The name means: Go!
Cyro Baptista’s successes say a lot about him. And so do his failures. He’s the ringleader of a circus of a band, Beat the Donkey, that conflates dance, percussion and theater. These days it’s a clatter of seven percussionists, an electric guitarist and an accordion player, all of whom multiply their presence with additional on-stage…
3
Peruse the many positive reviews this Motor City femme foursome has accumulated for its previous two platters and you’ll likely encounter a predominance of terms such as “innocent,” “naive,” “ethereal,” “mesmerizing,” “tenderly woozy,” “sweet intoxicating brew” and “lazy, hazy, day-trippin’ Sunday.” Christ. Has every critic died and gone to twee heaven? Granted, growing up in…
Organ transplant
Go to a Saturday night concert at the Senate Theatre on Michigan Avenue in Detroit and you’ll see a very white, largely AARP-eligible, committed crowd of pipe organ fans — the kind of folks you don’t expect to see in the inner city after dark. The Detroit Theater Organ Society, along with a one-of-a-kind Wurlitzer…
61/49
You always hear how bands record live in the recording studio, right? Well, I figure what’s good for the goose is gander-bound — so I decided to write this review while listening to the album, live in my writing studio, in real time, with no second listens or overtypes. Let’s face it: If a record…
Garage sale fiasco
Talk about getting the deal of the millennium at a neighborhood garage sale. For a mere $370,000, local real estate investor Romel Casab bought more than half of a $13 million downtown public parking garage without the city’s knowledge —thanks to a bureaucratic snafu. The city failed to pay a $2,411 Wayne County tax bill…
Leftover spaghetti’s tasty
Hard, gritty men in a hard, gritty landscape. Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef grapple for gold and some claim on the moral high ground. Sergio Leone’s third ’60s Western, initially dismissed as "Spaghetti Westerns," has become iconic — kitsch turned classic. With scenes cut from the original U.S. release restored, and Ennio…
Nature & un-nature
The natural world and man-made world intersect to both beautiful and horrific effect in a new exhibit at Marygrove College. The show features installations by New York’s Judy Hoffman and Royal Oak’s Michael McGillis that employ found objects as entry points to the imagination. Hoffman’s “Fertile Ground” features a series of small organic sculptures that…
Thirteen
A quasi-documentary style and vivid performances elevate what could have been another teen clique film. Thirteen is about love lasting and eventually triumphing through and over mundane adversity and dysfunction. Holly Hunter shines.
Lacks’ luster
Ta’Raach, aka Lacks, loves Detroit so much, it hurts. And sometimes he hates it. That hurts worse. As he sits on his porch in Atlanta, admiring what the Southern scenery has to offer, all he can think about is being back home. Not that he minds the frogs, trees and grass; it’s just that the…
The Three Marias
A Brazilian mother has three daughters named Maria. Things get sillier from there. Madre is bent on avenging the murders of her husband and two sons, so she assigns her three daughters to find the hit men who can retaliate.
Collins new arts editor; Turner joins staff
Lisa M. Collins has been named arts editor of Metro Times. Her staff-writing post will be assumed by Metro Times contributor Khary Kimani Turner, the publication’s management announced. Collins, 30, has been a Metro Times staff writer for two years. She was named Young Journalist of the Year in 2002 by the Detroit chapter of…
On_Line
An indie foray into the wonderful world of Internet porn and webcams. There’s lots of soulless jerking off with some dramatic intrigue grafted on for distraction. No bookmarking necessary.
September 10-16, 2003
10 WED • ART “Retrofit” — Michigan sculptor Sharon Cue has explored “aspects of concrete poetry, painting, engraving, ritual and meditation” in her work. With an Art Noveau-meets-mad scientist look, Que’s works are often referred to as “unique.” At the Meadow Brook Art Gallery (208 Wilson Hall, on the campus of Oakland University). Call 248-370-3005…
The Order
A hunky but celibate Heath Ledger (A Knight’s Tale) as a demon-vanquishing priest out to solve the mystery behind the death of a fellow exorcist. A climactic showdown with a "sin eater" ensues. Father, forgive them.
The yolk’s on us?
