Past, present, future
The Sphinx is 6 years old — not the enigmatic oracle in Egypt, but the renowned Detroit competition for young black and Latino classical musicians produced by the hard-working outfit of the same name. Incorporated in 1996, the Sphinx Organization was able to put together its first competition by 1998, with a focus on rewarding…
Mullets Rock!
“No hairstyle has quite attracted the fascination than the Mullet has, short in the front, long in the back, [a] bi-level phenomenon,” writes liner notesman (and co-author of the 2002 book The Mullet: Hairstyle of the Gods) Barney Hoskyns, who sagely adds, “What is often forgotten is that Mulletheads have peerless musical taste.” Don’t believe…
Behind the Sphinx
By dedicating itself to breaking down age-old barriers in the world of classical music, Sphinx has taken on a hard but important row to hoe. The inspiration for this competition with a mission, as we might expect, came from 32-year-old founder Aaron Dworkin’s own past, an up-and-down childhood of musical training haunted by otherness and…
Cinematic windmills
Terry Gilliam’s life imitates his art in cinematically tragic ways. After less than a week of shooting, the fantasy-train that would be The Man Who Killed Don Quixote collides with the realities of the filmmakers and the gods. Though Gilliam seems experienced at defending his innocence from years of cinema’s onslaughts, it’s a wonder he…
February 26-March 4, 2003
26 WED • MUSIC Few and Far Between — Pop rock and cute boys, it doesn’t get much simpler, y’all. Jimmy Eat World meets Dashboard Confessional — the cockles of the young ladies hearts will warm more quickly than the back seat of a four-door at Makeout Point. This foursome, who marries bring-home-to-Mom appeal and…
Dark Blue
Kurt Russell gives a great performance in Ron Shelton’s first effort at directing a movie he didn’t write himself. It’s a cop redemption story whose script is so by-the-numbers it sinks into self-parody, rendering Russell’s effort nearly pointless.
Terrible acts
I read a poem once where the gist was that it’s the “small” things that will drive men to terrible acts. It’s not man’s inhumanity to man or the death of a loved one or economic ruin. It’s breaking a shoestring that will lead man to murder. It’s missing a freeway exit that will make…
Ikiru
Ikiru
(1952), Akira Kurosawa’s rather amazing blend of sentimentality and cynicism, part humanist fable and part black comedy, celebrates the indomitable spirit of a minor bureaucrat dying of cancer, while at the same time casting a jaundiced eye at the society around him.
Grammys at 45
It was mature, polite, civil — all the things an awards show shouldn’t be….
The Life of David Gale
Although Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet have proved themselves in the past, they waste their talents here on a flawed script. Any dialectic concerning the ethical-moral issues of capital punishment is undermined when the Hollywood murder-mystery formula takes the front seat.
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Is hope overrated? While it can provide consolation when life is painfully confounding, the Sufi poet Rumi suggested that it may actually get in the way of finding a cure. “When water gets caught in habitual whirlpools,” he wrote, “dig a way out through the bottom to the ocean. There is…
White out
We all know that rock ’n’ roll history is littered with tragedy. There’s the 1969 Stones’ Gimme Shelter show at Altamont Speedway where addled Hell’s Angels-turned-security goons left one guy stabbed to death and others beaten to a pulp. There was the 1979 Cincinnati Who concert where 11 people were crushed to death. And who…
Gods and Generals
A more appropriate title for director Ronald Maxwell’s prequel to Gettysburg would be The Great Whitewashing of the Rebellion. The film tries to deify Confederate leaders and intentions, but luckily it’s far too tedious to be considered propaganda.
Kink collecting — and Katie
Q: I’m a chick with a desire to be punched. I want a black eye, you see. My boyfriend won’t do it because he has this hang-up about “beating” his girlfriend. But he did give me permission to ask my best male friend if he would punch me. My friend said he would, if I…
Body bizarre
We really hate to give you another reason to wonder if Detroit City Council is abusing opiates, but members of that body have an amazing way of setting themselves up for ridicule. Case in point: Late last week, city Chief Financial Officer Sean Werdlow asked the council to change its schedule so he could present…
Southern discomfort
A2’s Full Frame Documentary Festival opens our eyes this weekend….
