Cover Story
Skateboarding Culture Catches Air
Local artist Mitch Cope didn’t even pick up the phone when international skateboarding star Tony Hawk called to tell him he’d won a $30,000 grant to build a skate park last year. Cope, co-founder of community design initiative Power House Productions, says he and his wife, Gina Reichert, let the call go to voicemail. “Gina…
City Slang: Brew Detroit on Saturday
This Saturday, August 24, 89X and 93.9 The River presents the inaugural Brew Detroit at the Fillmore, an event they are calling the “ultimate beer experience.” According to the press release, “The inaugural “Brew Detroit” event will showcase more than 60 brews from across the world alongside the best in local cuisine! This is not…
Monday Morning Music
Good morning, even if most of you are clicking onto this during what is likely lunch-time. Still, I’d like to share a jaunty little pop jam with you that got me shimmying around my shabby home office, assuring I continued neglecting the self-assigned organization of the area in favor of furthering intakes of Yerba Mate…
City Slang: Zug Izland compilation on the way
Zug Izland, the self-proclaimed “dopest bangers”, have released a compilation album called Toxicology through Psychopathic Records. The band, which was put together in 2002 by ICP’s Violent J, was the first rock band on Psychopathic, and this is a career retrospective. A press release says, “Featuring some of the Motor City’s finest musicians and taking…
City Slang: F’ke Blood album and show
Dion Fischer’s F’ke Blood will see the The Band That Bled Real Blood album released via Urinal Cake/UFO Factory on August 30. That same day, the band will play a record release show at the Painted Lady in Hamtramck. Rather cryptically, they say “F’ KE BLOOD = REAL BAND —-> Downtown ’13… NEW DETROIT… NEW…
City Slang: Black Dahlia Murder announce fall tour
The Black Dahlia Murder has announced that it will tour the states this fall. The tour will kick off in Cleveland on October 24, and end with two Michigan dates – The Intersection in Grand Rapids on November 26 and the Machine Shop in Flint the following nights. Also on the bill of the “Into…
What’s Done Is: Thoughts after Blue Jasmine
We’re not fresh out of maestros, yet, are we? Are we sentenced to a future where our head is always turned half-back at an awkward angle, gazing the ghosts of auteur past? Looking back…to Blue Jasmine Just got back from Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, a fine film meditating on the process of putting the past behind…
Film Review: Kick-Ass 2
Kick-Ass 2| B- Extreme violence and outrageous comedy form an uneasy alliance in this outwardly enthusiastic but inwardly ugly comic book sequel, one that intermingles laughs and gore with an abandon rarely seen outside slasher flicks. The film includes shooting, gouging, animal attacks, a few decapitations and other atrocities, all wrapped up in a garishly…
Film Review: Jobs
Jobs | C Here is the life and times of an endlessly innovative creative visionary, a man of imagination who would accept nothing less than perfection from himself and those around him. And it’s all presented with the most focus-tested, conventional, inside-the-box filmmaking techniques imaginable. Beginning with a soft-lit intro in which a beatific older…
Detroit Sound Conservancy
It seemed like strategic timing for the Comedy Central program Drunk History to pile on to Detroit. This week’s inherently irreverent episode showed highly inebriated comedians slurring through oral reports of otherwise interesting trivia tied to the city. Here’s a link: http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clips/eq75zz/drunk-history-detroit-is-lawless But, notably, the slightly-accurate stories recalled in this episode involved areas like Battle…
EM Battle Planning
For those who think the Occupy movement has faded away — we have news for you. And, for those of you who believe that everyone is just sitting back and accepting the fact that an appointed Emergency Manager is free to call all the shots when it comes to governing Detroit and other cities in…
Fash Bash at the Detroit Institute of Arts
Related Stories
Film Review: The Hunt
The Hunt| B+ Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) is just starting to put the pieces of his life back together. Fired from his previous job and divorced from his wife, he’s settled into a small town as a preschool teacher to make ends meet. Good-hearted and somewhat disheveled, he’s found friendship, started a new relationship and landed…
City Slang: Audra Kubat’s first video
Singer/songwriter Audra Kubat has released her first ever music video, for the “Sparrow” single. The video can be seen here. Kubat says, “This was filmed on location over 18 months and is now ready to release. Sparrow will appear on the forthcoming album due out sometime this year! Thank you to everyone for your support,…
Princely Problems
Prince Fielder’s Recent Struggles… Before this week, the only thing we knew about Prince Fielder’s recent struggles at the plate was that well, he was struggling at the plate. This was concerning, but players go through slumps — it’s part of the game. But this week, after Tori Hunter made comments in a radio interview…
City Slang: A positive Kid Rock review
There’s so much to say about the Kid Rock show at the DTE Energy Music Theatre (or, yes, Pine Knob) on Wednesday night, there was so much to take in, that this writer was genuinely grateful for ZZ Top. There was nothing wrong with ZZ Top, nothing at all. They look about 120 by now,…
Freep Features Vile Spoof on its Homepage
Eight days after he installed his controversial “Crisco Fist (Vessel of Hope)” under the Joe Louis fist, artist-provocateur Jerry Vile has targeted the city of Detroit again. And once again, it didn’t take long for his statement pieces to be taken down. Driven by Detroit’s recent bankruptcy filing, Vile and a small crew of…
“In These Times” Examines Bankrupt Detroit
Since doing our big cover story a few weeks back on the way the national media is covering Detroit’s filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protections, we’ve been keeping an interested eye on the ongoing reporting. Among the latest offerings is a cover piece by In These Times, a left-leaning magazine based in Chicago. Rather than…
Hugh Douglas to Michael Smith: “You an Uncle Tom!”
ESPN fired contributor Hugh Douglas on Tuesday, a week after he reportedly made some racially charged remarks toward his “Numbers Never Lie” cohost Michael Smith. The former Eagles lineman was let go after allegedly calling Smith “Uncle Tom” and threatening to beat him up while the two were attending the National Association of Black Journalists…
Gay Marriage: The Solution to Your Lousy One
Gay Rights has become the new “it” trend for 2013. Obama supports it. Most young people support it. Thirteen states support it. Even the occasional priest shows a tacit nod of approval — in the symbolic act of expressing his support via little boys. For those of you against it, whose religious beliefs justify the…
City Slang: Introducing Porcelain Black
Porcelain Black is a Detroit native, now based in LA, who might be about to blow up big. Since moving west, she hooked up with uber-producer RedOne and is now preparing to release five Youtube videos in five weeks. This first, “Mama Forgive Me,” is available to see now, here. She has an interesting sound,…
Follow this leader
The jazz drummer R.J. Spangler is at the stage of his career where he wants to focus on himself — and it’s about time. Spangler started building his legacy some 30 years ago with the Sun Messengers. After a 15-year run with the Messengers, Spangler got his hands dirty in Detroit’s blues scene, managing blues…
Happy Skeletons
Natasha Blue has always been drawn to imagery that is a bit spooky. As a kid her favorite TV shows were The Addams Family and The Munsters, and she loved the movie Poltergeist. When she first discovered the Mexican holiday, Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) she was immediately drawn to the dark,…
Daniel Bergner and Chris Savage fill in for Dan Savage
Dear readers: Two excellent writers stepped in to answer the Savage Love Letter of the Day while I was on vacation, and I wanted to share two of their responses in the column this week. (The SLLOTD appears daily — cough, cough — on Slog, The Stranger’s blog, and is blasted out to folks who…
Duggan’s Row to Hoe with Voters
Years ago, I read an account of a farmer whose entire homestead had been destroyed by a cyclone. When rescuers arrived, they found him sitting in the ruins — laughing. “What’s so funny?” he was asked. “The completeness of it,” the farmer said. Benny Napoleon was not, by all accounts, laughing last week — nor…
One Decade Down
These days, 30-somethingrestaurateur J Lambrecht is a fairly well-known downtown entrepreneur, the force behind Campus Martius’ Fountain Bistro and Beach Bar & Grille, as well as Bookies Bar & Grille. But a decade ago, he was just an upstart dealmaker, trying to sell a friend on opening a bar in Book Tower. The friend declined,…
12th Man Report
Each of the past two seasons, the Tigers have arrived at the trade deadline in a precarious position — uncertain whether their current roster would be enough to separate them from the rest of the AL Central down the stretch. In 2011, they were just 1.5 games up on the Cleveland Indians, and general manager…
Legal Status of Weed Looks Green
THIS MAY BE THE biggest news about marijuana since the War on Drugs kicked off under President Richard Nixon: Uruguay is standing on the verge of legalizing it. A couple of weeks ago, the South American nation’s General Assembly passed a bill that would legalize growing, selling and possessing the plant; it still has to…
Challenges to EM Law in Limbo
With all the attention being paid to Detroit’s mayoral primary results and bankruptcy filing, it’s easy to see how an important story, roiling just beneath the surface, is failing to generate much scrutiny. Fortunately, the Hits is here to explore what might otherwise be overlooked. What we’re talking about are the two federal cases challenging…
The Look of Love
Many of you who frequent shows and festivals around metro Detroit will be familiar with Danny D, the Rod Stewart tribute artist who both sounds and looks the part. D’s admiration and adoration for Stewart is always on display; he’s rarely seen in public without the full garb and he does his job well. The…
Food Stuff
SIDE DISH Cruise Control — The Dream Cruise arrives this weekend, and the good folks at O’Mara’s Restaurant in Berkley wanted to remind everybody that they’re going to help get the revelry in gear with Cruisefest, starting on Friday, Aug. 16. Berkley, which has a Classic Car Parade the Friday before the Woodward Dream Cruise,…
Taqueria Nuestra Familia
Taqueria Nuestra Familia 7620 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit 313-842-5668 Handicap accessible Dinners: $8-$13.50 Open 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday- Thursday, 8 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday. Looking back over years of Metro Times restaurant reviews, it’s hard to believe we don’t have a review on file for this fabulous Mexican eatery. That’s because people who love authentic Mexican food…
Jerry Vile’s Sale of the Century
It’s fair to say that we Detroiters have been slightly roughed up over the last few weeks, months, years, decades. However, one thing nobody can accuse us of is losing our sense of humor. Days after the city filed for bankruptcy protection, a mysterious — and HUGE — can of Crisco appeared in front of…
Of Kitties and Klutzes
Tigers Injury Report … In honor of this being my first blog entry, I felt an obligation to tackle a topic that has been more and more relevant in recent weeks for the Tigers, and one that we all can relate to — injuries. Although the extent of my personal injuries has been a…
Film Review: Blue Jasmine
Blue Jasmine | B- If nothing else, Woody Allen should be praised for providing film work for women of a certain age. Let’s face it, except for intoning some elven mumbo-jumbo to a bunch of dwarfs, Hollywood doesn’t seem to have much use for the formidable talents of Cate Blanchett. There is already much talk of…
