have been flaring over work at the new Grosse Pointe Public Library-Ewald Branch lately. A landscaper and a construction subcontractor charge they are being screwed out of thousands of dollars by their contractor, S.G. Construction Services. “This whole thing is just ridiculous,” says Harry Reister, owner of Reister Co., Inc., which did landscaping work…
Therapy
Jeff Grand must have been itching for Therapy. Though it drips with genuine feeling from one end to the other, there’s a restless variety to the Detroit-area player’s solo debut that suggests how long he’s been waiting to record it. Opener “24 Hours” is a tremendous urban blues grind with Grand’s weary vocal out front…
Born to blow
Kenny Garrett’s torso sways back and forth when he solos on the alto sax, giving the impression that he’s building momentum to blast off. “I don’t know where the rocking came from,” Garrett says. “It just kind of developed. It’s a strange thing, you know. I’ve seen videotapes of Jewish people praying, and they kind…
The New McCarthyism
Many years ago, Charles Eisendrath, who runs the Knight-Wallace fellowship program at the University of Michigan, told me he had just met a brilliant young man who was reinventing international news coverage. His name was Eason Jordan, and at that time he was in charge of international news at CNN, which, as you may remember,…
Thunder Chicken
God bless Brooklyn’s Daptone Records. When fellow funk label Desco went under a couple years ago, Daptone stepped in to see this project to completion. Recorded in 2000 by a crew of funkateers barely out of high school but who’d clearly studied their parents’ Meters and Booker T & the MG’s records, Thunder Chicken is…
Backslash
THE RATING GAME — It started with a simple idea: invite masochistic exhibitionists to post their photos on the Internet, and enable the masses to rate them. Launched in October 2000, amihotornot.com allowed users to post their photos — ranging from Glamour Shots to an impromptu pose with a beer bong — and be rated…
Parts supplier
This former auto parts dealership at 7637 Oakland, a few blocks north of East Grand Boulevard, may no longer be doing business in the traditional sense, but, for some consumers, it still offers an outstanding selection of slightly used electrical, plumbing and general home improvement supplies. And you can’t beat the prices. “They started pilfering…
Making it look simple
As Maxine’s the modest surroundings were trumped by the terrific food. It was the kind of restaurant you weren’t sure you wanted to talk about — maybe you wouldn’t be able to get a table on a weekend evening. The remodeled restaurant is more elegant, spacious, comfortable and relaxing, but the most coveted seats are…
I’m not getting my heavy petting
Q: You mention quite often in your column the importance of couples being open to one another’s sexual interests. Usually these interests are way out there. My issues are completely mundane. I would like more foreplay, in the form of my boyfriend paying more attention to my boobs. Thirty minutes of tongue kissing only makes…
Head Cheese
What can be said about the Sights, arguably Detroit’s best rock ’n’ roll band? After countless couch-crashing tours filled with boozy, loose-limbed gyrations and lascivious leers, adoration for the trio is getting thick — a chick-heavy UK fan base says International Bright Young Thing status is fast approaching. But remember it’s not all coifs and…
Low Lows
Nowadays the ampersand is a divider, not a uniter. That’s right, Low Lows is Parker & Lily’s breakup album, the one where the New Yorkers walk alone at night as vague Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes melodies reverberate sadly off the alley walls. When he’s not simply slurring — or talking to himself — the effects…
Jeffrey Morgan’s Media Blackout
Well, this is MB21! We’re gonna have a lot of fun! • Hellblazer (Vertigo) :: Was Constantine too tame for you? Then come over here where the sulfur’s a lot hotter and read the uncompromising source material; namely, the original graphic novels from DC Comics. • Ray Wylie Hubbard — Delirium Tremolos (Philo/Rounder) :: If…
Proactive
Running to keep warm: Would you run 10K to help a needy family? No? Well, would you walk five? Participants in the Detroit Health and Human Services Department’s Heat the Streets Run and Walk for Warmth can choose the 10K run, the 5K walk or a slightly less intimidating 5K run. The proceeds from the…
Tree City
At the last count, Robbers on High Street had 1,303 “friends” on their Myspace page. One young fan even posted a message that he wanted to start a band that sounded just like his heroes. Wonder if these four average-looking Robbers dudes uttered same to Britt Daniel before launching their Spoon soundalike? But while this…
Halftime score
Say what you will about Jennifer M. Granholm — and she’s being discussed plenty in Michigan and across the country — but Michigan’s Democratic governor knows how to inspire her friends and give her opponents a good case of nervous flutters. Last week, it was the state House chamber in Lansing, where Granholm theatrically delivered…
Fighting words
In a move not typically associated with county government, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson is ready to throw down. His would-be opponent? Michigan Land Use Institute deputy director, and frequent Metro Times contributor, Keith Schneider (who wrote the cover story for this issue). In a recent report called “Follow the Money” that was shocking…
Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out
Though Bjork’s Medulla was an admirable undertaking, it was pretty tough sledding to get through. But somebody singing an a capella rendering of The Who Sell Out, right down to the Radio London jingles — how can you miss? That odd album found the Who sporting Beach Boy harmonies nearly every song and was when…
A beautiful day in the neighborhood
Winter Group Exhibition at Lemberg Gallery, Ferndale At this moment there are at least eight group shows at significant art galleries around metropolitan Detroit. When galleries parade the stable, you know it’s either extremely hot or cold outside because dealers are attempting to attract more people during an otherwise lean time of year. Of course,…
Letters to the Editor
A cut above Thank you for the fascinating article on foreskin restoration (“Recovering from the unkindest cut,” Metro Times, Jan. 26). It was refreshing to see a positive slant given to this topic. It is important for people, men and women, to know that there are options for those who are dissatisfied with their circumcised…
Weekly Fecal
Questions raised by the Thieves’ The White Line EP: 1) When did Bon Jovi start writing songs for Supergrass? 2) A good line of coke can last 15 minutes, the running time of The White Line EP. It’s ironic then that this sounds like what one feels when the coke runs out. 3) Does David…
Kidney thieves and ankle-slashers
By now, I should hope, we can all rest easy during any trip to Brazil, New Orleans or Mexico, knowing that our kidneys are not in any sort of imminent danger, nor is a bathtub full of ice in our future. I also hope we realize that the guy driving with no lights on is…
Comics
This Modern World Red Meat Comix
Art Bar
Yvonne Rainer radicalized the world of modern dance in the early ’70s by using the body as a vessel for physical movement. After her work, it seems any other traditional theatrical elements related to dance, such as musical accompaniment, are absolutely unnecessary. And so it comes as no surprise that deaf dancer Bertram Weston is…
Fad company
In a bar almost within walking distance of Atlanta, where scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are trying to figure out how badly they overstated the number of obesity-related deaths widely reported last March, you can buy a house specialty called the Hamdog. It’s a hamburger patty wrapped around a hot dog…
Drawl in the family
Sex. Drugs. Rock ’n’ roll. It’s a regular laundry list of hackneyed exultations. Be that as it may, Hank Williams III is certainly no stranger to them. I know because I’ve seen his tackle box. He won’t catch many fish with what’s in it, but he could keep a gaggle of addled strippers and roadhouse…
Kick ass
To say Ong Bak kicks ass is an understatement of gross proportion; the debut of Thai martial arts phenom Panom Yeerum (also known as Tony Jaa) ranks among the best fight films ever made. Yeerum does his own stunts without the help of wirework or computer manipulation, bringing a beauty to the martial art of…
