Metro Times

Go ahead, shoot yourself: Detroit photographers, exposed!

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Travis R. Wright. Good painters, it's said, look inward, often relying on a private emotional response, some right-brain trigger, to inform their art. Skilled photographers, it could be argued, are their outward-looking, left-brained counterparts, artists who consider rationality, chemistry, mathematics and motor...

Bridge bog: The latest dust-up in the Ambassador Bridge saga

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by News Hits staff. Add "exit RAMPS" to the list of issues being litigated by the Detroit International Bridge Co. and its leader, Manuel "Matty" Moroun. The Warren-based company filed suit last week in the Michigan Court of Claims against the Michigan Department of Transportation, claiming the sta...

Letters to the Editor: Goose Lake memories, praise for Dr. Walker, and one very angry letter

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times readers. NOI annoyed� Re: "Motown gunslingers" (Nov. 18), I'm writing to express my disgust in relation to your remarks about the Nation of Islam's Fruit of Islam. For you to talk about Andrew Spivey as though his looking like a member of the Nation of Islam is equal to looking like some thug on t...

Target shift: Feds to focus on employers of illegal workers

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Sandra Svoboda. As an attorney advising southeast Michigan businesses, Aimee Guthat has worked with hundreds of companies that hire foreign workers in industries ranging from agriculture to information technology. This year, with a new U.S. president has also come a new way of ensuring a legal work force at those...

Raking the bottom: Neighborhood problems, the health care debate and more

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Larry Gabriel. Everybody has some sort of screen for calculating just how bad things have gotten around here. When I started hearing about people breaking into houses and stealing food, I knew the desperation level had ramped up. I got more peeks at the carnage the past couple of weeks. First, I heard about a grou...

Terminal death!: The Twins investigate the love that dare not speak its fang

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by D'Anne and Laura Witkowski. Up until this point, the Wonder Twins have avoided the Twilight craze. Sure, they see the plethora of Twilight propaganda in every store and hear friends and co-workers talk about the books as if they've just joined the cult of the "Born Again Bloodsuckers." But it wasn't until the soundtr...

Detroit's sad Gypsies: Knowing that Detroit's financial tsunami is coming is half the battle

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jack Lessenberry. When you ask Joseph L. Harris what he thinks about Detroit these days, he likes to talk about the Sea Gypsies of Southeast Asia. No, Harris is neither on acid nor a surrealist poet. In fact, he may know more about Detroit city finances than anyone alive. A CPA by training, he was auditor general fr...

Time out: Proof of pure life in the city

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Travis R. Wright. The evening anchors on Detroit's ABC affiliate Channel 7 (WXYX-TV) recently interviewed Time Magazine writer Steven Gray, one of at least a handful of staff reporters imbedded in the city for the next several months for Time's "Assignment Detroit" project. Gray and his colleagues are posti...

Food Stuff: Organic gifts, santa breakfasts, a new deli counter and more

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times food staff. Box set — Door to Door Organics of Michigan, a company that delivers fresh, organic fruits, vegetables and groceries to customers' doorsteps, is offering special holiday gift boxes until Dec. 24. The four gift packages are $29.99 each, with free shipping anywhere in the Door to Door Organics'...

Boob tube androgen: TNTs new boomer-dude fest disarms but Jesse Ventura appalls

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jim McFarlin. I cannot tell you the last time I was more geeked to preview a new television series than Men of a Certain Age, TNT's latest original effort premiering at 10 p.m. Monday. This heavily hyped hour unites three of the more sublime performers from our TV happy days: Ray Romano, who's spent most of his f...

Download Detroit: Guilt free X-Mas gifts from some Motor City songsmiths. Good luck wrapping them!

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Travis R. Wright. Alan Scheurman� Old Patterns� myspace.com/alanpatrick Dismantling the fabric of psych-folk and reassembling it like some mystical quilt, singer-songwriter Alan Scheurman — assisted by His Name is Alive soundscaper Warren Defever — turned in one of 2009's more complex and (dare we...

Cheat Code: The new Mario Bros. and Grand Theft Auto

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times game reviewers. New Super Mario Bros. Wii Nintendo Wii Mario can do almost anything. From reffing boxing matches to racing go-karts, he's truly a Renaissance man. But there's one thing that he and his lesser-heralded bro Luigi don't do anymore, and that's run from the screen's left side to its right in a 2-D adv...

Hello, we must be going: Detroit's unheralded — but dynamic — the Recital calls it a day

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Kent Alexander. His band may be preparing a breakup and its final show — but Adam Kempa doesn't sound all that hung-up about it. In fact, he sounds quite upbeat, managing to stuff in more than a few sprightly chuckles during a recent conversation. His cheerful demeanor probably reflects that, while the Recita...

Croakin' around the Christmas tree ...: MT's annual guide to the newest Christmas tunes

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Bill Holdship. When it comes to 2009's crop of holiday music, Bob Dylan's Christmas in the Heart (Columbia) is obviously the biggest — and some would say weirdest — news. The album has already generated more mixed reviews and controversy than probably any such album in history. How much you enjoy it or...

Faulty motives: Why do you want to drop the dime on that cheater, anyway?

