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Feedback NEWS & VIEWS
We received quite a few comments on Instagram in response to Bill Shea’s editorial, “With Trump’s impending inauguration, the cold dread of Nosferatu nears” (published online Jan. 3, 2025).
Shea contends that it’s easier to respect a beastly fictional vampire than it is a fascist demagogue because at least the vampire lives the courage of his evil convictions.
“Nothing like objective journalism,” wrote Toledo-based photographer Joe Meier.
“There is nothing objective about what I have to say about Trump,” Shea responded. “Sanewashing his open fascism, racism, and abject ignorance, and moral and intellectual bankruptcy is an obscenity.”
“You are part of the problem,” Meier replied. “You’re widening the divide in this country and you’re no better than he is.”
“Would be interesting for the author to write a piece detailing how [Kamala] Harris would have solved all the legislative issues from the executive branch in a 3 branch democracy,” wrote TMODonnell.
“She’s not the incoming president, my guy,” Shea replied. “[Elon] Musk and Trump are, promising an oligarchy run in lazy Huey Long style.”
“I’m going to wager your background isn’t in successfully publishing peer reviewed data backed articles,” ODonnell responded.
“My background is 30+ years of mainstream journalism, including at the NY Times, and 13 years in financial/economic journalism,” said Shea. “I’ve interviewed Trump, and he’s one of the most one-dimensional humans I’ve ever encountered.”
Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com
NEWS & VIEWS
Families of wrongfully convicted left without hope as Duggan dodges responsibility
Mayor Mike Duggan continues to distance himself from allegations that his office oversaw the destruction of critical prosecutorial files during his tenure as Wayne County prosecutor, despite mounting evidence and growing calls for accountability.
The controversy stems from accusations that Duggan, who served as prosecutor from 2001 to 2004, presided over the purge of records now deemed essential by families of incarcerated individuals seeking to prove their innocence. Those families are calling for a meeting with Duggan to address the issue, which has left many without the means to obtain documentation crucial to their cases.
Mark Craighead, who was exonerated after spending years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, has been one of the most vocal advocates for transparency. Craighead expressed frustration with Duggan’s recent denials.
“For the mayor to act like this didn’t happen under his watch is not only disappointing but disrespectful to the people still fighting for justice,” he said. “I’m calling on Duggan to meet with us, the families, and the people impacted by this. We deserve answers.”
Duggan’s spokesman, John Roach, has fueled the controversy by offering
misleading statements to The Detroit News. Roach claimed that the state’s current records retention law did not exist at the time of the purge. While that’s true, it’s disingenuous because two other state laws required the retention of records.
It’s uncertain why The Detroit News didn’t attempt to verify that information before parroting a bureaucrat eager to defend his boss.
“Mayor Duggan never heard any suggestion from any prosecutor at the time, nor in the 20 years since, that the career prosecutor team handling that project ever violated the Michigan Records Retention Act or any other law,” Roach told The Detroit News. “Apparently a recent media report claimed the prosecutors violated a state records retention schedule of 50 years. In fact, the 50 year retention requirement was not first enacted into state law until 2007, well after the event.”
However, this assertion is demonstrably false or reflects a misunderstanding of the law. Multiple statutes predating 2007 required the preservation of prosecutorial records. Legal experts and records management specialists point to at least two state laws that mandated the retention of files for extended periods, regardless
of the conditions under which the purge occurred.
Nevertheless, Roach admitted some records were destroyed, saying that severe roof damage at a county-managed warehouse housing the files forced a quick decision.
According to Roach, “A team of career prosecutors who were most familiar with the files and with Michigan’s Records Retention Act developed a triage process, keeping those files that were needed or were legally required to be kept and disposing of the others. They did this as the County simultaneously attempted to set up alternative warehouse space before a catastrophic loss of files occurred.”
Critics argue this explanation is insufficient.
“The law is clear on records retention,” a former Wayne County prosecutor familiar with the policies in place at the time tells Metro Times. “Even in the event of water damage or a move, there are protocols to protect those records. What happened here was not lawful, and it’s appalling to see officials attempt to rewrite history.”
Duggan’s explanation also falls short. Every record prior to 1995 was destroyed, creating a staggering obstacle for wrongfully convicted inmates seek-
ing to prove their innocence.
Compounding the issue is Attorney General Dana Nessel’s reluctance to investigate. Despite evidence that the destruction of records violated state law, Nessel, a Democrat, has taken no action, leaving families and advocates in limbo.
“This lack of accountability from top to bottom is unacceptable,” Craighead said. “If the attorney general won’t act, where does that leave us?”
The growing calls for a meeting with Duggan reflect the frustration of families who feel abandoned by the legal system.
“These are more than just files,” said Craighead. “They represent lives, families, and futures. Duggan needs to own up to what happened and work with us to fix it.”
While Duggan’s office continues to deny wrongdoing, the evidence paints a different picture — one of a calculated effort to deflect blame and minimize the fallout. For the families still searching for justice, this is far from over.
Meanwhile, Duggan is running for governor as an independent, and the record purge could become a liability. Neither Duggan nor Roach would comment for this story.
—Steve Neavling
Mayor Mike Duggan is accused of destroying critical files when he was Wayne County prosecutor.
CITY OF DETROIT
Surprising free-agent acquisition Gleyber Torres drastically reconfigures Tigers infield
A large part of the fun of being a baseball fan is speculating about the future of our favorite team. Many of us believe that we could ultimately mastermind success for our “local nine” like we attempt to do with our fantasy baseball teams.
During the offseason, many of us like to consider the possibilities of what our favorite ballclub’s respective baseball operations and ownership will do to help improve the team in the coming season (even though we know little about the team’s internal planning or proprietary analytics).
With the Tigers coming off their surprise ’24 playoff appearance and an inspired end-of-season performance, expectations are now a bit higher for 2025 than they have been for nearly a decade.
So far this offseason, Tigers fans have had very little to be excited about because the only addition that the team had made was a solid, veteran midrotation starting pitcher in Alex Cobb. Many fans were likely beginning to wonder if Cobb might be the only play-
er budgeted for acquisition this winter. Recently there’s been an increasing buzz about some remaining options that the Tigers might still pursue.
None that I had heard mentioned any speculation about their eventual signing of free-agent second baseman Gleyber Torres. This has all been a bit of a surprise.
Torres was once one of baseball’s most highly touted prospects (in 2018 he was Baseball America’s sixthranked prospect in their Top 100).
After the Yankees acquired him from the Cubs in exchange for stalwart relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman, Torres finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2018. The following year he received MVP votes, when he hit 38 home runs.
Since 2019 Torres has been a steady, but less remarkable performer.
He’d also been somewhat of a polarizing presence for Yankees fans, as both a below-average fielder and a player prone to baserunning gaffes.
But for Tigers fans, Torres represents an immediate player upgrade
on both sides of the ball,” Harris told reporters last month. “We saw [Torres] tap into a little bit more of his offensive upside in the second half and in the postseason.”
According to Rogelio Castillo, of Motor City Metrics, there is some supporting data:
Gleyber Torres’s numbers at Comerica: 15-for-53 (.283/.377/.673) with 5 home runs.
“Outside of Camden Yards, that’s the most home runs he has hit on the road (tied with Toronto).”
To Torres’s credit, he’s also expressed a desire to try to push himself to meet some of those former expectations. His willingness to gamble on his own ability by taking an affordable, one-year deal to prove himself during the prime of his baseball career is a form of speculation of its own.
With Harris announcing that last year’s second baseman Colt Keith will now move to first base, there’s now even more to consider.
Generally, first basemen are expected to be even more productive offensively, especially by adding slugging to the lineup and helping to produce runs. Conventional wisdom indicates that pushing Keith to a lessdemanding defensive position should help his offense meet the increased demands.
It’s also implied that Keith’s season of valuable experience and considerable talent should organically help his offensive production improve.
and helps buttress their left-handed heavy batting lineup, balancing it out with a righty bat that can offer both professional at-bats and some muchneeded additional slugging.
Chris Brown, of the Motor City Metrics podcast, compares the Torres signing to the Tigers’ addition last year of Mark Canha:
“Different players with different profiles, but kind of the same idea as last year. Add a veteran righty bat to support the young lefties and provide [Spencer Torkelson] insurance.”
Unfortunately, Canha didn’t offer quite the same slugging and lineup protection that the Tigers hope they’ll get from Torres in ’25.
Torres is a former two-time All-Star who also brings the veteran experience of 200 postseason plate appearances.
For his part, team president Scott Harris believes the Tigers can help Torres unlock even more of his untapped potential, and he’s not above some hopeful speculation himself.
“We think there is more in there,
So after adding Torres at second base and shifting Keith over to first, the final bit of speculation (at least for the Tigers’ infield) is who will now play third base — and what becomes of former first overall draft pick Spencer Torkelson?
I believe that third base is now the primary remaining puzzle piece for Harris and Tigers baseball operations. There’s a lot to be determined there.
Adding an affordable, outside upgrade seems like something they have to be at least considering.
Harris also addressed Torkelson’s future in his Gleyber Torres press conference. Adding Torres (and shifting Keith) is a hedge for the possibility of Torkelson continuing to fall out of favor with the organization.
The Tigers have still left the door open for Tork to establish his future value for them by improving his performance. In that case, it’ll take the force of Torkelson’s will — and not future speculation — for his fortunes to ultimately change.
—Steve Butts
The Tigers are hoping former Yankees 2B Gleyber Torres will add some pop to their lineup in 2025.
SHUTTERSTOCK / KEETON GALE
Cinema Detroit brings Oscar-shortlisted Stories From Gaza to Planet Ant
Cinema Detroit, the beloved arthouse film organization renowned for its focus on independent and socially conscious films, is bringing a powerful cinematic experience to Planet Ant in Hamtramck with a focus on Palestinians living through the war in Gaza.
The one-night-only screening of From Ground Zero: Stories From Gaza, a collection of poignant short films by Palestinian filmmakers, will take place on Sunday, Jan. 12, with doors opening at 5 p.m. and the screening beginning at 5:30 p.m.
This collection, which serves as Palestine’s official submission for the 2025 Academy Awards and has already been shortlisted for the Oscars’ Best International Feature, offers an intimate look at life in Gaza. Comprising 22 short films by Palestinian filmmakers, each piece captures the complexities of life in the war-torn enclave through a mix of genres, including fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental cinema. Despite the dire conditions under which the films were created, From Ground Zero illuminates the resilience and creativity of Gaza’s artistic community. The collection is also the debut release from Watermelon Pictures, a Palestinian-owned production and
distribution company that champions creative resistance and cultural preservation.
“We are honored to support artists in Gaza in a very small way by bringing this project to metro Detroit,” Cinema Detroit co-founder and programmer Paula Guthat tells Metro Times. “The films are remarkable reflections of how art can thrive even in terrible times. Their existence is a testament to Gaza’s enduring spirit and creativity.”
Founded in 2013 by Paula and Tim Guthat, Cinema Detroit quickly became a cornerstone of the city’s cultural landscape, offering critically acclaimed independent, foreign, and socially conscious films. After closing its doors in June 2023 due to financial struggles and the shifting post-pandemic film industry, the theater has been hosting pop-up screenings, including outdoor events and collaborations with local organizations.
Tickets for From Ground Zero: Stories from Gaza are available at CinemaDetroit.org. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early to explore Planet Ant’s artistic space and enjoy this unique cinematic experience.
Planet Ant is located at 2320 Caniff St., Hamtramck.
—Steve Neavling
Poignant Palestinian films coming to Hamtramck Jan. 12. WATERMELON PICTURES
NEWS & VIEWS
With Trump’s impending inauguration, the cold dread of Nosferatu nears
By Bill Shea
A cold, pulse-less darkness spreads across the frozen landscape. Superstitious peasants shutter their hovels and pray to ward off frightening evil. Plague empties the city and fills the graveyard. The ancient sinister figure’s long, black shadow draws across the horizon as the fragile light finally fails. The chilly gloom is inescapable as the inevitable tragic fate descends and the pale winter sun is extinguished, bringing doom.
But enough about Trump’s dismal return.
Let’s talk about Robert Eggers’ cinematic horror blockbuster Nosferatu that opened on Christmas Day. Or fuck it, we’ll talk about Trump, too. After all, the archaic, rotting vampire is cut from the same poisonous dead wood as the movie’s Count Orlok.
