Cover Story
Metro Times BBQ Issue
It is an art. Of course we’re talking about grilling on the ‘cue. For those in the know, the statement of fact is nothing more than that. For other not yet acquainted with how in-depth barbecue culture runs … well, after this week’s issue we trust you will be well-schooled enough to speak the gospel…
City Slang: Weekly music review roundup
Send CDs, vinyl, cassettes, demos and 8-tracks to Brett Callwood, Metro Times, 733 St. Antoine, Detroit, MI 46226. Email MP3s and streaming links to bcallwood@metrotimes.com. Corndaddy’s Heart of the Matter is a new 12-song album from the Ann Arbor alt-country / outlaw / bluegrass band, and moonshine, corn and matters of the heart are the…
City Slang: Pig & Whiskey in the sun
The sun beat down on Ferndale this weekend, creating the most glorious of backdrops for our own Pig & Whiskey event. Booze was consumed (at least semi-successfully), and enough pulled pork and ribs were consumed to account for countless farmyard massacres. Thanks to all of our sponsors and vendors, and the City of Ferndale for…
City Slang: We Came As Romans album out this week
Detroit’s We Came As Romans has a new album out July 23 – Tracing Back Roots via Equal Vision Records. According to a statement, “The six-piece, Detroit-based band recorded the album, their third full-length, with John Feldmann [The Used, Black Veil Brides, All Time Low] in March and are now on the Vans Warped Tour…
City Slang: DSO and Ford House achieve record attendance
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Edsel & Eleanor Ford House achieved record attendance and sales volume of over $160,000 last weekend, as 6000 music fans gathered at Lake St. Clair. “The DSO at Ford House concerts are a perfect example of what we love to do most at the DSO, mean more to more people…
Readers Name Barbecue Joints We Missed
No, we’re not omniscient. Try we did to ensure that the listings in this week’s barbecue-themed issue pulled in as many barbecue places as we could. Naturally, we couldn’t get them all. Thankfully, however, our readers are an eagle-eyed bunch that wants to share the knowledge. First of all, we did fall down on one…
Detroit Bankruptcy: Into the Unknown
Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr History was made Thursday when Detroit became the largest U.S. city ever to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protections. What does that mean for the city? The short answer is: No one can say with certainty. Judging from a wide variety of media reports, the overwhelming consensus among experts is that…
City Slang: Elvis Fest at Canterbury Village
On August 3, Elvis Fest takes place at Canterbury Village. According to the Urban Dictionary, Elvii is the plural of Elvis, and there will be Elvii galore at Olde World Canterbury Village, a designated historic landmark here in Michigan. According to the press release, “The Elvis Tribute Artists (known in the thriving Elvis business empire…
Film Review: The Conjuring
The Conjuring | B- The elements of a good haunted house movie are elemental: Creaky floorboards, banging doors, whistling winds, dank, dark basements and creepy household objects that shuffle around while nobody is looking. The Conjuringsports all of those old-school tricks, along with a host of more visceral jolts — including levitation, hanging, rusty scissors,…
Film Review: Girl Most Likely
Girl Most Likely ½ C- Once upon a time, filmmakers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini made a nifty little indie called American Splendor. It wasn’t a particularly great flick, but it had a fascinating subject ¾ disgruntled comic book auteur Harvey Pekar ¾ and featured a pair of terrific lead performances by Paul…
Film Review: Red 2
Okay, let’s make this brief because a movie like Red 2 doesn’t deserve a whole lot of ink (or pixels, as the case may be). If you’ve seen Red, an unexpected 2010 hit, you know the score: A-list geezers with guns, hit or miss one-liners and some snappy direction. Dean Parisot is a good choice…
Chasing the Dragon!
A few years back, we did a profile of Ryan Doyle, the creator of “Gon-KiRin,” a giant dragon. The beast is 22-1/2 feet tall and about 80 feet long, weighing in at 8 tons. It’s an “art car,” built onto the frame of an old Dodge W-300 Power Wagon with a 318 engine. There’s a…
City Slang: Jamaican Queens at Lager House
The Jamaican Queens will perform at PJ’s Lager House on Tuesday, July 23. Doors are at 9, cover is $5, and the bill is completed by Sean Nicholas Savage and Ritual Howls. According to a press release, “Jamaican Queens has been on the road for the greater part of this year behind their new album,…
S’Mittenfest – July 20th at the Magic Stick – Interview: Drunken Barn Dance
S’Mittenfest – a fundraiser concert for 826Michigan – July 20th at the Magic Stick in Detroit 4140 Woodward Ave. – $10 – All proceeds support 826michigan’s free literacy and literary arts programs in Detroit schools – Drunken Barn Dance, Clear Soul Forces, The Kickstand Band, Deadbeat Beat, Breezee One, Caveman (Woodman) James Linck, Pewter Cub, Silent…
What Is the Best Calendar App for a Pantech Renue?
