The Quitters: Will they or won’t they?
Our unscientific study tests a few alternative stop-smoking methods on three die-hard puffers, with varying degrees of success.
Awash in denial
Detroit police officials react to a Fress Press article’s damning statistics.
A stunning joyride
Although the target audience for most animation is children, this doesn’t mean the art form can’t contain material sophisticated enough to attract adults. The contemporary hybrid model is "The Simpsons," which can be enjoyed purely for its colorful characters and silly spectacle, but is also packed with so many clever allusions that it offers a…
Going to pot
Medical marijuana is gaining acceptance, but it’s not legal yet. Still, Ann Arbor’s Renee Emry Wolfe has multiple sclerosis and smokes pot every day.
Real green candidate
“I Like Fike” – Michael Moore nominates ficus tree for Congress.
A fowl tale
Although the target audience for most animation is children, this doesn’t mean the art form can’t contain material sophisticated enough to attract adults. The contemporary hybrid model is “The Simpsons,” which can be enjoyed purely for its colorful characters and silly spectacle, but is also packed with so many clever allusions that it offers a…
Soy or ploy?
When Lynn Gordon found herself suffering from hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms after a hysterectomy, she turned …
The other Greens
Michigan’s Green Party rushes to make the November ballot.
Wax-beat word buffet
If your intellect is piqued when two magazines that normally cover different territory suddenly converge on several related stories simultaneously, start here – especially if you also like having your ego stroked by having the focus of attention in your own backyard. This summer, the hip-hop-flavored abstract message of URB collides with the indie West…
Applied alternatives
A new book takes on the truths of complementary treatments. It’s a guide to what works, what doesn’t work, and what is in the works in alternative medicine.
Preserving things to come
Hudson’s building blow-up ignored by preservationist.
Wax-beat word buffet
If your intellect is piqued when two magazines that normally cover different territory suddenly converge on several related stories simultaneously, start here – especially if you also like having your ego stroked by having the focus of attention in your own backyard. This summer, the hip-hop-flavored abstract message of URB collides with the indie West…
Glass half full
NPR’s brainy Ira Glass is the real thing.
Undulating (e)motion
Emo pioneer Sunny Day Real Estate rides the tide of breakups, a changing music scene and personal epiphanies.
Migraine strategy
Hundreds of lightning-fast, blue-eared mice plow through the first level of Chu Chu Rocket. Keeping track of the little furry creatures as they scatter across the screen in all directions is like attempting to watch a hustler’s cheating fingertips. They’ve got one motive in mind – escaping the wrath of their ever-villainous rival, none other…
Charging mall rats
Non-credit credit cards for teens.
Caffeinated atmospherics
With wood floors, large bay windows that look out at the Detroit skyline, and a menu that holds up with anywhere in the ‘burbs, this second-floor coffee spot immediately makes you feel at home. A great spot tucked away on Woodward, Bittersweet deserves to be made into your regular day or nighttime hangout.
Me, Myself & Irene
Charlie Baileygates is a good man and a good cop, engaged to the prettiest girl in town. But even as he carries her over the threshold, things begin to go wrong. Me, Myself & Irene becomes a fractured fable on the ills of repression. Dumped by his new bride and humiliated over the brink of…
Balls of fun
Malevolent Magic 8 balls … luckily, they’re unbreakable, too.
Lost world
Ferndale photographer Steven Benson brings us forbidden pictures which document a China that may soon be flooded away.
Fear and fervor
With modern warfare increasingly resembling a video game, the visceral combat of The Patriot is a shocking reminder of what doing battle really means. Writer Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan) sets the action in the Southern colonies, knowing that the American Revolution was an altogether different beast there than in the North. Not only was…
American guerillas
Mel Gibson’s latest action-adventure, The Patriot, sets off into the underbrush of historical fiction.