I was eager to see Nosferatu as soon as I heard it was green-lit for production, and I got Dec. 30 tickets for the heated reclining seats at Emagine Royal Oak — the only way to fly. While I’m not a film geek and utterly unqualified to bring you an eloquent review steeped in Pauline Kael’s language of cinema, I can tell you the movie was:
• Frightening without cheap jump scares or overwrought body gore
• Hauntingly ethereal, visually captivating dread
• Loud as fuck
• Longish but well-paced
• Cat-friendly
I’m glad I saw it, and it was worth the money and the wait … but I have no urge to see it again. Once was enough. Perhaps that’s a function of me getting old and losing interest in death, terror, and being repeatedly frightened. My own horizon is coming into sharper relief, so I see little need to add to life’s actual horrors.
Nosferatu is a one-and-done. I wanted to see what Eggers did with the source material, which not only included German filmmaker F.W. Murnau’s original 1922 film (itself lifted from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel), but also the DNA of the 1979 Werner Herzog remake; the 2000 horrormystery-dark comedy Shadow of the Vampire that was a clever take on the ’22 film; and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 batshitgonzo classic Bram Stoker’s Dracula
He did well. I’ve not seen Eggers’ previous films but am familiar with his basic
style, where the cinematography and scenery establish his signature melancholy tone and feel of dread, this time in a fictional German town in 1838. Nosferatu is said to be his triumph, his dark magnum opus, when it comes to the visual and vibe aspects of filmmaking. No argument from me.
You can find innumerable professional and semi-pro Nosferatu reviews all over the internet, including an incredibly strange one from The New York Times that includes B-52s song references and the author’s stated urge to fuck the vampire. I did not leave the theater with any desire to come within a continent of Bill Skarsgård’s literally rotting vampire, much less fornicate with it. Much has been said about the moral terror and the lust that repel and attract the vampire and the film’s c0-star, Lily-Rose Depp. That aspect felt slightly underdeveloped to me, despite the film’s 132-minute running time. But overall, Nosferatu is an accomplishment in an age of lazy AI horror dreck churned out by the studios and streamers. Still, I did not wanna copulate with the count.
Leaving the theater, my strange mind couldn’t help but make a connection between the film’s early 19th-century Germany and early 20th-century Weimar Republic. The imaginary Wisborg is a bustling seaport in the years where Germany was rebuilding after the Napoleonic Wars, and its own sense of nationalism and shared destiny began to coalesce among the various principalities, duchies, and kingdoms, allowing for a thriving intellectual, artistic, and cultural scene, but planting the seeds of a future apocalypse.
Weimar, on the other hand, lasted less than 15 years before that apocalypse consumed it via an evil more sinister than any vampire.
It’s almost trite by now to compare American democracy’s collapse into Trumpian neo-fascist oligarchy to the Weimar Republic that was extinguished by Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933.
There are troubling parallels, to be sure, particularly our ruling class industrialists and Silicon Valley billionaires financing Trump’s return to power. Weimar, however, is preserved in a sort of nostalgic amber that feels different
from our reality today.
Germany of the 1920s and early ’30s is remembered for its permissive avantgarde culture, cosmopolitan Berlin in particular. It was the age of neon jazz nightclubs and the decadent cabarets memorialized by Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories. It was the era of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill and agitprop, of Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin and Martin Heidegger, Walter Gropius and Bauhaus, Hermann Hesse and Thomas Mann, Max Planck, George Grosz and Dada and the New Objectivity, the Frankfurt School, Fritz Lang — and Murnau.
Weimar also was a hothouse of competing ideas and ideology, and when it wasn’t unfolding on stages and canvases, there were ferocious street clashes between the Left and Right. We all know who came out on top.
Fast forward a century, a decadent America rots in the failing twilight of its imperial glory, paying the emptiest lip service to its noble but unfulfilled founding ideals while teetering on the razor’s edge of collapse into what I’ve previously called a fascist neo-Confederate Gilead oligarchy.
Instead of sophisticated, provocative, iconoclastic Weimar culture, we have Hawk Tuah girl, the Rizzler, Baby Gronk, Jake Paul, crypto scams, TikTok, Luigi the Assassin, Timothée Chalamet lookalike contests, Twitter becoming a Klan rally, colleges conspiring with the FBI to bust student protesters, the Pop Tart Bowl, Earth-killing AI bullshit, Moo Deng, and whatever in the living fuck Skibidi Toilet is.
Certainly, American high culture also endures, but it’s been decades since it dominated as pop culture does today. And don’t get me wrong, I love resurgent indie sleaze, meme culture, Kendrick humiliating Drake, and WNBA beefs. It’s me; I’m the problem, too. I’m with the barbarians in the front row of this squalid community theater Götterdämmerung
Weimar low culture just seems so much
cooler than ours, no?
Meanwhile, it’s enraging that anyone advocating for a just, fair society where the ruling class is brought to heel and you don’t suffer and die amid medical bankruptcy is labeled a communist suffering from the “woke mind virus” by the wealthiest and most divorced man in human history. Fuck Elon Musk. There’s a simmering resentment against the ruling class and crony capitalism that I hope is a groundswell leading to a Popular Front that topples MAGA. The divine right of kings died out, and so can American excesses.
For now, however, America is about to enter night. And it’s doing so with its usual tacky, sleazy, embarrassing anti-intellectual style, evangelical self-righteousness, and its crude, savage vindictiveness.
Fuck, I sound like cranky Mitch Albom. But we should all be embarrassed. Is America even capable of shame anymore?
Trump’s inauguration is days away, and I’ll say this: I have vastly more respect for the beastly Nosferatu because the vampire at least lives the courage of his evil convictions. Trump has zero convictions (except for the judicial sort), and his movement is animated entirely by grievance, fear, ignorance, and greed. Still, I feel the movie’s cold dread in real life as Trump again nears.
And on this bummer, thus ends my brief residency as Metro Times’ secondstring Joe Lapointe. It was fun, and I hope they’ll have me back before independent thought and criticism are outlawed.
I hope you had an excellent holiday season, and I hope it’s not our last. My only 2025 resolutions are to finish my book and to keep making the right kind of enemies.
Sign up for Bill Shea’s free, dolphin-safe, hand-crafted, artisanal, American-made, gluten-free, free-range, small-batch, unexpurgated, openly biased, middleaged radical pinko Beatnik essay site at billshea.com.
Shea sounds off
President-elect Donald Trump has zero convictions (except for the judicial sort), and his movement is animated entirely by grievance, fear, ignorance, and greed.
