The establishment turns on Bush
Not long ago, one of my students came to me, perfectly baffled. “How can anyone who’s not a rich Nazi support re-electing George Bush?” she said. This wasn’t a gag. She had been researching the implications of his policies, and had been striving hard to learn about the world. There was no way even intelligent…
Disorder in the court
Richard G. Convertino stood outside U.S. District Court, smoking a celebratory cigar. It was June 3, 2003, a big day for the assistant U.S. attorney. He’d just put two North Africans, Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi and Karim Koubriti, behind bars after arguing to a jury for six weeks that the men belonged to an Islamist terrorist sleeper…
Freeway three-way
State Sen. Shirley Johnson of Royal Oak, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has been in the Legislature for 22 years — so long that she began her career as a state lawmaker when her party still had moderates and her county didn’t have huge traffic jams. Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, who was…
Postcard to America
In keeping with Fourth of July spirit, we figured it’d be swell to get an artist’s take on life in contemporary America, or what the hell the Fourth means to them, or something like that. So we asked a sundry cast of performers playing the TasteFest to offer up their humble opinions, and the results…
Michael & Me
A scathing indictment of President George W. Bush and his family’s links to Saudi oil and defense money, raising serious concerns about the ethics and motives behind the Iraq war. It’s the perfect antidote for the pro-Bush faction — but what good can director Michael Moore do with a film that only preaches to the…
Hilarious hell
It’s your first day on the job at TQB Unicorp. You’re sitting quietly, waiting for your “new employee orientation” to start. Understandably, you feel out of place and anxious, not really sure what the day holds for you. Will you like your boss? Will you get along with your fellow employees? Will you remember all…
Layering it on
Twenty-nine-year-old artist, Shawn Morgan approaches his paintings the way a chef approaches a recipe. Piece by piece, each ingredient makes an important difference to the outcome of the meal. “While my work portrays a multitude of subjects, the underlying universal theme is that of layering. To me, layering is a symbol for the complexity of…
NRA’s blood money
As bad as it was, it could have been a lot worse. We’re talking about last week’s shootings at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit during the big fireworks display. Considering the PR damage done to a city struggling mightily to convince the world that we are not Baghdad West (we’re sure reps from the NFL,…
Holy Shit!!!
We’re smack-dab in the middle of the festival season, here, people. And that means there are many opportunities to stand around sun-baked, drinking overpriced beer and listening to some of Detroit’s best-known bands (again). Case in point: This weekend’s TasteFest. Somewhere along the way, Detroit’s downtown rock scene gave up its underground status and became…
What’s your sign?
Like flowers signaling the arrival of spring, yard signs springing up hither and yon are always a clear indicator that election season is in full bloom. But, according to civil libertarians, some local municipalities are placing unconstitutional restrictions on these expressions of support and opposition. The ACLU is trying to bring that to a halt.…
Four are feted
Four members of the Metro Times editorial staff received awards from the Metropolitan Detroit branch of the Society of Professional Journalists last week. Leading the way was arts editor Lisa M. Collins, who brought home two first-place awards and an honorable mention. A finalist for “Young Journalist of the Year,” Collins received first place in…
Picking bones
Scavengers were attempting to ply their illegal trade at 11854 Longview on Detroit’s East Side just a few minutes before the Abandoned Structure Squad pulled up. “I chased them away,” says next door neighbor Sharon Wallace, who adds that there’s little left worth filching. “They’ve already taken as much as they can take,” observes Wallace,…
Letters to the Editor
The mouth of babes I find Christopher Schneider’s letter (Letters to the editor, Metro Times, June 23) concerning the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan particularly interesting as I shared a similar emotional reaction to the one he describes. I was 8 years old and outside shooting hoops when the news came over the radio. The…
Best of the Fest
Hernandez characterizes the Holy Shit!!! Fest as “the best of the ‘new scene’ that seemed to be developing (although it had always been there).” Here’s a quick run-down of some of the highlights: Human Eye: From the ashes of punk stalwarts the Clone Defects’ breakup last October rose two really great bands. The first to…
Heron King Blues