For a moment there, News Hits thought we were going to be wiping enough egg off our face to fill a hatchery. As it is, there’s just a bit of yolk that needs to be brushed away. After this rag had gone to press last week, the mayor’s office announced a major overhaul of the…
O, Fantasma
If you like cute puppies and graphic gay S&M, this grim and outrageous exposition into the extremes of human desire is right up your alley.
Block grant blockage
If City of Detroit leaders don’t soon make some changes, the feds promise to do it for them. And, no, we are not talking about the Detroit Police Department, which is facing an overhaul as a result of a lengthy investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. News Hits is referring to the city’s bureaucracy-laden…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Psychologists at the University of Sussex in Great Britain have found that taking part in protests, demonstrations or strikes is good for you. Interviews revealed that participants experienced a deep sense of happiness and euphoria after such events. This will be especially true for you in the coming weeks. If you…
Who’s sorry now?
Sometimes it seems politicians would rather suffer a root canal than utter the words, “We’re sorry.” Take, for example, fearless leader George Bush, who on a recent trip to Africa made the bold move of condemning slavery but stopped short of actually apologizing for this nation’s slave-holding history. Now it’s Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s turn to…
Sex, sex, sex, sex …
Well, now that I’ve got your attention … ah, that magic word … just three little letters invoke one gigantic smorgasbord of fetishes, fascinations, hang-ups, diatribes and designer cologne commercials. Sex sells. Sex intrigues. Sex scandalizes. Sex starts some careers and finishes others. Any channel on the television, any URL on the Web: It’s all…
Rat’s nest
Abandoned Shelter of the Week Ladaunte Guthridge has a foolproof method for killing rats: blood thinner. He poisoned two of the vermin this way near his Highland Park home just last week and expects to keep offering rodents the lethal refreshment so long as the city ignores the presence of four vacant (save for the…
Be careful how you sign off
Q: I hope this letter will be a nice break between snot-suckers and shit-eaters. I am 18 now, going to college, and I think I may be in love. I met this girl on one of my first days in college and I can barely get through the day without thinking about her. Not in…
Letters to the Editor
Dream analysis Why was Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated — for his dream or for his declaration? (“One thing we did right,” Metro Times, Sept. 3-9) Jack Lessenberry seems to be smoking the pipe of gradualism. “On we go, and amen.” True, that’s what I heard at Hart Plaza as Detroit commemorated the real Martin…
Test of time
The Romantics finally became rock ’n’ roll stars in the winter of 1983. Bucking fantastic odds and playing thousands of clammy club gigs in every time zone had paid off for the raffish, suit-bedecked quartet from Detroit’s east side. For a band up from the edge of the late ’70s Detroit punk scene that had…
Strom warning
Believe it or not, there is a movement afoot in Congress to name the planned visitor center in Washington, D.C., after the late Sen. Strom Thurmond. Yes, I do mean that Strom Thurmond, and no, I’m not kidding. I first read about it a few days ago in the Amsterdam News, an African-American newspaper based…
Ha-cha-cha
Nothing says “I heart you” like a bump-and-grind session on a sweaty dance floor. And where better can you rub guilt-free with your partner of choice than at the Parabox Cafe? Open to everyone — the hot-to-trot, the novices and the veteran shakers — this downtown dance club can put some spice into any bland…
An authentic radical
There is, by definition, the greater of two evils. The only way to prevent an election victory for Bush in 2004 is to elect a Democratic presidential candidate … there simply is no other way. —Al Fishman, longtime radical and peace activist That, in a nutshell, is where we stand today. Yes, the words at…
Juan fine place
The menu announces that Juan’s is the home of the flaming fajita. The flaming fajita tops the price list and comes with three small tortillas and a plate of beans and rice. These were excellent fajitas, with lots of charred green peppers and onions, grilled chicken and steak, well seasoned. It was great fun to…
Music for life
She walks up to me, and for the first time since puberty, my 5-foot-10-inch self feels short. Deanne Iovan, lead singer and bass player for the Come Ons has got to be well over 6 feet tall. Her go-go boots stilt her up another 3 inches … at least. As we sit down for a…