Modern A Detroit landscaper takes a look at the
By Lee DeVito
Peter Forguson says he first developed his passion for architecture as a child, when he saw photos of iconic skyscrapers like New York City’s Chrysler Building in books. As an adult, the Oak Park native began to travel the country with a Frank Lloyd Wright field guide in hand. From his day job owning and operating a Detroit-area landscape company,
he realized he was working among many such treasures right here in Michigan — sleek, innovative designs from the style known as mid-century modern that stand up with the best in the nation, some even owned by his friends and his clients. “It just turns out that, unbeknownst to me, my backyard was a literal Mecca of this,” Forguson tells Metro Times.
“After years of paying admission to tour architecture, I thought, you know, I work on the grounds of so many
amazing houses all the time,” he says. That’s when he decided to try his hand at publishing a coffee table book with a focus on local homes. “I was cold-calling people with the idea, essentially,” he says of his search for homeowners who would agree to open their doors to photographers.
Five and a half years later, in 2022, he released his debut book Detroit Modern: 1935-1985. The first edition sold out within months, and Forguson decided to keep going. “I began writing another
book almost immediately,” he says.
The sequel, Contemporary Michigan: Iconic Houses at the Epicenter of Modernism, will be celebrated with a release party from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday at Keego Harbor’s Le Shoppe Modern, where Forguson will share stories behind the project alongside some of the notable architects featured in the book.
This time, Forguson widened his scope to include Michigan’s entire Lower Peninsula, featuring cities like Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Bay City,
W. Hawkins Ferry House, Grosse Pointe Shores.
marvels
state’s architectural gems in new book
Midland, St. Joseph, Harbor Springs, Saginaw, and Kalamazoo. Despite the larger geographic region, the project only took two years to complete. “The reason we were able to get it done so quickly was the credibility that Detroit Modern gave us,” he says.
The latest book clocks in at 300 pages, with more than 500 color photos. It also covers a wider span of time and styles, ranging from the David and Hattie Amberg House — a Prairie style home with a unique pinwheel
JAMES HAEFNER
Dorothy Turkel House, Palmer Woods.
JAMES HAEFNER
Harold & Wilma Good House, East Lansing.
JASON GRUBE
shape built in 1910 in Grand Rapids by Wright’s former draftswoman Marion Mahony — to the the more recent Eric and Lauren Bean House in Franklin, designed by local firm McIntosh Paris Architects.
“So you have 115 years, roughly, of the evolution of modern home design in the state of Michigan,” he says.
There is only a little bit of overlap in coverage between the two books, which Forguson handled by depicting Detroit-area homes as stylized illustrations in Contemporary Michigan
While there are plenty of other coffee table books dedicated to mid-century modern architecture, including in Michigan, one thing that makes Forguson’s book different is that many of the homes feature the owners’ classic cars as part of the photo shoots.
“You can follow the evolution of architecture and car design side by side, which is a really cool thing,” Forguson says. “If it was a book about Palm Springs or something, that might not
make much sense. But this is Michigan. We are the birthplace of the mass production of automobiles, so the cars are a nice twist.”
That’s appropriate, because the auto industry is the main driver of Michigan’s legacy in modernism. Years before Detroit became the largest municipality to file for bankruptcy in U.S. history, the region is believed to have boasted the most wealth per capita in the entire world. And it was in that context that the Cranbrook Academy of Art was founded in suburban Bloomfield Hills, tapping Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen from the University of Michigan School of Architecture in Ann Arbor to launch what would grow into arguably the most important school of modern design outside of Germany’s famous Bauhaus. Its artists went on to become major players in various fields of design like furniture, and Saarinen’s son Eero would go on to design the monumental Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
“We had these industries in place, and these institutions of higher learning in place, and you couple that with the average and highest average median household income in the world at that time,” Forguson says, adding, “There’s really no better recruiter of talent and plentiful resources, and nobody had them in spades quite like we did.”
He says he’s already working on a third book in the series.
He adds, “[These books are] long overdue for our region.”
When pressed, Forguson cites some of his local favorites as the W. Hawkins Ferry House, a futuristic home with wide views of Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Shores built in 1964, and the Abby Quail House, designed by architect Don Paul Young in 1977 with a dramatic, angular shape that juts out over a bluff on Lake Michigan in Harbor Springs.
“The thing about modernist homes is the attempt is to break the mold every time,” Forguson says. “They’re all one-off. That’s why it never gets old doing what I do, because they’re all so different. The sites are different, the design aesthetics are different, the materials are different.”
“That book will be titled Great Lakes Modern,” he says. “I’m expanding the geographic scope every time. I had thought about highlighting houses that were sited on the Great Lakes in the U.S. and Canada … so it’ll give me a lot of stuff in the Chicago area, all the way up to Duluth, the Upper Peninsula, Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Toronto ... So that’s the next one. In two or three years, people should expect to see that.”
Forguson says he can’t wait to dive in.
“It’s been quite an education ... it never, ever stops being fun,” he says. “You never stop learning.”
The book release party is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9 at Le Shoppe Modern; 3325 Orchard Lake Rd., Keego Harbor; leshoppemodern. com. Admission is free, and signed copies of both books will be available for purchase. Books can also be purchased from peterforguson.com for $100.
Melvyn Maxwell & Sara Smith House, Bloomfield Hills.
BALTHAZAR KORAB
William & Immogene Wottowa House, Island Lake.
JASON GRUBE
WHAT’S GOING ON
Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Be sure to check venue websites before all events for the latest information. Add your event to our online calendar: metrotimes.com/ AddEvent.
MUSIC
Wednesday Jan 8
Live/Concert
CLASSIC LOUNGE SOUNDS w/ KESHTKAR & CO. second Wednesday of every month, 8-11 pm; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak. Matt Lorusso Trio & Special Guests 8-11 pm; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
Thursday Jan 9
Live/Concert
Bert’s Music Cafe & the Preservation of Jazz Presents Jazz on Repeat every Thursday Night Jazz Music Series Hosted by Lucretia Sain 6-10 pm; Bert’s Music Cafe, 2458 Brush St., Detroit, MI; $15.00.
Blue Rodeo with Special Guest Elliott Brood 8 pm; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $33-$88.
Dueling Pianos: An Interactive Entertainment Experience 8 pm-midnight; AXIS Lounge, 1777 3rd St., Detroit; Grand Funk Railroad 8 pm; Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave., Detroit; $59-$79. Mike Ward The Unplugged Concert Series at The Hawk 7-9 pm; The Hawk - Farmington Hills Community Center, 29995 Twelve Mile Road, Farmington Hills; $15 advance $20 at door.
VCTMS, 156/Silence, Heavy//Hitter, Monochromatic Black 6 pm; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $18. Karaoke/Open Mic
DARE-U-OKE 9 pm-midnight; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
Drag Queen Karaoke 8 pm-2 am; Woodward Avenue Brewers, 22646 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; no cover.
Friday Jan 10
Live/Concert
How’d You Write That? – A Concert and Conversation Between Bill Edwards and Mike Green 8 pm; Trinity House Theatre, 38840 W. Six Mile Rd., Livonia; $20.
Poison Tribute - Ride The Wind,
Tesla Tribute - Psychotic Paradise 8 pm; the Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15-$80.
Saddle Up Country Dance Party! 8 pm; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; $0-$15.
Tom Bartelmay Trio, Bastard Ideals hosted by Reware Vintage & KSAVC 7 pm; Reware Vintage, 2965 12 Mile Road, Suite 200, Berkley; $15 suggested donation, all to the performers.
The Whiskey Charmers w/ Kate Hinote & Tony Hamera + DJ Sci-Fi Deluxx 9 pm-1 am; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak;
DJ/Dance
Ann Arbor Ecstatic Dance second Friday of every month, 7:30-10:30 pm; Ringstar Studio, 3907 Varsity Dr, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108, Ann Arbor; $25-40 ($5 discount for cash).
Saturday Jan 11
Live/Concert
COLORS Worldwide Presents: R&B ONLY LIVE (18+) 8 pm; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit.
Hotel California - The Original Eagles Tribute 8 pm; Emerald Theatre, 31 N. Walnut St., Mount Clemens; $20-$240.
Laura Rain Duo + DJ J. Walker & DJ John C. Dodge 9 pm-1 am; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak.
Sky Covington’s Satin Doll Revue, ft. Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Etta James and Faye Bradford, hosted by Lucretia Sain 7:30-11:30 pm; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $25.
DJ/Dance
DECIMATE Live at Tangent Gallery 8 pm-2 am; Tangent Gallery, 715 E Milwaukee Avenue, Detroit; $20 -25.
Sunday Jan 12
Live/Concert
Dru Hill 7:30 pm; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $59-$73.
Phil Ogilvie’s Rhythm Kings 5-8 pm; Zal Gaz Grotto Club, 2070 W. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor; No Cover (tipjar for the band).
Karaoke/Open Mic
Sunday Karaoke in the Lounge 5-9 pm; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; 0.
22 January 8-14, 2025 | metrotimes.com
Monday Jan 13
Live/Concert
The Preservation of Jazz Monday Night Music Series, The Tribute to Nina Simone starring Faye Bradford, hosted by Lucretia Sain 6-10 pm; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $35.
DJ/Dance
Adult Skate Night 8:30-11 pm; Lexus Velodrome, 601 Mack Ave., Detroit; $5.
Tuesday Jan 14
Live/Concert
Global Sunsets, Blackman & Arnold Trio 7-10 pm; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
DJ/Dance
B.Y.O.R Bring Your Own Records Night 9 pm-midnight; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; no cover.
Sky Covington’s “The Preservation of Jazz” Returns to WJZZ Detroit Radio with a New Day and Time! 2-5 pm; WJZZ radio station, 2187 W. Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI; donation.
Karaoke/Open Mic
Open Mic: Art in a Fly Space 7-10 pm; Detroit Shipping Company, 474 Peterboro St., Detroit; no cover.
Tuesday Karaoke in the Lounge 8 pm-midnight; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak
THEATER
Performance
Fisher Theatre - Detroit Six: The Musical Wednesday Jan. 8, 7:30 pm, Thursday Jan. 9, 7:30 pm, Friday 7:30 pm, Saturday 2 & 7:30 pm and Sunday 1 & 6:30 pm.
Max M. Fisher Music Center Detroit Symphony Orchestra w/ Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix in concert Wednesday Jan. 8, 7:30 pm.; Saturday 7:30 pm and Sunday 3 pm.
They Say The Murder Mystery Co’s Dinner Theater Show - Prepare to unravel the secrets of a thrilling murder mystery, where every twist and turn leads you closer to uncovering the truth. Put your sleuthing skills to the test as you examine clues and mingle with suspects, all while enjoying a delectable three-course meal. But beware! You might find yourself a suspect in this gripping tale. Secure your tickets now for an evening you won’t soon forget! $59 Friday 7-9:30 pm.
Musical
Meadow Brook Theatre Footloose the Musical $48 Wednesday Jan. 8, 8 pm, Thursday Jan. 9, 8 pm, Friday 8 pm, Saturday 6 pm and Sunday 2 & 6:30 pm. Planet Ant Theatre Nixon King: A World Premiere Musical Dramedy See the musical “dramedy” that unites the schemer, Richard Nixon, with the dreamer, Martin Luther King — with singing, dancing, music, and sword fighting! $30 Friday 8-10 pm, Saturday 8-10 pm and Sunday 3-5 pm. A deadly serious comedy from the mind of Robert P. Young. The 1960 presidential election was razor-thin, and some claimed Richard Nixon was cheated. One moment loomed large: Nixon’s failure to help Martin Luther King, Jr. escape a potentially fatal jailing. But what if Nixon did try to intervene? In this hilarious and poignant musical, a disguised Nixon embarks on a secret mission to a Georgia prison to save King. Can one night— and one act of courage — alter history, or are some outcomes inevitable? NIXON/KING reimagines a pivotal moment with humor, heart, and what-ifs. $30 online, $35 at the door Fridays, Saturdays, 8-9 pm and Sundays, 3-4 pm.
COMEDY
Improv
Go Comedy! Improv Theater Pandemonia The Allstar Showdown is a highly interactive improvised game show. With suggestions from the audience, our two teams will battle for your laughs. The Showdown is like “Whose Line is it Anyway,” featuring a series of short improv games, challenges and more. Fridays and Saturdays 7:30pm & 9:30pm $25 Fridays, Saturdays.; $20 every other Friday, 8 & 10 pm. 261 E. Nine Mile Rd, Ferndale. Planet Ant Theatre Hip-Prov: Improv with a Dash of Hip-Hop. $10, second Wednesday of every month. 7 pm. 2320 Caniff St, Hamtramck.