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Dan Savage. Q: I'm a longtime reader who thought I'd never have a reason to write since I'm universally known as the "good girl," but I'm not sure who else I can turn to. I have a close male friend. Even though I knew he was dating someone else, we became friends-with-benefits several years ago. Becau...

The cooking life: Picano's Elvira Saragosa talks of food, family and love

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jeff Broder. Metro Times: When did you start cooking?� Elvira Saragosa: I cook all my life. My mother taught me to make pasta when I was 5 or 6 years old. I went to school only three classes. That's it. No more. I was born in Detroit in 1923. They took me back to Italy when I was 6 months old. Stayed back till...

Soft-core stocking sillies: Recommended DVDs the precise lingo of '70s tease

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Paul Knoll. Screwballs� Severin Films B-cinema's king, Roger Corman, commissioned the Screwballs script and put up half the money for the flick's production. So dig it: The, uh, plot, is about a group of horny '50s high school boys determined to see the perky boobs of the cock-teasing Taft & Adams homecom...

Comics

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

The Boiling Point - by Mikhaela Reid ...

Night and Day

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Megan O'Neil. THURSDAY-SATURDAY DECEMBER 3-5 Arab Film Festival CINEMA PROVOCATEUR The fifth annual Arab Film Festival features a broad range of compelling and provocative films, from Fatenah, an animated short about women in Palestine, to the feature-length documentary Garbage Dreams, which chronicles the &qu...

Cheat code: The gift that keeps on giving carpal tunnel

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times game reviewers. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Infinity Ward Xbox 360, PS3, PC There once was a time when you knew who your enemy was. The good guys wore white; the bad guys wore black and usually sported sweet handlebar mustaches.� In wartime, telling who fought for what army was as easy as uniform color. Al...

Viva la revolution!: Comrade Aaron-Carl introduces a new D-town dance manifesto

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Walter Wasacz. When you're sick and tired of being sick and tired — that is, when folks in high places don't want you and me to enjoy ourselves — well, shit, Detroit dance music people, it's time to get off your asses and start thinking about a little revolution! That's exactly what Aaron-Carl did. Bu...

2009 Metro Times Gift Guide: We got your back with great gift ideas that are fun, local and often over-the-top

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times staff. Greetings, faithful readers, and welcome to our consumerist manual to International Western Commerce Season! ... Er, better, our guide of handpicked holiday giftables for those folks you love and those you pretend to love (and if you yourself are among the latter, please watch for our upcoming self-...

Tribulations, and maybe a trial: Prosecutors still mulling whether to target prisoner freed by Innocence Clinic

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by News Hits staff. The Detroit man freed from prison earlier this month after a judge threw out his 2001 murder conviction, Dwayne Provience, got a little more freedom this week. But a new trial remains possible, the prosecutor maintains. And the drama surrounding his case isn't over.� For example, attorneys say the...

New trials and their tribulations: Diane Bukowski gets a new hearing

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by News Hits staff. In the course of doing her job — reporting and photographing the scene of a fatal accident involving Michigan state police a year ago — Diane Bukowski got arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced earlier this year. A jury found her guilty of resisting arrest and obstructing a police offi...

Motor City Rides: The story behind Ty Stone's bitchin' Camaro

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Doug Coombe. Ty Stone has been a Detroit star-in-waiting for nearly three years. With Kid Rock's help, Stone landed a contract with Atlantic Records. Since then he's recorded enough songs to put out a box set, and he supported Kid Rock on his arena Rock N Roll Jesus tour. As you read this, someone at Atlantic is...

Time for Thanksgiving: Believe it or not, we have some things to be grateful for

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Jack Lessenberry. This has been a painful, bruising year for our entire state. Unemployment has soared past what the leading economists predicted. The state has slashed spending for schools, scholarships and cities. And when it comes to tough times, we ain't seen nothing yet.� Hundreds of thousands of workers lost j...

Pickup lines: Will curbside recycling work in Detroit?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Curt Guyette. When it comes to curbside recycling in Detroit, city officials and activists looking to boost participation in a pilot program are hoping children can help lead the way to a greener future. It's help that is definitely needed. In place since July 1, Detroit's pilot program offers curbside recyclin...

Letters to the Editor: Ranting about retailers, and much more

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Metro Times readers. Open letter to retailers You want me back? Stop charging high interest rates. I'm tired of being charged 18 percent interest even though I always pay my bill on time. I also don't understand why you raised my interest rate even though I pay my bill on time and always pay more than the minimum payme...

It's in the 313, baby: Do yourself (and all of us) a favor this season and skip online and mall shopping in favor of the local indie

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Megan O'Neil. It's been a belt-tightening kind of year, but, despite the economic turmoil, the indie biz in metro Detroit is still kicking. New stores are opening — many within the supposed retail desert of Detroit itself — and old ones are hanging on with white-knuckled determination. And organizatio...

Rockin' reads: MT's annual guide to the year's grooviest rock literature

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Bill Holdship. Full disclosure: Two of the books I'm enthusiastically endorsing this year — Harvey Kubernik's Canyon of Dreams: The Magic & Music of Laurel Canyon (Sterling, $29.95) and Robert Hilburn's Cornflakes With John Lennon & Other Tales from a Rock 'N' Roll Life (Rodale, $24.99) — were...