Cover Stories
Wish you were here
“Every weed out here bothers me,” Tom Derry was telling me as we pulled off the Lodge Expressway and drove past Brooks Lumber in his big red pickup along Trumbull Avenue, behind what was right field of old Tiger Stadium. “It ticks me off. I don’t know why. I don’t feel that way about my…
Detroit Tigers — by the numbers
• Seating capacity at Tiger Stadium (then named Bennett Park) in 1896: 5,000 • Seating capacity at Tiger Stadium (then named Navin Field) in 1912: 23,000 • Seating capacity at Tiger Stadium (then named Navin Field) in 1936: 36,000 • Seating capacity at Briggs Stadium after renovations in 1938: 58,000 • Seating capacity at Comerica Park in…
Hey, baseball fans: Don’t trash downtown Detroit
A couple years ago, it was my privilege to escort an out-of-town author to a book talk she was giving downtown. I’m guessing the organizers didn’t realize, however, that the venue, a downtown restaurant, was within earshot of the ballpark on Opening Day. I say it because her talk turned into a disappointing fiasco. The…
Kathleen Hanna of the Julie Ruin
With Bikini Kill, back in the ’90s, Kathleen spearheaded the movement that would later be called “riot grrrl,” and simultaneously put out some great tunes. In the 2000’s, Hanna formed the electro-pop band Le Tigre and reinvented herself. Now, she’s back with The Julie Ruin (alongside former Bikini Kill bassist Kathi Wilcox) and the excellent…
Film Review: The Lunchbox
The Lunchbox | B The lunchboxes say it all. Simple, round tins, filled with comfort food, stacked in nice neat columns and secured with a handle. Their destinations are the desks of workers who toil away in Mumbai’s anonymous office buildings – exactly the kind of folks who might appreciate a tidy, functional rom-com that…
Film Review: Sabotage
Sabotage | C- If it were any good, David Ayer’s Sabotage would be an interesting take on the macho cop vehicle. With its slasher film undertones and convoluted Ten Little Indians whodunit procedural, you can see why Arnold Schwarzenegger would be drawn to the project; it’s in line with the aging action star’s oeuvre and…
Hip-hop collective CoOwnaz
CoOwnaz is a different sort of hip-hop clique. It’s a substantial “family” of artists, singers, emcees and producers specializing in the styles of rap and leftfield electronica, and the musicians involved are paying tribute to one of their own — Charles Beasley (aka C.F. Hustle or Mr. Merriweather), a freelancing show promoter by night who…
Can Bill Schuette be beaten?
Regardless of what you think of the same-sex marriage issue, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette made a horse’s ass of himself in federal court this month. Don’t just take my word for it; look at what the officially independent and moderate Detroit Free Press said after the historic ruling striking down Michigan’s gay marriage ban. …
Arwood reluctantly approves PTSD to medical marijuana list
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is the first new condition added to the list of qualifying conditions since the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act went into effect in 2008. Steve Arwood, director of the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, approved the recommendation of the advisory panel last week. Apparently the system, as set up in the…
There’s still a giant sinkhole in downtown Detroit
At the rate Detroit’s historic bankruptcy is moving, the city may clean its books before a gaping 20-foot sinkhole downtown is repaired. The effort to fix the sinkhole outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center has moved at a snail’s pace, Diane Cross, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Transportation, tells us. The reason she…
Metro Times readers chime in on Hutzel Hopsital, EEAA, Nain Rouge and more
In response to Jack Lessenberry’s column about Lansing’s cutting funding for Hutzel Hospital, jj posted: Fascinating. I naively imagined that legislators aspired to be public servants to promote the welfare of all citizens. I suspect that most state elected government officials are very well educated and occupy at least the upper-middle class. These people are…
Bonus questions from Savage Love Live
Readers: A crowd of smart, engaged students packed a theater for Savage Love Live at Centenary College of Louisiana last week. Centenary is a terrific liberal-arts school in Shreveport. Centenary students submitted more Q’s than I could possibly A in the 90 minutes I had with them. So here are some bonus answers to questions…
Louie Badalament
Currently, my main band is Axe Ripper, and my side project is Rawdogs. I’m also starting another side project with Brian Weisserman from Dead Church called Ratchet Mess. I also squeeze in as much session work as possible. Whenever Detroit bands need a fill-in drummer or bassist, I come out and play. In 2013 I…
A tribute to Scott Asheton
I’m not going to pretend that I knew Scott Asheton well, let alone that I was his friend. When people die, particularly famous people, the woodwork will overflow with those referring to the fallen one as a “friend,” a “buddy” or, worse, “a brother-in-arms.” I hardly knew Rock, but I worked with him and I…