Stand-up
Opening
Diana Graham LIVE @ Eastern Palace Club | The Smoke Show Comedy Show Starting at 17, Diana Graham is a young comic who has performed all over the US in the last 8 years. He has opened for the popular podcast “Two Dykes and a Mic,” Ali Macofsky (Comedy Central), and DeAnne Smith (Netflix). They feel lucky to have found an audience on TikTok, collecting over 9 million views last year, and hope that stand up will continue to fulfill his life’s purpose: having fun and making friends. 8 :30 pm Show Start | 8:00 PM Doors | $5 Entry | 21+ $5.00 Thursday Jan. 9, 8:30-10 pm. 21509 John R Rd, Hazel Park.
Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest The Dinner Detective Comedy Mystery Dinner Show - Ann Arbor. America’s largest interactive comedy mystery dinner theatre show is now playing in Ann Arbor. $69.95 Saturday 6-9 pm.
Fox Theatre Kevin Hart: Acting My Age $87.50-$307.50 Friday 7:30 pm, Saturday 7:30 pm and Sunday 7 pm.
Pike Room QUINN DALE $29.99-$45 Saturday 7:30 pm.
Sound Board Cedric the Entertainer $86-$99 Saturday 8 pm.
The Independent Comedy Club INDIEx: A PowerPoint guided comedy show The Independent Comedy Clubs brings you a night of hot topic presentations from some of the Midwest’s funniest comedians. With this interactive and new comedic experience, you will see PowerPoint presentations on topic, like: “Why Sharks Aren’t Real”, “Does Size Really Matter,” and “Fat Earth Theory: A Synopsis,” What ever the presentations may contain, they are sure to have “facts,” laughs, and a whole lot of chaos. Featuring Scott Sviland, Rahm Kely, Heather Sejnow, Skippy Rose, Tee Autumn. $10 online | $15 at the door Friday, 9-10:30 pm.
Blind Pig Blind Pig Comedy FREE Mondays, 8 pm.
Embassy Suites Troy The Dinner Detective Comedy Mystery Dinner Show. America’s largest interactive comedy mystery dinner theatre show is now playing in Troy. $69.95 Saturdays, 6-9 pm.
The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant The Sh*t Show Open Mic: Every Friday & Saturday at The Independent. A weekly open mic featuring both local amateurs and touring professionals. Doors open at 8:30 p.m., show begins at 9 p.m. The evening always ends with karaoke in the attached Ghost Light Bar. Doors and sign-up 8:30 p.m. Show at 9 p.m. $5 suggested donation. Ghost Light opens at 7 p.m. $5 Suggested Donation Thursdays, 9-10:30 pm. A late-night, heckle-encouraged, show-up, go-up stand-up open mic, featuring both local amateurs and touring professionals. Sign-up starts at 10:30 and the show begins at 11 p.m. Doors and sign-up 10:30 p.m. | Show at 11 p.m. | $5 Suggested Donation. The independent Comedy Club is run by comics for comics inside Planet Ant Theatre. The club runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, offering independently produced comedy shows from 8 pm-12 am. Presented by Planet Ant *Planet Ant Theatre, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization; no ticket or reservation is required. $5 suggested donation Fridays, Saturdays, 11 pm-1:30 am.
Club 2000 at El Club
While touring ’90s hip-hop and R&B artists have been mainstays within Detroit’s concert venues, their early 2000s counterparts seem to get lost in the shuffle at times.
Enter “Club 2000,” a new live music series at Southwest Detroit’s El Club featuring artists who made a name for themselves in the early 2000s — and have the awards and gold certifications to show for it. The series kicks off on Saturday with Day 26, followed by Tweet on Feb. 8 and J-Kwon on May 17 (whose 2004 hit “Tipsy” was revived last year as country crossover star Shaboozey’s inescapable hit “A Bar Song”).
“There have been a handful of throwback early 2000sthemed events that have happened, but none have brought in these people,” says Lauren McGrier, the general manager of the El Club and owner of event company Connect with Lo.
The series is a slight pivot for El Club as it’s a collaboration
FILM
Screening
Bowlero Lanes & Lounge Jimmy Page Birthday Celebration w/ Party!Zeppelin* “Song Remains The Same” Led Zeppelin movie night! We’ll kick-off the night with vintage 16mm & 8mm films of ’70s rock classic performances, as well as a promotional reel of “The Song Remains the Same” provided by Danton of Reel Cool Time productions. Then we’ll have a live set of Zep music from Detroit’s one and only Party!Zeppelin. Thursday Jan. 9-11:30 pm.
Artist talk
Centering Toshiko Takaezu: Glenn Adamson in Conversation with Ian McDonald and Laura Mott Join us on Thursday, January 9, at 6pm for a book signing and presentation by Glenn Adamson, lauded craft expert and co-curator of “Toshiko Tazaezu: Worlds Within,” fol-
with McGrier’s Connect With Lo brand.
“They [the owners of El Club] have been very instrumental with my career overall with curating events,” McGrier says. “But we noticed within this last year, things have been kind of the same.”
McGrier wants to set the record straight that this won’t be a listening session: the actual artists will be there performing full sets, and will hang out afterward at the intimate venue, which holds about 400 fans. More artists will also be announced in the coming months.
“People are excited and looking forward to it,” she adds.
—Kahn Santori Davison
Club 2000 featuring Day 26 kicks off at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11 at El Club; 4114 Vernor Hwy., Detroit; elclubdetroit.com. Tickets are $33.99.
lowed by a conversation with Ian McDonald, Artist in Residence, Department of Ceramics and Cranbrook Academy of Art and Laura Mott, Chief Curator, Cranbrook Art Museum. Glenn Adamson is a curator, writer, and historian based in New York and London. He has previously been director of the Museum of Arts and Design and Head of Research at the V&A. His latest book, “A Century of Tomorrows,” was published by Bloomsbury in December 2024. Thursday Jan. 9, 6-8 pm; Cranbrook Art Museum, 39221 N. Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills; Free; 248-645-3323; cranbrookartmuseum.org/events/centering-toshiko-takaezu-glenn-adamsonwith-ian-mcdonald-laura-mott/.