There are phones out there other than just iPhones and Androids after all. Q: Dear Deemable Tech. I have a question that I am pining for your expert opinion about. What is the best calendar app for a Pantech Renue? I tried Googling it, but nothing really comes up. I am app ignorant. A: Don’t worry. Finding…
Film Review: Only God Forgives
Only God Forgives | D- Languid — to the point of stupor — Ryan Gosling perpetually stares far off into the distance throughout this hyper-gory art-house-noir pageant as if he’s attempting to peer beyond the infinite; perhaps he’s trying to gaze into some other, better film. Only God Forgives is a somnambulistic walking tour through…
Doc Illingsworth
Certain that only other rappers are going to like it, Illingsworth tenders a caveat for the album’s title. “Not another fucking tortured artist type,” his naturally buzzy, high-range voice growls, snidely. “Plus, the rapper archetype / they think they have the hardest life.” This album doubles as a soundtrack for the rapper finding legitimate confidence.…
Bright and Breezee
Breezee One is the rap pseudonym of Brittany R. Badenoch, a sassy Detroiter who is female, white and, by her own admission, “a bigger girl.” She’s doesn’t fit, by any stretch of the imagination, the typical rap profile, but that’s exactly why she’s so fascinating. Her sound is both fresh and classic, with hints of…
A Brave New ‘Work’ World
Mention new work to most folks and they think you’re looking for a job, or getting trained for new skills after your old skills became obsolete. Those are fair assumptions, but the new work I’m addressing refers to the philosophy and practices championed by Frithjof Bergman, a retired University of Michigan philosophy professor. Bergman has…
Hockey in the Holy Land
There are two things you should know about Ira Schlussel: The man loves God and he loves hockey. A passion for the fastest game on Earth happened around age 6, thanks in no small part to the players of the day, including Gordie Howe, Dale McCourt and the rest of the winged wheelers; it’s been…
A New Sex Friend
Q: I am a young gay man who has been so freaked out by the idea of catching an STI that I haven’t gotten with anyone for two years. But last night, I hooked up with a cute 21-year-old FTM trans boy, and maybe because it was a person with lady parts, I let caution…
Channeling Good Karma
What comes to mind when you think of Detroit? Be honest. Crime? Abandoned buildings? Corrupt leaders? Katherine Austin, owner of Karma Yoga, is one of many who are trying to change that. In Austin’s case, as a certified yoga instructor, she’s channeling providence through Karma Yoga in the Park, an event that allows first-timers and…
On Killing Grounds
So, now we know how to kill someone in cold blood and get away with it. First, live in a state that has a “Stand Your Ground” law. Then, find a victim who is black, preferably a young male. That’s essentially the lesson learned from the Florida trial of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted on…
Hey Students – You’re Screwed!
EVERYONE AGREES ON THIS MUCH: The nation — especially Michigan — needs a much better educated work force if we have any hope of renewed prosperity. Even more relevant, young people need as much higher education as possible if they are to have any chance of living the kind of middle class lives we baby…
Sweetwater Tavern
Sweetwater Tavern 400 E. Congress St., Detroit 313-962-2210 sweetwatertavern.net Open 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Friday, noon-2 a.m. Saturday-Sunday Entrées: $10-$30 Sweetwater Tavern has been in Detroit for decades, about as long as Metro Times has been here. We recently took a stroll a few blocks from our offices to check out this little Detroit gem. The…
What Up, Voo?
Fresh from the womb of its family-owned distillery in Temperance — let the irony not be lost about that one — the next big “Imported From Detroit” luxury item, Voo Vodka, is muscling its way onto the top shelf. Several bars, clubs and local retailers in metro Detroit have already begun carrying or serving the…
Stuffed
Detroit pop-up restaurant Stuffed trades in bite-sized culinary wonders. Popportunity — The Detroit pop-up known as Stuffed is back for another round of deliciousness. This time it’s at MOCAD, which has hosted several pop-ups of late, and it should be a tasty affair in tiny packages. From pierogi to samosas to empanadas, Sarah Burger is…
Flame On!