Lost world
Jennifer Bagwell is a Detroit-area freelance writer. Send comments to letters@metrotimes.com
The Sights
Like walking into the mall on a hot, humid afternoon, The Sights provide a blast of cool freshness into that same-old rock’n’roll sound. Every track sounds like an instant classic, inspiring infinite replays and a desire to jump in and dance until your feet fall off. Here’s a young Mick Jagger sneer, there’s a huge…
Eye for I
The camera is a hall of mirrors for multimedia artist and shape-shifter Bethany Shorb. Visit our online gallery of Shorb’s self-portraits and see for yourself.
Lost world
Jennifer Bagwell is a Detroit-area freelance writer. Send comments to letters@metrotimes.com
Death watch
Protesting George W. Bush’s 133rd execution.
Wheeling for meals
Tim Kowalec, chef to racing team PPI Motorsports, serves 750 meals per weekend out of a 53-foot tri-axle trailer.
Lost world
Jennifer Bagwell is a Detroit-area freelance writer. Send comments to letters@metrotimes.com
Out & in
Real Detroit is out; Lemberg Gallery is in.
Best of an era
You think it’s all new, huh? Well, here’s a little history for you … Brendan M. Gillen’s compiled a list of the most important Detroit dance records of the 1980s.
Schools or jails?
The Black Radical Congress launches a campaign to bring attention to plight of black youth and to change the country’s education and criminal justice systems.
Apple seeds
A convergence of Detroit artists in New York.
Garden parties and golf gusto
Packed to the gills with musicians, hipsters and happy-hour types, the Whitney’s standing Thursday-night soiree has it all … & more.
Lovely luncheoning
If you’re one of the ladies who lunch, have I found the place for you. The Pool’s food is far better than many ladies who lunch seem to expect. Take the enormous Nuts about Spinach salad. The baby spinach leaves are covered with fresh melon, strawberries, pineapple, mandarin oranges and dried cherries, along with almonds,…
Year of the play
Zeitgeist Theater can’t find plays from local playwrights.
Don’t vouch for this
Jack Lessenberry explains why the school voucher program won’t work.
Emolution
Can I say "emo" without being flogged publicly? I’ll take my chances. From the band that has come to epitomize emo(tional) rock comes what is perhaps its most ornate and inspired album yet. For those who insist on using how long they’ve listened to certain bands as leverage to complain about how much those groups…
Hot dog
A poopless robotic pet.
Daring to care about the folks “over there”
AIDS is killing Africa, and unless U.S. does something to help, it will only be a matter of time before the AIDS crisis mows us down all over again.
Shattered
So here’s what we know: The members of Glassjaw are young. Very young. They’re on Roadunner (which equals insta-cred in the aggro world), and they feature an incredibly gifted, ambidextrous drummer, Sammy Siegler (of Gorilla Biscuits and CIV fame). Even though they don’t look like an aggro band, they very much are – at least…
Caffeinated pod people
Semi-instant espresso from Starbucks. Now they’re on every corner … and in your own home, too!
Wired Italia
Join mt.com editor Adam Druckman on his romantic Italian honeymoon, with wonderful wine, magnificent scenery … and Internet cafés in every village.
Now voyager
Throughout Europe his records are filed under "N." He’s Africa’s biggest star. However, in the United States, you’ll still find his music in the back of the store in the small African section. Fifteen years ago, Youssou N’Dour broke onto the international scene opening for Peter Gabriel on the So tour, where he introduced the…
Working together
Alternative treatments give doctors more tools – when Eastern-style therapies and Western medicine join forces, we’ll learn to feel a whole lot better.
Lost world
Ferndale photographer Steven Benson brings us forbidden pictures which document a China that may soon be flooded away.
Spirits of ghosts
Within the realm of avant-garde jazz, the very name of the late saxophonist Albert Ayler strikes fear in the hearts of most modern improvisers. A gutty, visceral player with a remarkable tone and earthshaking vibrato, Ayler helped turn jazz on its ear back in the mid-’60s with his strange melange of gospel cries, wild R&B…