Art Exhibition Opening
Center Galleries Passage of Knowledge: A History of the CCS Foundry. Celebrating over 65 years of sculpting and foundry work at our institution, this exhibition traces the evolution and legacy of this art
form. From the early influence of Walter Midener, a pivotal figure in the 1960s, to Jay Holland’s transformative leadership and mentorship, we showcase the depth of our sculpting tradition. Free Friday 4-7 pm.
The Convent Detroit Better Blues Solo Exhibition by Indigo “Better Blues” takes its inspiration from Spike Lee’s “Mo’ Better Blues” Like the jazz that flows through that film, this exhibition weaves through the rhythms and hues of childhood, finding harmony in the spaces between challenge and joy. Exhibition Overview In this deeply personal collection, artist Indigo explores the vibrant moments that punctuated their childhood. Through ink works, the exhibition challenges the conventional narrative that children of divorce only inherit trauma. Instead, these pieces celebrate the unexpected beauty that can bloom in the spaces between two homes, two lives, and two loves. 5.00 Saturday 5-9 pm.
Critic’s Pick
Intimate concerts will feature acts like Day 26, Tweet, and J-Kwon (above).
PARAS GRIFFIN / GETTY IMAGES FOR BE T
Cracker’s alternative history
’90s alt rockers drop new compilation of demos, outtakes, and live tracks for a set that ranges far and wide throughout the band’s catalog
By Dave Gil de Rubio
Winston Churchill is credited with saying that history is written by the victors. And in the world of major record labels, these corporate entities have a long history of emerging as top dogs, for example, by controlling artists’ musical output and negotiating contracts that give acts the short end of the stick.
David Lowery and his band Cracker definitely experienced that scenario following a wild and often successful ride with Virgin Records. But he and fellow founding member Johnny Hickman have managed to take the wheel of their band’s narrative in recent years.
A case in point is the recently released Alternative History: A Cracker Retrospective, a 3-LP/2-CD set that serves as a proxy version of the band’s canon. For Lowery, who is also a lecturer at the University of Georgia, the impetus for this undertaking can be traced to the most nefarious modern-day anti-musician piece of technology: streaming services.
“Part of this grew out of me talking to our students where they would sort of go on a streaming service to see the Cracker
best of algorithmic playlists,” he says.
“Based on the number of streams, it tends to favor the older stuff. It was sort of skewed and not really representing [us]. And then two of our three greatest hits compilations were also kind of 2002 backwards. We felt there needed to be another compilation. We got into talking about licensing some with Universal Music Group and Concord in conjunction with Cooking Vinyl, but it seemed like it was going to eat up all the money if we licensed the tracks.”
Rather than funnel money back to their former labels, Lowery decided to sift through re-recordings, demos, outtakes and live tracks for a set that ranges far and wide throughout the Cracker catalog, even managing to include a demo of “Father Winter” recorded by the band’s two founding members before they founded Cracker.
Lowery’s approach was not unlike what he did with the 2006 compilation Greatest Hits Redux. Virgin Records released the original versions of those songs via Get On With It: The Best of
Cracker dive, Alternative History sees the aforementioned Leftover Salmon give longtime favorite “Sweet Potato” a bluegrass twang and turn “Eurotrash Girl” into a waltz. Drive-By Truckers members Brad Morgan and Jay Gonzales lend their talents to a Gram Parsons-flavored take on “Sick of Goodbyes.”
A live version of “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out With Me” from the German concert show Rockpalast is a reminder of its pivotal use as a closing song on a season of the Showtime series Californication. Even the classic rock warhorse “Low” gets a new coat of paint via the re-recorded version cut for Redux that features Kenny Margolis adding a short Middle Eastern accordion solo.
For the current Cracker tour, Lowery and Hickman are adding a twist by bringing out Chicago-based fiddler Anne Harris.
“The setlist will be a pretty strict retrospective approach with a little bit from every part of the catalog. Having Anne play with us means we’ve been able to incorporate some of the Camper stuff as well,” Lowery says, referencing his other band, Camper Van Beethoven.
“She’s played with a number of different blues people, but she’s also pretty versed in North American Celtic and stuff. It’s almost like she has a Led Zeppelin style is how I describe it. It’s a pretty rock show when we play. Her styling is more blues-rock in a way, partly because that’s where she comes from. She’s actually a very interesting and versatile artist in her own right. It’s a little bit of a different show when we play with her.”
Cracker, an anthology compiled sans the permission or cooperation of the band.
Redux put more control (and money) back into the band’s pockets, and that’s also the case with Alternative History, which also has more of a fan-friendly approach to it.
“This turned out to be an interesting project because basically what we were doing was telling the story of Cracker sort of using alternate takes like the stuff we did with Leftover Salmon rerecords we’d done through the years, rare B-sides, and a few unreleased things,” Lowery says.
“There are songs that over the years have become fan favorites, and while they were never singles, they were important live songs we do. For instance, ‘One Fine Day’ from the Forever album is an eight-minute, Neil Young/Crazy Horse stomping jam. And then also from that album is ‘Gimme One More Chance.’ Those are big fan favorites and show closers, but they were never singles and not once ever on the radio.”
For anyone wanting to do a deeper
Lowery sees no slowdown in 2025. There will be a show at San Francisco’s Fillmore celebrating the 40th anniversary of Camper Van Beethoven’s 1985 debut Telephone Free Landslide Victory (Plans for one-off UK and Canadian dates are also in the works.) Then there’s a triple-vinyl/28-track release of Lowery solo material that includes new songs. The Texas native will hit the road for a quick North American solo acoustic tour to support that release.
And while it would be easy to get thrown off by juggling so many projects, Lowery is rightfully proud of how Alternative History came out.
“Some of these songs people have heard before, but usually it’s limited edition, rare, or not available,” he says. “I found a demo of ‘Merry Christmas Emily’ that I sort of forgot about that was a completely different vibe. We went ahead and fleshed it out with a completely different vibe — it’s almost like a different song, but the words are the same. This, along with some of the stuff, are things people have never heard. I think [Alternative History] turned out pretty well.”
Cracker performs at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Magic Bag; 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; themagicbag.com. Tickets are $33. JASON THRASHER
FOOD
Bites
Detroit’s Grey Ghost team expands to Ferndale
Four Man Ladder Hospitality, the team behind Detroit dining favorites Grey Ghost, Second Best, and Basan, has announced plans to launch its fourth restaurant concept — a fastcasual eatery set to open in Ferndale this summer.
