Cover Story
100 Things All Detroiters Should Do Before They Die
Who says you need to travel widely to expand your mind? Sure, when the weather is as cold and crappy as it is these days, jetting off to some balmy climate has its appeal. But we have a multitude of cool things to do right here in town, things that have the opportunity to teach…
Surprise: Survey Finds Local Officials Not That Interested in State Aid for Detroit
Much has been said about the so-called “Grand Bargain” that intends to shore up Detroit’s pension funds and prevent any sale of artwork in the Detroit Institute of Arts’ collection. The plan, hatched in November by Gerald Rosen, the appointed mediator in Detroit’s ongoing bankruptcy case, calls for nearly $800 million in financial assistance from…
The Largest Craft Beer Bar in Michigan Is Slated to Open in Detroit This Summer
Photo via Instagram, Natalie Allen The owners of the popular Grand Rapids craft beer bar HopCat recently announced plans to bring a 130-tap beer house to the Motor City. “It will be our largest one yet,” says owner Mark Sellers, who manages the original HopCat, as well as a second branch in East Lansing. Equipped…
Scuba-Diving Rick Snyder Is Running for Re-Election
Rick Snyder paid $700,000 for a 60-second ad to run during the Super Bowl yesterday — remember that as you watch our governor confirm he’s running for office again. It’s mesmerizing: Snyder emerges from a swimming pool wearing full scuba gear, takes off a mask, smiles awkwardly, and Strategic Perception — the California firm…
Want to Work on Superman Vs. Batman?
Would you like to work on the Superman vs. Batman movie (aka Man of Steel 2)? While the role of Bruce Wayne’s faithful butler, Alfred, has been filled by Jeremy Irons, there are plenty of other jobs that need doing. The Michigan Film Office announced on its website that the movie would be shot in…
Detroit Film Theatre Features Program of Oscar-Nominated Short Documentaries
Attention, movie buffs: The Detroit Film Theatre is once again presenting a program of Oscar-nominated short documentaries. This year’s lineup includes titles such as Karma Has No Walls, Facing Fear, and CaveDigger. via the DIA website: Feature-length documentaries have for the past several years enjoyed a higher profile than ever among moviegoers, but just as…
Watch the Bob Dylan Chrysler Super Bowl Commercial
Chrysler debuted a new commercial during the Super Bowl on Sunday. While invoking its 2011 Detroit-centric Eminem Super Bowl ad, Chrysler’s new commercial features an appearance and narration by Bob Dylan (as well as appearances from other American icons like Marilyn Monroe and Rosie the Riveter) and expands the message to encompass not only Detroit…
Paulina Jayne: Detroit’s Rising Country Star
Once you hear her sing one of her original songs, it’s easy to forget that Paulina Jayne is only 18 and a high school senior. But the minute she steps on the stage with her 100-watt smile, she becomes the consummate professional. Jayne began taking piano lessons when she was 6 years old and wrote…
LeDuff is Back
Reporter Charlie LeDuff is back after going silent from his regular Detroit-based media outlets, and he has gone national. In a new segment called “The Americans: with Charlie LeDuff,” the reporter takes his brand of incendiary reporting to tackle bigger issues like … getting the mayor of East Rutherford, N.J., host of the Super Bowl,…
VIDEO: Detroiter Creates Epic Front Yard Luge Slope
You know the old adage, when life gives you snow, make snowcones? Well Detroiter Dale Keener took that little mantra to a whole new level when he built an epic luge track in his front yard in White Lake. Keener told WXYZ that the track took him several weeks to build. It seems well worth…
City Slang: Alison Lewis helps celebrate PJ Fest
Thursday night at the Lager House was the first of what has been dubbed “PJ Fest,” with Friday’s bill featuring Ryan Dillaha, Crooked Little Reasons, and Jay Clark Reid. The Thursday hasn’t got off to the best of starts; Don “Doop” Duprie had to pull out due to issues with his voice. Not to worry…
[MAP] Just Another Fantasy Detroit Public Transit System
The folks over at Wired recently published a post detailing a bunch of fake public transit systems everyone wish existed, and the above map of Detroit was among the mix. Take pause, and enjoy the endless potential and ease this system offers on your next 2 hour cross town RTA ride. (Map concert originally crafted…
George Jackson Resigns, But Will Help Finish Red Wings Arena Deal
George Jackson has resigned from the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. after 12 years, Crain’s Detroit reports. He will leave March 31 to form his own consulting firm. From Crain’s: He will be focusing on a smooth transition from the DEGC, including shepherding the proposed $650 million Red Wings arena and entertainment district through the political process. The Detroit…
Should the Northland Mall death have been handled differently?
