AltWeeklies Wire
Darkred is Determined to Bring Shoegazer Psych Into the Modern Agenew
Decked in a dark blue tailored two-piece suit and sporting a bush of an Afro — he could've stepped straight out of Super Fly — the tall, svelte Rob Smith tugs anxiously at his goatee and talks of the events leading up to this night.
Metro Times |
Kent Alexander |
03-30-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Meet Detroit's New Breed of Chef: They're Tattooed and Hang Like Rockstarsnew

The 26-year-old Dan Maurer is, um, quite a character. When he's excited, he weaves together sentences densely laced with so much swaggering profanity it sounds like a monologue from Ricky of the Trailer Park Boys.
Metro Times |
Michael Jackman |
03-23-2010 |
Food+Drink
Nearly 30 Detroit Ex-Pat Artists Living in NYC Tell Us to Stay Putnew
For any cognizant creative whose finger is on the pulse of this ailing city, the news of one relocating to New York is a cliché. And other places too. Want to move to L.A.? Good luck.
Metro Times |
Travis R. Wright |
03-23-2010 |
Art
Tim Burton-Johnny Depp Combo Comes in Colors and Whimsy, but Lacks Tensionnew

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is everything you hoped it would be. Plants with human faces, checkerboard landscapes, forced perspective, day-glo colors and macabre pranks abound in his recasting of Lewis Carroll's classic as a warped tale of Victorian-age feminist empowerment.
Metro Times |
Jeff Meyers |
03-16-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton
Get the Buzz: Why Bees are a Sweet Addition to City Lifenew
When I was a kid, my mother used to make a big jar of honey and fresh-squeezed lemon juice every winter. The thick, bittersweet concoction was our cough medicine, and we would gladly line up for a spoon of that rather than cod liver oil or castor oil — both of which were also freely passed out among us.
Metro Times |
Larry Gabriel |
03-16-2010 |
Environment
Fish Fry: Worst-Case Scenarios for Carp in the Great Lakesnew

Scientists, lawyers and the hosting politician had the to-be-expected persuasive presentations at a forum about what it would mean for Lake St. Clair and the Great Lakes if Asian carp breach barriers to rivers and canals in Indiana and Illinois and enter Lake Michigan.
Metro Times |
News Hits staff |
03-02-2010 |
Environment
Bombs, Burns and Coloring Books: Decoding Graffiti with Kobie Solomonnew
Before getting into the charred thickets of east Detroit, you'll pass the old train yard. In certain areas you'll see stray dogs, vagabonds, curious shutterbugs, countless pounds of broken glass and gnarly graffiti art. It's been that way for decades.
Metro Times |
Travis R. Wright |
02-23-2010 |
Art
A Detroit Neighborhood Fights for its Life, and an Ex-Cop Leads the Waynew

Earlier that day, James "Jack Rabbit" Jackson — a retired cop — parked his car in front of a dealer's house and pointed a video camera at him in a blatant effort to disrupt his business. It drove the guy away. Now he was coming back for Jackson and Jackson was waiting for him.
Metro Times |
Detroitblogger John |
02-23-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Cable TV vs. America: The Problem With Paid-For Punditsnew

When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933, the United States economy was in a state of near-collapse, with the nation's banks about to close. The new president came into office having pledged to balance the budget and reduce federal spending, but quickly realized that would have meant disaster.
Metro Times |
Jack Lessenberry |
01-27-2010 |
Commentary
What's Next for a Congressman Who Rode in on Obama’s Coattails?new

People did vie to shake his hand and share his lunch table, but having U.S. Rep. Gary Peters at a homeless shelter last week for a meeting of community group leaders wasn't exactly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people there.
Metro Times |
Sandra Svoboda |
01-19-2010 |
Commentary
Ten Years After: Looking Back to the Lessons of the Double-0snew
At the end of another decade we asked a cross-section of locals — as in, once you're tied to this area, you're always tied to this area — about their experience of the last decade. What mattered? What did we learn? What gives hope for the future? What follows is a sampling of the responses.
Metro Times |
Metro Times Readers |
01-12-2010 |
Commentary
From the Hood to Higher Learning, Teen Poet Myriha Burton Steps Outnew
Only two months after penning "Flashback," Myriha Burton's first poem, the young writer found herself on stage at the eminent Apollo Theater in Harlem, reciting it once more. That wasn't even two years ago. She's since traded in her kicks for pens and local tracks for the stages across the country.
Metro Times |
Travis R. Wright |
01-05-2010 |
Performance
Amid the Detroit Schools Chaos, Who Helps Parents?new

Through her comments on Fox News and elsewhere, Sharlonda Buckman is stirring controversy. And the Detroit Parent Network is poised as an increasingly important player in the turf battles over education in Detroit. With increased importance is likely to come increased scrutiny.
Metro Times |
Sandra Svoboda |
12-29-2009 |
Education
Not so Pretty in Pinknew
Has feminism been replaced by the pink-ribbon breast cancer cult? When the House of Representatives passed the Stupak amendment, which would take abortion rights away even from women who have private insurance, the female response ranged from muted to inaudible.
Metro Times |
Barbara Ehrenreich |
12-15-2009 |
The War on Women
She Comes in Colors: Niagara's Tale is Pure Detroitnew

Niagara — the same woman who did time with the late Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton in the universally cultish bands Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival — whose drug-fueled, gun-toting, sexually vivid pop art is known the world over.
Metro Times |
Brent Callwood |
12-15-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews