Wright home
Great article on Detroit structures (“Still standing,” Metro Times, Nov. 30). For your information, the Dorothy Turkel House (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1956) is currently being foreclosed on and has not been well maintained. If you know of anyone who may be interested in acquiring the property, please pass our information on to them. We listed the property two days ago & saw your article yesterday. What great timing. —Darian Moore, Keller Williams Realty, Plymouth, [email protected]
Tribute, not parody
Ric Bohy: In your column (“Day of the dead,” Metro Times, Nov. 30), you referred to Shaun of the Dead as a “zombie-movie parody.” Despite its humor, the film is actually more of an homage to classic zombie movies, especially those of George Romero’s Dead trilogy. The film’s humor comes from poking fun at how humans (specifically, the British variety) might react to an invasion of the living dead — which are every bit as grim and deadly as those of Romero’s films — not from parodying zombies or the zombie genre. Therein lies Shaun’s genius: by mocking the humans and not the monsters (as John Landis did so brilliantly in An American Werewolf in London), the film succeeds as both a comedy and a horror film. —J. McCrackan, Evanston, Ill.
Horse laughs
Re: “Story time for adults” (Metro Times, Nov. 23), it was a delight to be reminded of the old Frank Crumit recording of my youth (in the ’30s) titled “And the Pig Got Up and Slowly Walked Away.” As I recall, the chorus went: “Yes the pig got up and slowly walked away, slowly walked away, slowly walked away. Yes the pig got up and he turned and winked at me, as he slowly walked away.” There was another verse that went something like, “I remember one October, when I was about two-thirds sober, and I was crawling home at break of day, when I encountered an old cab horse on the corner of Broadway. I said: ‘It’s these all-night homeward marches, that gave us both our fallen arches,’ and the old horse laughed and slowly walked away, yes the old horse laughed and slowly walked away, slowly walked away, Yes the old horse laughed and turned and winked at me, as he slowly walked away.” Fun to recall. —Harold E. Evans, Saginaw
A tad ironic?
Re: “TV queens or farmbot squall?” (Metro Times, Dec. 7), Metro Times is finally getting to be a decent publication. It is about time you got off your high horse and started recognizing America’s real talents, like Carrie Underwood. (“Jesus Take the Wheel” is a brilliant song, by the way). It is about time you realized that America is not interested in independent music or movies or independent anything. It is corporate innovation and our drive to make more and more money that has made this nation great — a true Bush world! Now, if you just got rid of Lessenberry (who cares about politics, anyway?) and put in something more useful, like a report on sports or what is on the TV, I would be thrilled. And a crossword puzzle? Naw, maybe a word search would be better. Whatever you do, now that you are praising Carrie Underwood, maybe you will stop trying to make me think all the time. —Chris Schneider, Hamtramck
Dueling letters
I was reading your letters section (Letters to the editor, Metro Times, Dec. 7) and came across a letter entitled “Alternate Realities” by one David Mackey from Livonia and I had a good laugh at Mr. Mackey’s expense, due to the massive ignorance he displayed in his letter. If they were giving awards for being misinformed, Mr. Mackey would be a shoo-in. He started out with, “You liberals ... believe any wacky story.” I’ll bet Mr. Mackey is one of these right-wingers who like to tell us that Bill and Hillary Clinton had Vince Foster killed, or made the plane Ron Brown was on crash in the mountains. As for his take on Joe Wilson, Mr. Mackey, I bet you heard that crap from Rush Limbaugh. If Valerie Plame wasn’t undercover, what is Lewis Libby being indicated for? Telling Judy Miller that Bruce Wayne is Batman? I don’t think so, Mr. Mackey. As for the troops voting for Bush 70 percent, it was 59 percent to 41 percent. Yes, it’s still large but hardly 70 percent. I wonder what it would be if those soldiers could vote now? And since Mr. Mackey likes to toss around percentage numbers, I got one for him: If the rest of the country feels the way he does, why does his guy have the red-hot approval rating of 32 percent as of Dec. 7? —John Conner, Detroit
Kudos for arts coverage
As both a visual artist and musician/DJ, I’d like to commend your recent increased coverage on the visual arts. Historically, weekly publications relegate all the choice space to the sonic arts, as music often appears, at first glance, more marketable and accessible as an entertainment crossover.
With museum programs locally and nationally featuring Detroit electronic artists coupled with concurrent visual art exhibitions — for example Cranbrook Art Museum’s Fourth Fridays and The Guggenheim’s First Fridays presented by Flavorpill — I think you guys are hitting the proverbial nail on the head.
It is wonderful to see a younger set enjoying the culture that such institutions are providing in a “fun” way. Thanks for spreading the word in the right direction and priming potential museum and gallery goers with some artistic ammo. —Bethany Shorb, Detroit
Kudos for arts coverage
I read your article comparing Cyndi Lauper and Madonna (“Re-bop” Metro Times, Nov. 30) and a response by a reader regarding that piece (Letters to the editor, Metro Times, Dec. 7).
To the reader: I see the high school antics you refer to, however, the comparison of Madonna and Cyndi Lauper has merit, although not in the way the writer puts it. During the ’80s, these two women set the style for the entire decade like no other female pop performer had done. One was either a Madonna fan or a Cyndi fan. And if you didn’t like either of them, your taste in clothes or style would fall under one of them. Both had dreams when entering the music business and, 20-plus years later, both have achieved their dreams. If you look at today’s crop of female performers, you can clearly see the Madonnas and the Cyndis — look at their style, their persona and at some point how they craft their music when the years pass on.
For the writer: I understand what you were getting at, but the way you wrote the article made it seem very juvenile. The problem with comparing these two at the same time is that the critic writing about them is a fan of one and not the other. This is what clouds the review: the judgment passed onto them. —Andy Gutierrez, San Francisco, Calif