24-year-old Mackenzie Cochran died after being restrained by security guards at Northland Mall. Cochran was allegedly causing a disturbance, resulting in swift action by the mall staff. Mace was sprayed and the man was held down. Here’s the video: Fox 2 News Headlines It’s pretty tough to view, with Cochran yelling that he can’t breathe.…
Belle Isle to Require $11 Recreation Passport Starting Feb. 10
Belle Isle is set to become Michigan’s 102nd state park, and will begin requiring an $11 Recreation Passport for car access starting Feb. 10. The requirement will be introduced gradually and will not be enforced until the owner’s next registration renewal date. From michigan/gov: “This gradual introduction mirrors the initial 2010 introduction of the Recreation…
City Slang: The third Bestest Concert Ever is coming
The third annual Bestest Concert Ever will take place at the Royal Oak Farmer’s Market on March 22 between 5 and 8 p.m. An eclectic bill features Amy Gore and her Valentines, the Candy Band, the Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music, and the Royal Oak High School Jazz Combo. Admission is $5 per,…
Allee Willis Pens Love Song to Detroit
Allee Willis is a “Grammy, Emmy, Tony, Webby award-winning and nominated songwriter, artist, director, producer, multi-mediaist, collector and party-thrower.” (Dang, she’s only one short of an EGOT). You might not know her, but you know her work: She wrote the theme song for Friends. More recently, she wrote a song called “The D,” a salute to…
Can Lacrosse take off in Detroit?
A campaign on Indiegogo.com is attempting to raise money to bring the game of lacrosse to Southeastern High School in Detroit. According to that webpage, “Players, coaches, and parents of the game of lacrosse all know what tremendous values it can instill in those the game touches: hard work, discipline, and the ability to work…
Detroit Police Rough Up Fox 2’s M.L. Elrick at City Council Meeting
Things are off to a good start with the new City Council. Fox 2’s M.L Elrick attended the first city-wide community meeting Tuesday night, and apparently got roughed up by Detroit police as President Pro Tem George Cushingberry Jr. arrived. From My Fox Detroit: Our cameras were rolling when President Pro Tem George Cushingberry Jr. arrived, which…
Bob Dylan to sing Detroit’s praises during Super Bowl
The legendary Bob Dylan will be this year’s Clint Eastwood/Eminem and talk up Detroit for the Chrysler ad during the Super Bowl. In previous years, Eminem and Eastwood managed to raise a few goose bumps with impassioned monologues, and now it’s Dylan’s turn. We fancy him to top them both. If you want a preview,…
Lessenberry Defends L. Brooks Patterson
Last week everyone was shocked, horribly shocked, to learn that L. Brooks Patterson had — gasp! — said negative things about Detroit. To The New Yorker, no less! Truthfully, many literary types in the area may really have been more shocked that The New Yorker deigned to notice our affluent super suburb. But nationally, it…
City Slang: Alice Cooper to help celebrate Motley Crue retirement
LA rockers Motley Crue has announced that it will be touring for the last time this summer. Following a turbulent career that saw members leave and rejoin, jail sentences and drug addictions, the Crue is ready to call it a day. Just to hammer the point home, the tour will be tagged “The Final Tour.”…
Reviews of New Releases By Cybotron, Twin Forks, The Feeling And More
Cybotron Enter Fantasy The only thing more surprising than the announcement that the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) brand was returning this year was that electro duo Cybotron would be playing it. Regarded as the originators of the first Detroit techno record (the 1981 single “Alleys of Your Mind”), Rik Davis and Juan Atkins never…
Dan Savage Discusses Domination
Q: I’m what was once quaintly called a “woman of a certain age” who started reading your column to broaden my horizons. As a result, some curiosities peeped their heads over the boundaries of my once happily repressed existence. I summoned the courage to join an online BDSM dating site. I got a response almost immediately…
Film Review: Labor Day
Labor Day | C It’s not easy for a movie to be simultaneously florid and flavorless, but Jason Reitman’s Labor Day succeeds. Based on Joyce Maynard’s 2009 lady novel, it stars Kate Winslet as Adele, a depressed single mother, nominally raising her soulfully earnest teenage son, Henry (newcomer Gattlin Griffith). On a rare trip…
PJ Ryder of PJ’s Lager House
Paul “PJ” Ryder is the owner of PJ’s Lager House, a bar and music venue that is now also a quality eatery with a record store in the basement. A self-proclaimed music nut, PJ has re-energized the place through hard work, great staff and a lot of excellent gigs. The man might be tirelessly digging…
Film Review: Gimme Shelter
Gimme Shelter | C Sparkly vampires, boy wizards, giant robots and demonically possessed dolls; these are all things you are far more likely to see in American films than a teenager having a safe and legal abortion. Gimme Shelter is a very well-intentioned but clumsily executed weeper, the latest bit of Catholic liturgy cannily disguised…
Q & A With Kopelli
Welcome to Lawrence “Kopelli” Young’s party. The Gentleman Jack debut solo album is a big deal for the local emcee; nine months ago he nearly left the rap game altogether. Even so, as of last summer, he still had some raps to record, with no intention of just throwing his songs away. Artists from…
Sandra Leidecker Gets Down With Detroit Techno
The influence Germany played in Detroit’s early techno music is by now well-documented, with many in the scene attributing legendary Detroit radio personality the Electrifying Mojo breaking Kraftwerk as the start of it all. Now Detroit’s role in shaping the resulting new genre of music created by this cultural exchange is the subject of a…
