Metro Times

Comics

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

The Boiling Point - by Mikhaela Reid ...

Jeffrey Morgan's Media Blackout: Dinner with Jimi and a platter with the Nuge

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jeffrey Morgan. Imagine Jeffrey Morgan's Media Blackout #222 and you, I do! SIZZLING ROCKUMENTARY OF THE WEEK: Bill Fishman — My Dinner With Jimi (Rhino Films) :: I'd say that this was the greatest rock 'n' roll movie ever made — except for the small fact that my name happens to be on the back cover of every cop...

Take 2 nurses and ...: TV nurses snorting Percocet, shtupping co-workers and railing against lunacy; plus, Fox's new season

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jim McFarlin. I recently completed an extended work assignment for a college of nursing and got to know many nurses in professional and casual situations. TV has taken a few years to catch up to the notion that nursing's a booming and valuable profession worthy of dramatization, but clearly its time is here.� Th...

Hello, it's Todd: The producer and rock star talks his Wizard, the New York Dolls and evils of Microsoft

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Bill Holdship. We came up our own theme for Cityfest this year — namely, second acts or second chances. F. Scott Fitzgerald once said there are no second acts in American lives ... but Fitzgerald was a bad drunk and never met Kwame Kilpatrick. So what the hell did he know? Actually, the theme came up due to a...

Food Stuff: Full plates for local foodies

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times food staff. Hip bacon — Just in time to rescue bacon from hipster fatigue, Zingerman's co-owner Ari Weinzweig has written Zingerman's Guide to Better Bacon, a deep history of the subject. Want to find out if it sizzles? Weinzweig will celebrate the book's release with a tasting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 1...

Thrilled to death: Local poet looks hard at the king of pop

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Blair. First you learned to crawl, then you learned to walk, and after that you probably spent eons attempting to moonwalk. For many of us X-geners, that's just how it went. But Michael Jackson's friction-defying signature move was as elusive as he was, and lord knows he was as mystifying as he was iconic....

Tickled: A fun new way to follow federal law enforcement news? We're so there.

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by News Hits staff. For the last several months, we've been following federal law enforcement news on a new website, ticklethewire.com. It's the post-newspaper-career project of veteran journalist Allan Lengel, a former Detroit News and Washington Post staff reporter.� The site is named after the term describing how i...

Bridge battles: Span company and state transportation department in legal wrangle

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by News Hits staff. As the stretch of Interstate 75 closed by the Gateway Project is set to reopen this week, improving access to the Ambassador Bridge, legal squabbling over the project continues. Last week, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court against the Det...

Questionable conviction: He's spent half his life in jail; now the evidence suggests he was innocent

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by News Hits staff. After spending nearly half his life in prison for the rape of a 9-year-old Detroit girl, a 54-year-old Michigan inmate is asking a Wayne County judge to release him because new lab tests purportedly show he could not have been the attacker. Last week, attorneys for Karl Vinson filed a motion in Way...

Creative fellows: Kresge grants give a boost to artists and the Detroit art community

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Travis R. Wright. The numbers are staggering. In 2007, the state of Michigan went deep into the bank, pulling out $10.1 million for arts and culture funding, but in April of that year, Gov. Jennifer Granholm put a moratorium on grants, which, with the help of groups such as ArtServe, was lifted that June. Not without...

Letters to the Editor: More thoughts from our readers ... this time about Mitch Albom

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times readers. Ditch Mitch In a recent online column, Jason Whitlock wrote that "no one writes unintentional fiction as profitably or award-winningly as Albom." The truth is that he hasn't written a piece of relevant journalism in years, and Lessenberry isn't the first to call him out on it ("Time...

3 national awards for MT: Our humble rag wins national kudos

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times editorial staff. Metro Times picked up three awards for 2008 work at last week's convention of the 130-member Association of Alternative Newsweeklies in Tucson, Ariz. MT competes in the class for large weeklies with a circulation 50,000 and up. The team of design director Sean Bieri, news editor Cut Guyette and ed...

Motor City Rides: 'Hayley Jane' Nickerson's 1994 Dodge Intrepid, nicknamed 'Tabitha'

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Doug Coombe. Petite and charming 18-year-old dynamo and Pennsylvania Amish country transplant Kate "Hayley Jane" Nickerson doesn't seem at all like she's from Detroit. Yet she definitely belongs here. Not many other cities can let you delve into so many forms of expression on a shoestring budget. The...

The ghost in the mirror: Motown in the shadow of Michael Jackson

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Larry Gabriel. You know death don't have no mercy in this land. — The Rev. Gary Davis� Singer Michael Jackson, 50, is gone. The suddenness of his passing was shocking. Not that anyone entertained the fantasy that Jackson could defy death. Just as the old blind bluesman Davis sang, you know that someday deat...

'Beat It': Robots, beat boxes ... and amazing kilt-wearing tuba players!

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by D'Anne and Laura Witkowski. D'Anne: Well, we went to the MOCAD's "Midsummer Nights in Motown" show, but obviously we're now going to have to turn this column into a Michael Jackson tribute. Laura: I don't think people are looking to us to pay tribute to the King of Pop. Let them grieve the old-fashioned way, by digg...