Sameer Reddy mixes the sacred with the sexy
No one walks into the Great Hall of the DIA lighting candles and slipping into deep meditative trances. That said, artist Sameer Reddy believes that although museums are not traditionally sacred spaces, art can be made sacred by acknowledging how “art objects” can provide tools for spiritual transformation through observance. Originally from Bloomfield Township, Reddy…
Five questions with Jimmy Urine
Since 1997, Mindless Self Indulgence has been defying genres by creating music that is oddball, off-the-wall and madcap enough to avoid cookie-cutter definitions. Nu metal was all the rage when the band, led by Jimmy Urine (Ma and Pa Urine must be proud) emerged, and so they played a lot with bands like Korn and…
Alexis
If you were at the Blowout Festival in 2013, particularly the launch party at the Magic Stick, you may well have noticed a tall, ungainly guy walking around with a look that combined old-school punk and disco. He looked like Joey Ramone, if the deceased singer were on his way to Studio 54 rather than…
Rashida Tlaib talks politics
Rashida Tlaib has been a force inside the state House of Representatives since winning her bid for the 6th District seat in 2008, including the recent successful push to increase regulations on scrap yards. The first Muslim woman to serve in the state legislature, Tlaib says her experience growing up as the eldest of 14…
Royal Oak Township could be next Chapter 9 bankruptcy
Although Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration likely doesn’t want to see this happen, Detroit could soon be joined by a second Michigan community to petition for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Royal Oak Township, a tiny 0.5-square mile community wedged between Oak Park and Ferndale, with 2,400 residents, has struggled with dire financial issues for years. And last…
Appeals court issues freeze on Michigan same-sex marriages
We were on site at Oakland County Circuit Court Saturday to witness a number of the first legal same-sex marriages in the state. The momentous occasion followed a historic ruling from U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman, who shot down Michigan’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage Friday. Unfortunately, the celebration didn’t last long, as the U.S.…
Michigan tops agricultural lists
Between the hard times job-seekers face and the fundamentalist yahoos in Lansing, sometimes you can feel pretty glum about life in Michissippi. But as spring comes our way again, it’s a good time to remember that Michigan remains a great place for food. With more than 10 million acres of farmland, the Great Lakes State…
‘Feet on the Street’ offers look at Eastern Market
“Every weed out here bothers me,” Tom Derry was telling me as we pulled off the Lodge Expressway and drove past Brooks Lumber in his big red pickup along Trumbull Avenue, behind what was right field of old Tiger Stadium. “It ticks me off. I don’t know why. I don’t feel that way about my…
Café 1923 serves up bluegrass and coffee
The good folks at Cafe 1923 Coffeehouse in Hamtramck have opened their space to live music on Saturdays. All through the year, an ensemble of old-timey musicians has performed once a week, working up a set of fiddle tunes, bluegrass, older country and a few pop songs. They play up front, but they’ll likely be…
The Oakland offers happy hour
The Golden Hour — It’s remarkable to think how the craft cocktail movement has changed the way we drink in just a few short years. Back in the ’00s, most bars thought nothing of offering creations such as a “Chocolatini” — cloyingly sweet concoctions made with corn syrup mixers and worse. Now, the vogue has…
Detroit BBQ Company hosts pop-up at Treat Dreams
Barbecue and Ice Cream — For two whole days, the Detroit BBQ Company will host a pop-up restaurant at Ferndale’s Treat Dreams, providing a great chance to try some of the finger-lickingest barbecue in metro Detroit. The Detroit BBQ crew may not have a brick-and-mortar space, but their food trucking and catering have proved that…
Comerica Park debuts Poutine Dog, more
In the old days, if Detroiters wanted to get poutine — that delicious combo of fries, gravy and cheese curds — they had few choices other than to head down south (err, north) to Canadian bars and greasy spoons. In recent years, the Québécois creation has infiltrated our borders, and it’s now available at plenty…
Film Review: Muppets Most Wanted
Muppets Most Wanted | B After years in the show biz wilderness and a mostly successful relaunch in 2011, the Muppets return once again with a back-to-basics approach: more songs, more gags, more celebrity cameos and just a smidge less hugging and learning. As some of Generation X’s most cherished nostalgia objects, the burden of…
Film Review: Enemy
Enemy | C- When spinning a yarn about mistaken identity, it helps if the characters have identities to begin with. In the terminally self-conscious psychological thriller Enemy, Jake Gyllenhaal plays two identical-looking characters who live parallel and equally uninteresting lives. Adam (Gyllenhaal) is a tweedy history professor in Toronto, who is slowly unraveling from boredom,…