The Appleseed Collective
Ahhh, the life of a traveling folk band. Ann Arbor group the Appleseed Collective is no stranger to the road. In fact, these guys have logged an impressive amount of miles on the odometer, rolling into oddball towns and the occasional big city and doing their best to turn barroom crowds onto their brand of…
Marijuana Debate Goes Mainstream
The public debate over marijuana has finally reached the highest levels in our government. President Obama, in an interview that ran in The New Yorker, said that while he believed marijuana use is a “bad habit and a vice,” he doesn’t “think it is more dangerous than alcohol.” That was certainly a shot over the…
At Detroit’s Warholak Tire, The Service Includes Wisecracks
On the west side of Detroit, just past a little bend in McGraw, a building comes into view with the fading word TIRES on its side. Inside the ancient lobby sits a virtual museum of Detroit history: rows of old boxes of Purolator oil filters, an autographed photo of Soupy Sales, period advertisements, a Studebaker…
Film Review: The Invisible Woman
The Invisible Woman | B If there’s one thing that British culture cherishes more than sexual repression, it’s nostalgia for bygone times when their repression was even more soul-crushing. For its inspiration, The Invisible Woman delves into a fairly unlikely biographic source: the pent-up sexual frustrations of a middle-aged Charles Dickens. Based on the scant…
Republica
Republica 1999 Coolidge Hwy., Berkley 248-268-3175 republicaberkley.com Handicap accessible Small plates: $5-$10 Sandwiches & salads: $8-$14 Entrées: $12-$24 Open noon-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-midnight Friday-Saturday, noon-9 p.m. Sunday. The Berkley residents I know have a lot of good things to say about their community, but often lament the lack of neighborhood dining options. That seems to…
Our Readers On The NAIAS, ‘Free’ Canadian Health and more
Autoamerican Metro Times NAIAS Journals really captured me. Great job and thanks for the laughs. —Sylvia Upchurch, Lansing Sorry We Missed You Regarding your Side Dish column of Jan. 22, nice piece on Gracie See Pizzeria, but you totally ignored Gracie See’s Pastaria in Inkster. The Inkster location is run by the same family, with the…
A Keen Eye for Details
“Oh, brother …” An amusing bit of unintentional levity came our way when a freelancer forwarded us an email sent to prospective interns by a Michigan legislator from Detroit, the honorable John Olumba, a politician who was a former school administrator. Now, we know that anybody can accidentally hit that SEND button while working on…
Marshall Crenshaw
“I Don’t See You Laughing Now” is an earnest rock ballad sweetened by Marshall Crenshaw’s melodic croon and resonating guitar. Released in late 2012, it was the first in an ongoing 6-EP subscription series that sees him release a new single on vinyl every six months, with one cover song and an alternate version of…
Where’s Curt Guyette?
Curt Guyette Longtime Metro Times readers know the name “Curt Guyette.” That’s because Guyette headed up MT’s news department for an astonishing 18 years, breaking important stories and penning call-to-action pieces that inspired changes. It was also Guyette who ensured the weekly News Hits column had that perfectly snarky tone. His stands on issues didn’t…
Kwame Kilpatrick needs your money
Detroiters, get your handkerchiefs ready because you’re about to weep. Kwame Kilpatrick’s mom, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, doesn’t have the funds readily available to pay for the appeal against her boy’s 28-year sentence. Therefore, a video has surfaced, part of an attempt to get you to help Kwame get free. So what do you think? Are…
Are There Demonic Messages In Tigers Broadcasts?
Don’t listen to Tigers broadcasts … because they could be “coded” with evil “messages.” That’s what Raulie Wayne Casteel, the subject in a 2012 highway shooting incident, is telling authorities. From The Detroit News: Under cross-examination by assistant state attorney general Gregory Townsend, Casteel insisted that he carried a handgun to protect his family and himself…
Metro Times in Exile: Day 112
Probably what should have happened to me last night. It wasn’t by choice the paper relocated to Ferndale. The move was prompted by an emergency when our building was sold, and, as we were still awaiting a buyer to scoop us up, long-term leases were out of the question. So now we’re installed up at…
Watch the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Flash Mob the Canton IKEA
If you haven’t yet seen the footage of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra flash mobbing the Canton IKEA with “Ode to Joy,” do give it a watch. All we can say is bravo, sirs and ladies, bravo.
Second Video of Mayor Fouts With Assistant Circulates, City Council Meeting Awaits
Tonight’s city council meeting in Warren should be a humdinger, as they say. In the last week, two videos have surfaced purportedly showing Warren Mayor Jim Fouts engaging in, as the videos subtitle the actions, PDA with his executive assistant Amanda Mika. (PDA in this case means holding hands, so don’t get too excited.) The…
City Slang: Weekly music review roundup
Send CDs, vinyl, cassettes, demos and 8-tracks to Brett Callwood, Metro Times, 1200 Woodward Heights, Ferndale MI 48220. Email MP3s and streaming links to bcallwood@metrotimes.com. Paul Einhaus’s Five Below (Oyster Sleep) features contributions from members of the Blueflowers, the Beggars, and Prime Ministers and Goober & the Peas. Quite a nice mix, but the volume…