Kwame the dove
While Detroit’s City Council has joined about 100 local governments nationwide in stating opposition to war in Iraq, we at News Hits were curious about the stand of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. He put our question to rest recently while speaking at Little Rock Baptist Church. Kilpatrick told the congregation the proposed war with Iraq is…
While my lightar gently weeps
The End of the Park on Nine Mile in Hazel Park is usually a mild-mannered neighborhood drinking spot. But on Wednesday nights LightShow Bob transforms it into a flashing, pulsing rock spectacle. LightShow Bob Bergh, 38, is no ordinary light man, twiddling knobs and flicking switches in the wings. He shreds onstage, alongside the bands.…
Postal confusion
City officials say things aren’t as bad as Detroit Postmaster Lloyd Wesley is claiming. Wesley told Metro Times earlier this month that the city was doing nothing to protect postal workers from dog and human attacks in some neighborhoods, and as a result he was considering cancellation of home delivery in the most dangerous areas…
Pork and beats
It is late on a Sunday afternoon, and I am walking down Ashley Street in Ann Arbor when someone in my periphery exits a storefront. The door swings open, and I hear something strange and obscurely familiar tumbling out over the waves of sound. “Turn on the heat, start in to strut. Wiggle and wobble…
TRTL talk
The hullabaloo over Detroit’s turtle graffiti (simplistic outlines of a terrapin accompanied by the signature TRTL or TURTL popping up all over town) has inspired Aaron Timlin, director of the Detroit Artists Market, to hold a public debate on the matter. Timlin got a heated response after announcing a bounty — he’s raised about $1,000…
Alchemic sideshow
There’s a sweet treat that’s just outside of the main gallery in the Alumni and Faculty Hall (a fancy name for a strange corridor that takes up a lot of space in an odd building) at Center Galleries at the College for Creative Studies. The exhibitions in the hall are usually ancillary to the big…
Sign of the times
For someone who does not consider herself a political activist, Jean Wilson has put forth what may be the most visible anti-war statement in the state. The 45-year-old Detroit artist created the simple, yet powerful, blue-and-white “No War” placard that is displayed in many front yards and shop windows throughout southeast Michigan. Frustrated with President…
Bush, blacks & Iraq
If blacks are so patriotic, then why don’t most of them support Bush’s war against Iraq? Did I say Bush’s war? Hmmm. Historically, African-Americans have proven to be some of the most patriotic Americans. Even when Uncle Sam was gleefully stomping and kicking us into the dirt, we still have bent over backward trying to…
Anti-ASS
The Abandoned Structure Squad opted for a change of pace this week. Instead of describing another of the rotting, fire-damaged eyesores that plague neighborhoods throughout this proud city, we decided to offer up an example of one attempt to deal with the city’s housing problem. Students at Detroit’s A. Philip Randolph Career and Technical Center…
Oy! Fabulous!
Openly gay, openly Jewish comedian Jason Stuart is a man of no disguises. Were you going to say something about his background? Too late. This one-man pre-emptive strike has already laughed at himself, you, your mama and his grandma. “I’m gay and I’m Jewish … so I’m pissed,” Stuart says on his CD Gay Comedy…
Letters to the Editor
Powerful words Thank you, Jack Lessenberry, for that very nice tribute to Sen. Robert Byrd (“What kind of country?,” Metro Times, Feb. 19-25). His speech of Feb. 12, 2003 was indeed one of the most powerful orations I have ever heard by any senator. In a time when we are constantly saturated by the nonsensical…
The most patriotic of all
It was a used-car dealer’s election And the choice was rather small The boys agreed it’s the war we need So there’s no president at all. —Phil Ochs, “Ten Cents a Coup,” 1970 Last week, for about the millionth time since the smirking chimp became first banana, I silently cursed Phil Ochs for…
Bashir’s bash
British journalist sucks up to Michaal Jackson, then turns on him….
Labor against war
Leaders rally to stop invasion of Iraq….
Abandoned Shelter of the Week
The Abandoned Structure Squad opted for a change of pace this week. Instead of describing another of the rotting, fire-damaged eyesores that plague neighborhoods throughout this proud city, we decided to offer up an example of one attempt to deal with the city’s housing problem. Students at Detroit’s A. Philip Randolph Career and Technical Center…
Mystery of the Sphinx
A tale of Bach, Mozart, Still and some kids who play their music….
Manly memoirs
The tendency to memorialize a life still in process is usually best avoided, just in case the latter years materialize into an invalidating process of the whimsy that fed a youthful mind. Self-described “truly independent actor” Craig Chester proves quite the exception with his just-released book, Why the Long Face? — The Adventures of a…