Sloppy seconds: This year's Cityfest features a day of "second chances."

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times music staff. Bootsey X� 15 Favorite Second Rock Releases: 1) Fun House — The Stooges 2) White Light/White Heat — The Velvet Underground 3) The Slider — T. Rex 4) A Quick One (Happy Jack) — The Who 5) 12 X 5 — The Rolling Stones 6) I Know You Fine But How You Doin...

Cheat Code: Weapons of Fate will have you off and killing in no time

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Bryant Franks. Wanted: Weapons of Fate Universal Gaming Xbox 360 Ps3 Wesley Gibson is the living embodiment of the revenge fantasy. His life's rife with everything you'd hope that your life ain't. Dead-end job? Check. Girlfriend cheating with your best friend? Check. No future?� ... Look, you get the point; Wes...

Couch Trip: A bizarrely queer love triangle, and a horror flick so bad it's scary

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times film writers. Le Jupon Rouge� Strand� A bizarre love triangle with niche interest, Genevieve Lefebvre's Le Jupon Rouge centers on the crippling jealousy suffered by an aged linguist and Holocaust survivor (Alida Valli) when her secretary (Marie-Christina Barrault) falls in love with her young protégé (Guillemet...

Time for real change: Why Detroiters should elect council members by district

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jack Lessenberry. There's a great temptation to say that, hey, the system works after all! Monica Conyers has pleaded guilty and is presumably on her way to the slam. Kwame Kilpatrick was found out, thrown out, convicted, jailed and run out of town. What more proof do you need? But if you think that, you are wrong.�...

Ghost song: One man's written journey into his family history reveals mental institutions, Holocaust survivors, post-World War II Detroit life and a long-lost aunt

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Sandra Svoboda. He pursued the story as a son, curious about why his mother hid the existence of her sister, and as a journalist, navigating bureaucracies, locating records and interviewing people who might explain both the social and cultural forces at work on his mother and what his aunt's life was like locked aw...

Night and Day

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Megan O'Neil. WEDNESDAY JULY 1 Tour de Troit Pre-Registration Kickoff HEY, LANCE ARMSTRONG! The annual Tour de Troit lets Motor City cyclists take over streets for a two-wheeled tour of historical sites and notable city scenery. This year's event — on Sept. 19 – is expected to attract 2,000 bikers...

Backlot: Gangster film now shooting ... set in a Detroit pawn shop

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jeff Meyers. Pawn Shop Who stars: Garrett Morris (original SNL alum), Joe Torry (Poetic Justice), local radio (WJLB) jock�Robert "MC Foolish" Spearman Jr. and Flavor of Love 2 winner London "Deelishis" Charles. What is it: A $525K, homegrown attempt to emulate the success of Barbershop set...

Tie me down!: Should I bring my ex in on a threesome to teach my man how to dom?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Dan Savage. Q: I'm a 25-year-old straight female. I've been dating my boyfriend for only a few months, but we fell in love fast. He is a caring person, and I want to make this last. However, he doesn't turn me on. It has nothing to do with looks — he's gorgeous — but rather with the fact that I am s...

Tasting sustainability: It's easy eating green at Rochester's Mind Body & Spirits

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jeff Broder. Under the guidance of owner Mike Plesz, the folks at Mind Body & Spirits strive to reduce their collective carbon footprint with the use of sustainable practices, whether for procuring food or for restoring their 1890 building. From solar panels on the roof to gathering rainwater to irrigate the...

All mixed up: Pulling together the ultimate Gories mixtape

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Chris Handyside. The Gories were as much a gateway drug for would-be amateurs willing to strap on, sit-down or let rip as they were for music-hungry heads looking for fresh veins of inspiration. To that end, the Gories jams that connect with said crowd are purely subjective. But, dammit (!), if push came to shove an...

Jeffrey Morgan's Media Blackout: Mourning Brian Nelson

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jeffrey Morgan. Unfortunately, Jeffrey Morgan's Media Blackout #221 has the last laugh. Brian "Renfield" Nelson — The King of All VCRs (RIP) :: He may have handed out business cards which read "World's Biggest Alice Cooper Fan" and he may have parlayed that claim into a 29-year career as...

Comics

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

The Boiling Point - by Mikhaela Reid ...

Comics

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

The Boiling Point - by Mikhaela Reid ...

Dirty dispute: Bridge company angered by a wall of dirt

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

by News Hits staff. The proverbial mudslinging got literal this week in disputes involving the Ambassador Bridge Gateway Project and proposed second spans there and further downriver in southwest Detroit. Speaking for the bridge owner, the Detroit International Bridge Company's president, Dan Stamper, accused the Mic...

No direction known: Recycling? Incineration? Detroit still hasn't decided.

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Curt Guyette. One year ago, it looked as if the question of what to do with Detroit's garbage had been settled. A coalition of environmental and health groups had apparently succeeded in convincing the city's leaders to stop burning trash at a municipal incinerator that produces steam and electricity; instead the...