Now here’s a pleasant surprise: a record that actually exhibits glimpses of musicianship in the classic Roxy Music style. Unfortunately, Califone doesn’t know whether it wants to be the languidly smooth Avalon Roxy (“Sawtooth Sung A Cheater’s Song”) or the experimentally percolating For Your Pleasure Roxy (“2 Sisters Drunk On Each Other”). But either way…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): July is Reinvent Your Family Month, and today begins Home Improvement Week. Your short-term assignment is to beautify your sanctuary. Get rid of stuff that tends to keep you locked into sterile memories, and fill the place with fresh symbols and accessories that make you excited about the future. That should…
Hunger and plenty
In the early ’70s I had an office in the Guardian Building in downtown Detroit. On a particularly cold and windy winter afternoon I was walking to my car, in a hurry to escape the elements. As I was passing the arches of the Buhl Building, a hand reached out and grabbed me. Even though…
First mate and jailbait
Q: I wanted to let you know that your advice to DOM — the 29-year-old anxious to get it on with his legal-where-he-lives 16-year-old co-worker — was spot-on. When I was 14, I had a very satisfying sexual relationship with a 24-year-old man. We met through some friends who were college-age. I pursued him for…
Robotronic
Though Kraftwerk, P-Funk and Prince are often regarded as the holy trinity that most influenced the style and substance of techno, history will likely place another relatively obscure figure somewhere close to their side. Dust off your mix tapes from the 1980s and find tracks by Alexander Robotnick representing gracefully alongside the early pioneers. Hear…
Meet the patriots
It was about 25 years ago, and I was living in Chicago, struggling to make it as a musician and writer. One day I heard about some kind of air show that was going to take place that very clear, warm, pleasant afternoon on the city’s North Side over Lake Michigan. The advertisement promised all…
Eclectic obsessions
I’m a total skeptic when it comes to “art star” juried exhibitions. They’re too often more about celebrity drawing power than about the artists being shown. What’s more, I’m not a huge Mike Kelly fan, although I appreciate his stature in the international art world, especially since he’s a Motown homeboy. (Actually, I like the…
Senegal sounds
When our country trudged forth into war with Iraq, hundreds of prominent actors, artists and musicians were quick to display some form of protest, be it a newly penned song, a heartfelt message on a Web site, or a barbed comment delivered while accepting an award. Senegalese musical superstar Youssou N’Dour took things one step…
N&D Center
Wednesday • 30 Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting SHOPPING/PARTY Even secularists can enjoy this not-exactly-religious gathering at the Motor City Brewing Works. Hosted by local artist Graem Whyte, this soon-to-be Wednesday night ritual will play host to a variety of events, and kicks off with everybody’s favorite summer pastime: a garage sale. So bring your old…
Burger out, steak in
The menu changes frequently here, but when we last sent our reviewer, they raved about a top-of-the-line plate of well-seared scallops with a bacon vinaigrette — rich, rich, rich — and a dollop of lemony sauce, and had the same to say of risotto with smoked chicken, asparagus and wild mushrooms.
Sunbox
Today he was fired. Has the day changed? Has its light shifted? Is it darker? Is it lighter? Today she left him. Has time itself, the way it passes through his life, changed? Does he see his movements more clearly and slowly? Today he saw the future. Has sound, the glue that ties his senses…
3 Assassins
In service of the Motor City legacy, Ann Arborites Scott Morgan and Deniz Tek are clearly due medals of honor — the former for his pioneering ’60s work with the Rationals and subsequent team-up in the ’70s with Fred Smith in Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, the latter for helping take that legacy global as guitarist for…
Spider-Man 2
This is how to put a comic book on the screen. It’s smart when it’s supposed to be, dumb and fun when it’s supposed to be. The special effects are a thrill ride, the dialogue is snappy and the love story ain’t sappy. Director Sam Raimi is back along with Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man/Peter Parker,…
The Intended
This tale of madness, lust and grisly murder, set in the Malayan jungle in 1924, is so unremittingly grim that it threatens to become unintentionally comic. Directed and co-written by Kristian Levring, it’s evocatively shot, heroically acted and fatally sunk by a preposterous script. Starring Brenda Fricker, Tony Maudsley, Philip Jackson, David Bradley, Olympia Dukakis,…
The Notebook
Adapted from a novel by Nicholas Spark, this maudlin melodrama ineptly tries to revive old clichés that would be better served by playing them for laughs. Featuring James Garner and Gena Rowlands as seniors in an old folks’ home — with flashbacks of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as the same star-crossed lovers in the…
Two Brothers
Stunning cinematography in this story of tigers, separated as cubs, brought together as adults for what’s supposed to be a fight to the death. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud (Enemy at the Gates and Seven Years in Tibet) creates a whimsical fantasy world where history and imagination collide — but it’s heavy on the sentimental. With Aidan…
