RON ASHETON TRIBUTE IN DETROIT
The Music Hall in downtown Detroit is hosting a tribute/memorial to late Stooges guitar hero Ron Asheton this Saturday, Jan. 17. All the info from the press release is posted below: Niagara and The Colonel invite friends to pay tribute to the late Stooges guitarist, Ron Asheton as they host, “Ronnie Thanks A Million,” on…
Say what, Sanjay?
The group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (fair.org) has an interesting blog posting regarding Barack Obama’s announcement that he intends to nominate CNN health correspondent Sanjay Gupta to be the nation’s next surgeon general. FAIR referenced a Washington Post story that noted Gupta, if confirmed by the Senate, “would provide the administration with a skilled…
Close victory for Kwame
Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick racks up another dubious achievement. When we heard that Talking Points Memo had picked its second annual Golden Dukes for “great accomplishments in muckiness including acts of venal corruption, outstanding self-inflicted losses of dignity, crimes against the republic, bribery, exposed hypocrisy and generally malevolent governance” … we just had to find…
ALL HAIL THE PIMPAGE!
It’s 2009, a year if there ever was one about pimpin’. Pimpin’ and hookin’. We’re all forced to do either one or the other, if you think about it. See, to succeed in our hastily rotting culture one must either pimp oneself or manipulate others to get what one wants. If you don’t give a…
Generous Motors
Whether it was bitter sarcasm or glowing tribute (or, likely, both) employees of General Motors have long dubbed their employer “Generous Motors.” But that company’s reputation for generosity just took a direct hit, as news recently broke that General Motors would cut funding to high-profile local arts organizations, nixing donations of $100,000 or more to…
A nice, shiny and vintage Gran Torino
Finally saw Gran Torino last night, an early evening show in a Birmingham theater filled with white grayhairs and their grandsons, fans of crusty old Clint. I was keen to see shots of Detroit in the film, to know that the weeks-long road obstructions last summer around Highland Park weren’t for naught. In some sweet…
So you wanna be a filmmaker?
A new book called How Not to Make a Short Film (Secrets from a Sundance Programmer) just arrived in our office from Hyperion, and what a joy it is. Seems its “expert” author, Roberta Marie Munroe, is a rather witty filmmaker herself whose head happens to be crammed with insider-y film-biz knowledge, which basically fills…
Inspired choices
Owners David Smith and Greg Reyner moved a block, still in prime Royal Oak real estate, and doubled their seating. In the new location, they’re still a breakfast-and-lunch place, open seven days 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., but they’re experimenting with many more specials, usually 10 to 15 that change every four or five days.
Dewey-eyed
Throughout Detroit there are still little libraries full of books that half the residents can’t even read.A typical one is the Chandler Park Branch Library, on Harper near Dickerson Street on the city’s east side, one of 23 branches of Detroit’s public library system currently open. Built in 1957, it’s a cozy tri-level space with…
Aronson’s guide for the godless
Editor’s note: Readers can discuss this interview and the questions it raises in the comment section at the end of this article. Author Ron Aronson will be checking our comment board for a dialogue with readers in the coming days. It began seriously with publication of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future…
Detroit’s public school crisis
Good schools would ensure city’s future
Night and Day
THURSDAY • 8 PHIL WOODS AND SOPHIE MILMAN JAZZ HOT AND COOL Even non-jazz fans have heard Phil Woods via sax solos on Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are,” Paul Simon’s “Have a Good Time” and Steely Dan’s “Dr. Wu.” And jazz fans know better than to hold the shadow of pop against him…
Couch Trip
Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot to Kill Hitler Koch Vision When Tom Cruise apologizes for something — especially something remotely Scientology-related — you know the man’s desperate for good press. And that’s exactly what his Valkyrie desperately needs; from crew accidents, budget overruns and a generally befuddled reaction to the idea of Cruise mustering the…
Comics
The Boiling Point – by Mikhaela Reid
That was the year
Call me old-fashioned, but I actually like most of the music I write about. So compiling each year’s “best-of” list is a delight, not a chore. Sure, there’s lots of bad stuff out there — horrible shit, in fact. But the good work that makes it through the din of mediocrity makes it all worthwhile.…
Things I Will Need in the Past
This group of seemingly thrown-together Detroit journeymen — including Greasy Carlisi and Gary Adams of Dark Carnival, Skid Marx of Johnny Thunders’ band, brothers Derek and Sean Murtagh of Troubleman and Margaret Dollrod — was assembled by frontman Mike Jtone back in 2005. They’ve since cemented their name into the MT gig listings on an…
Things I Will Need in the Past
The cover art on Ann Arbor singer-songwriter Charlene Kaye’s debut album complements perfectly the sound of the album. It sees the writer’s hands melting into thickening, winding vines on which the occasional flower or clock is suspended. The black pencil outline symbolizes the humbling, work-in-progress feel of a collection that might otherwise have been too…
Gran Torino
Here Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a deeply embittered retired Detroit auto worker and recent widower, still clinging to his glory years, as if the scrupulously manicured borders of his Highland Park lawn can keep change at bay. But the neighborhood ain’t what it used to be, his old friends have died off and been replaced…
Motor City Cribs
Techno pioneer Carl Craig’s spare living space
Oasis builder
Peaches & Greens brings fresh produce to Detroit’s ‘food desert’
Verbal blogging
Making an album of music is a process that, of course, takes time. These days, an artist that releases one LP every year or two is considered consistent, even prolific. And some “require” more time to slow-cook their masterpieces. Fans had to wait seven years between Dr. Dre’s 1992 solo debut, The Chronic, and his…
No means no
If you were raped, blame the rapist, not yourself
Comeback of the century
In On the Waterfront, Marlon Brando argued, “I could’ve been a contender. I could’ve had class, and been somebody.” Those lines sum up Mickey Rourke’s life for the past quarter century or so. Once hailed as the actor of his generation, his several lifetimes’ worth of lousy career decisions — including becoming a professional boxer…
On the Download
There comes a time every year when “Best Of” lists lead to such exclamations as “Fuck! I totally forgot about that!” Or “Wow! I’m way less in touch with ‘the kids’ than I thought!” Or “Should I file this with the recipe cards or throw it right into the ‘to be burned’ folder with my…
Letters to the Editor
Our readers sound off on papers in crisis and the auto bailout
Food Stuff
Full plates for local foodies.
Jeffrey Morgan’s Media Blackout
What does everybody want? Jeffrey Morgan’s Media Blackout #202! Head — Save Me From Myself (Rykodisc) :: Al Snow doesn’t meet the Monkees in this swirling amalgamation of neo-NIN heaviness hitched with Jonathan Davis melodies. Albert Hammond, Jr. — Como Te Llama? (Red Ink) :: Just when you thought you’ve heard it all, along comes…
RON ASHETON, R.I.P.
We were shocked and saddened to hear of the death of founding Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, whose body was discovered this morning in his Ann Arbor home. Police received a phone call last night from Asheton’s personal assistant who asked officials to check on the 60-year-old guitarist, as the caller had not recently heard from…