Aunt Bessie’s BBQ Ribs and Soul 1141 E. Seven Mile Rd., Detroit; 313-575-5332; auntbessiesribs.com: Carryout and cash only. Originally started in a vacant lot on the corner of Wyoming and Lyndon to fundraise for a political campaign, Aunt Bessie’s grew a following rapidly, and became an established barbecue joint in 1980. Thirty years later, and…
In Your Grill
Level 1: Just the basics $35 Hardware: Weber Smokey Joe Grill • Porcelain-enameled bowl and lid • Plated steel cooking grate • Aluminum dampers • Glass-reinforced nylon lid handle Meat: Mixed chops from Bozek’s Market $5 for 2.5 pounds at $1.99 per pound This basic grill gets the job done. Smokey Joe’s 147-square-inch grilling area…
Smoking Down
You don’t have to be in the dining business to get a piece of the barbecue bonanza. Take the folks at Uncle Henry’s Gourmet Meats. The Troy-based business was born a few years ago when Bryan Mazurkiewicz, one of the operation’s principals, was still working in his former craft — building houses. Mazurkiewicz’s father-in-law, Henry…
Getting Saucy!
We wanted to do justice to a bunch of Michigan barbecue preparations, so we did it right: We set up a barbecue outside, cooked up some meat, and brought it in for a tasting. We were able to cook quite a bit of protein before the Blue Cross security gave us the skidoo for the…
Barbecue 101
In select regions of this great land, barbecue means more than pouring a bottle of sauce on a slab of meat and grilling it up on a hot summer day. Frankly, it’s more than just cooking at all — it’s a way of life, or at least a sub-religion. Naturally, when you have folks in…
Barbecue Boom
Before we start talking barbecue, let’s set the record straight: Although Detroit’s barbecues are having quite a decade, the city and its surroundings have had excellent barbecue for generations. We’ve been lucky enough to have a stream of immigrants from the South for a century — a stream that became a flood during and after…
Freedom Across Mediums
HOLLIDAY MARTINDALE IS a native Detroit multimedia artist who studied sculpture at the city’s prestigious College for Creative Studies and Cranbrook. Since graduating in 2008, her work has been exhibited in New York, Maryland, Ohio and Colorado. In 2011, Martindale collaborated with Chido Johnson to create an art project that Johnson then took to Zimbabwe.…
The Art of the Fair
At first glance, you wouldn’t be the first to mistake photographer Bruce Reinfeld’s photos for a casual Instagram shot, which is ironic because his style, he says, is largely a response to the ease and effortlessness often found in digital photography today; he calls it an “analog style for a digital world.” Reinfeld, along with…
City Slang: Bike Week revs up
Detroit Bike Week will take place in Lake Orion between July 26-28. Tickets can be purchased at the event website, where you can also find a list of the performing bands, which includes the Howling Diablos (pictured), the Reefermen, Citizen Zero, Dead In 5, Bison Machine, Paul Lamb & the Detroit Breakdown, Royal Blackbirds, and…
DC Comics’ Rogues’ Gallery
After the conclusion to DC Comics’ Trinity War by Geoff Johns and Jeff Lemire leaves most of the series’ heroes defeated and their Justice Leagues disbanded, the villains in the DC Universe will take over in September for what is being deemed “Villains Month.” This will be fertile soil for these villains to take over:…
Charges Filed in Metro Villa Drug Explosion
Charges Filed in Metro Villa Drug Explosion MOUNT CLEMENS, MI — The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office today named four people in connection with the Metro Villa apartment complex explosion in Harrison Township this past March. Prosecutor Eric Smith and Sheriff Anthony Wickersham will charge Ryan Cameron, 19, with Manufacturing Marijuana, a 4-year felony; Maintaining a…
Hey Wine Lovers: Let’s Explore a Brew or Two
Just as beer drinkers are wise to bolster their knowledge and appreciation of fine wine, so too are wine lovers well served by opening their palates (and possibly snooty attitudes–hey, if this isn’t you, cool, but if the shoe fits… ) to embrace the attributes of great beer. And with the hot and muggy season…
City Slang: Weekly music review roundup
Send CDs, vinyl, cassettes, demos and 8-tracks to Brett Callwood, Metro Times, 733 St. Antoine, Detroit, MI 46226. Email MP3s and streaming links to bcallwood@metrotimes.com. Big Hoodoo’s Crystal Skull is the latest release from Insane Clown Possee’s Psychopathic Records, and you have to hand it to the clowns – they’ve always known how to package…
