A letter from Ana
This essay can be found frequently on anorexia-related Web sites….
A strip mall’s friends
Lafayette Park Shopping Center may not be history, because it may have historical significance…
Rocket to the crypt
Dave Gilbert had a voice to die for….
Bait and swish
The ACLU and the Triangle Foundation settled a lawsuit against the City of Detroit over an “annoying persons” ordinance used to nab gay men in Rouge Park…
Buyer beware
“They say it’s murder/on you folk career/to make a rock record/with ‘the disappeared’” wails/croons nu-folk prodigy Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes) on “Mall of America,” halfway through the debut full-length of his newest incarnation, Desaparecidos. If Oberst is his generation’s Dylan — and judging by the packed house that turned out to catch him at…
Wrath of God
Abandoned house of the week – 7/31/02
Too close for comfort
In-breeding in Chinese villages gives double meaning to symbol of double happiness….
Abandoned Shelter of the Week
A banner hanging from a light post in front of this shell reads, “Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine.” It’s a shiner all right, especially when it burned. Twice. Located on the corner of Livernois and Morton, a neighborhood whose sidewalks are adorned with syringes and prostitutes, this house fits right in. Malignant stares and the eerie…
Sam’s scary movie
A person who would write a screenplay about how to pull off an armed black revolution in the United States is a person some folks might write off as an enthusiastic masochist, the type who welcomes isolation, pain and suffering the way parched earth welcomes the rain. But then there are those who would simply…
Wonderful wonderful café
Ann Arbor’s Café Felix is practically poetic. The tradition of a European café holds true to form. There is a prime wine assortment as well as coffee drinks and delicious food. Every finishing touch within the butter-colored walls is indeed, as the French say, “Au point.”
Bonior’s best
There is little doubt that Michigan Democrats have never fielded such a strong batch of gubernatorial candidates. It’s an embarrassment of riches. Given the GOP’s relatively meager offerings, it’s likely that whoever emerges from the Aug. 6 Democratic primary will win the general election in November. For this, feeling humans can rejoice. The Engler era,…
The art of the knife
When you walk into Café Sushi you are greeted by a sleek sushi bar topped with black tile.The focus is for those who want to try Japanese food but are scared away by raw fish–no daring is required here. The food is delicious, the service above average, and there is something for every kind of…
July 31-Aug. 7, 2002
31 WED • MUSIC Her Space Holiday — When did it become a mandate that "indie" automatically meant "dorky"? Was it the glasses? The message boards? The Internet? You’ll struggle to find a more ideal antihero geek than Marc Bianchi, who has become a master of the jocks-hate-me shtick since the conception of his cult…
Overexposed
Director Steven Soderbergh, deciding to go apeshit, has made a film that, first and foremost, indulges his singular talents. Mildly implausible, very funny and surprisingly moving, it’s a throwback to the personal style of the French New Wave, about people connecting or not in the larger context of a satire about LA life.
Another brownout?
DTE employee group says the utility isn’t implementing programs to correct discriminatory practices….
Sex and Lucia (Lucía y el sexo)
Directed by Julio Medem (Los Amantes del Círculo Polar and Tierra), this nightmare-fairytale presents a miraculous and disturbing allegory, beautifully and intricately constructed, with the ability to transcend time, place and language by giving itself the ability to begin again at any moment.
Mind over body?
Q: I don’t seem to have any kind of sex drive anymore, not at all. I’m in a relationship of seven years with my boyfriend, of which we spent two years mostly apart. Even when maintaining a long-distance relationship, sex was better and more frequent than in the last two or three months. The loss…
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Overstuffing the Austin Powers bag with more cameos and more Dr. Evil, that talented Mike Myers chap plays even more outrageous characters. And even though it’s lost its romantic mojo, Austin’s bag is still full of laughs, baby — with Michael Caine.
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): If you’re normal, you’re in a weird mood 10 percent of the time. You have a bad hair day five times a month and you say something you shouldn’t at least once a week. But if you align yourself with the exuberant cosmic mojo that’s currently accumulating in your vicinity, your…
The Country Bears
A former writer for “Animaniacs” and “Pinky and the Brain,” director Peter Hastings gives Country Bears that same wacky sensibility, both hokey and super-cool, only not in so much of a hurry. A slew of musical notables join the fun, from Queen Latifa to Elton John.
Welcome to the incestathon
Q: Savage gets all squirmy and horrified about incest. You came down pretty hard on Please Help for having sex with his sister. Why is incest any more horrifying than male homosexuality? At least incestuous intercourse follows the natural function of the sexual organs. You may reply that incest causes genetic problems. However, statistically, the…
Pumpkin
With its story of a too-perfect, ultranaive sorority girl (Christina Ricci) who falls in love with a physically and mentally challenged young man (Hank Harris), Pumpkin bears a passing resemblance to late-period John Waters, but without that maestro’s undercurrent of genuine hostility.
Ash under glass
I’m getting quite a charge out of this whole Ted Williams deal. It just goes to show that whenever you involve lawyers, simple solutions get overlooked. Why couldn’t they just freeze Ted’s damned head to make the son happy and burn, baby, burn the rest of his body so that the daughter can fill an…
Free Love
Arthur Lee’s forever changing….
Some primary stupidity
Next week, the vast majority of Michigan voters won’t show up for a primary election that will determine the major candidates for governor and tons of other offices. In many areas, where one party dominates the field, the primary will virtually decide the November winners, as in the race for Wayne County Executive. Statewide, this…
Letters to the Editor
Don’t pick scabs Jack Lessenberry’s column about the Green Party’s refusal to nominate a strikebreaker for Congress, ("The court and the council," Metro Times, July 24-30) was a real disappointment. Jack lamented that Mike Madias, a scab writer during the newspaper strike who wanted the Green endorsement, was rejected. Lessenberry seems to forget that the…
Misery loves company
Introducing the pro-anorexia web, where the ultimate control freaks find friendship….
Wiggy with it
It’s not difficult to find a wig store in Detroit. It might not even be difficult to own a wig store in Detroit. But keeping one running in a location with one of the highest business turnover rates in the city takes perseverance. Eastern Wig & Hair Company, 1400 Woodward Ave., has been turning the…
Portraits of the world
Dropping in on painter Nancy Ulvang’s life in art….
Who demolished the budget?
Detroit’s abandoned building demolition program asks City Council to cough up another $8 million…