The restaurant, which will occupy a nearly 1,000-square-foot building at 22305 Woodward Ave., will feature a scratch-made menu spotlighting burgers, chicken sandwiches, and sides.
Designed with efficiency and flavor in mind, the concept will focus on takeout while offering local delivery and catering services for large parties and events.
“Over the past nine years, our beloved Grey Ghost burger has developed a loyal following,” chef and co-owner John Vermiglio said. “Its simple preparation and exceptional ingredients resonate with our guests, and we’re excited to translate that same spirit into a quick-service format. Alongside this fan favorite, we’ll introduce fresh new menu items, all crafted with the same
commitment to quality.”
Construction is set to begin this month, with updates on the restaurant’s name, menu, and opening details expected as the project progresses. While the yet-to-be-named eatery is the group’s first foray into fast-casual dining, Vermiglio and his partners envision this as the first of multiple locations.
The expansion reflects the continued growth of Four Man Ladder Hospitality, a Detroit-based company founded
by chefs Joe Giacomino and John Vermiglio, beverage expert Will Lee, operations specialist Michael Gray, and a fifth partner dubbed the “business guy.”
The group is known for its innovative and approachable concepts that blend high-quality food and drinks with Midwest hospitality.
Grey Ghost is located at 47 Watson St., while Second Best is at 42 Watson St., and Basan is at 2703 Park Ave. —Steve Neavling
Two Detroit dishes make New York Times
Detroit’s culinary scene has once again captured national attention. Two local favorites, Mike’s Famous Ham Place and Leila, earned spots on The New York Times’ prestigious list of “26 of the Best Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2024,”showcasing the city’s rich and diverse food culture.
The Times’ food writers crisscrossed the country, dining at hundreds of restaurants in 30 states over several months. The dishes that made the cut were described as “some we couldn’t forget,” and Detroit’s contributions proved unforgettable.
On a quiet stretch of Michigan Avenue in Southwest Detroit, Mike’s Famous Ham Place has been a mainstay for hearty ham sandwiches and classic comfort food. The New York Times singled out its poppy-seed roll
sandwich stacked with thick slices of ham, cheese, mustard, and pickles for its “honest and satisfying” flavor.
Owner Mike Muftari, who ran the business for 50 years before recently selling it, has stayed on temporarily to teach the new owners, Kim and John Lambert, the ropes. While the Lamberts have introduced credit card payments, they’re keeping everything else — from the menu to the ambience — unchanged. The small 772-square-foot building, a nostalgic nod to Detroit’s past, has been serving loyal customers since its days as Lile’s Sandwich Shop.
In downtown Detroit’s Capitol Park, Leila dazzled with its Lebanese Sundae, a dessert that combines fairy floss, pistachios, and ashta — a roseflavored ice cream infused with hints of orange blossom water. The New York Times said the dessert “delights with
Build-your-own Middle Eastern flavors in West Bloomfield
West Bloomfield has welcomed a new culinary hotspot with the opening of My Big Fat Shawarma, a fast-casual restaurant specializing in build-your-own Middle Eastern dishes.
Located at 4301 Orchard Lake Rd., Suite 110, this is the second location for the brand, founded by entrepreneur Marcos Kiminaia and a team of managing partners. Created in 2022, My Big Fat Shawarma offers a vibrant menu featuring gourmet, certified Halal meats, fresh locally sourced toppings, and traditional Middle Eastern favorites like yellow rice, fattoush, falafel, and pita wraps. Customers can customize their meals to their liking, topping them off with the restaurant’s signature sauces, including the popular “Fat Sauce,” or pairing them with house-made lemonades.
“We’re bringing an energy and concept to the area that reflects more than “Detroit flare” as a geographical characteristic, but an authentic reflection of this specific leadership team,” says company spokeswoman Alexandra Sawa. “What began as an experience on Eight Mile is now in West Bloomfield with full continuity. From the food to a hospitality-centric culture, My Big Fat Shawarma holds nothing back. Our brand is about value to our customers, and our bowl size is how we make that promise.”
its simplicity and whimsy,” likening its presentation to a “Star Trek tribble ready for a night on the town.”
Owned by the Eid family, who also operate Phoenicia, Forest, and Wilder’s in metro Detroit, Leila is a tribute to the family matriarch. Its menu is rooted in Lebanese home cooking, offering a blend of tradition and modern flair. The Lebanese Sundae encapsulates the restaurant’s philosophy: celebrating heritage while delivering playful culinary experiences.
This isn’t the first time Detroit’s food scene has earned accolades from The New York Times. Earlier this year, Amar Pizza in Hamtramck was named one of the country’s best pizza spots, while Clawson’s Noori Pocha landed on the Times’ “50 Favorite Places in America Right Now” list.
—Steve Neavling
The restaurant’s design reflects its bold, customer-centered ethos. Bright yellow accents guide diners through the build-yourown experience, while a modern mural wall by artist Pao Catalla of Semi:Formal Studio adds a touch of whimsy and flair. Architect Ron Jona of the Ron Jona Collaborative, alongside Vivid Design Studio’s Evan Kizy and Sharon Kory Interiors, transformed the 2,000-square-foot space, formerly Salad Works, into an energetic sit-down dining area.
The new West Bloomfield location builds on the success of the original My Big Fat Shawarma, which opened on Eight Mile Road in Warren. “Everything we do stems from the spirit of the entrepreneurs and restaurateurs behind this concept, who decided to break the rules and be provocative with food,” Sawa says.
Customers can enjoy dine-in service from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily or order online for pickup and delivery via major platforms. Both locations also offer full-service catering for large groups.
With its innovative approach and growing popularity, My Big Fat Shawarma is already preparing for its next move. The brand’s third location is set to open on the Wayne State University campus in Detroit at 4700 Anthony Wayne Drive.
—Steve Neavling
Grey Ghost is bringing its beloved burger to Ferndale. PERRY HASELDEN
18 movies we’re looking forward to seeing in 2025
New films make the coming year a thrilling one
By Jared Rasic
Not to compare watching movies to some sort of eternal Herculean struggle, but the weirdest thing about writing about cinema for a living is that I will never, ever be able to watch them all.
In 2024, I watched 120-plus new releases and didn’t come remotely close to seeing all of the new films that came out last year. And there are still hundreds upon thousands upon tens of thousands of pre-2024 films I’ve never seen. To mix metaphors, I will always be rolling the boulder up the hill since there will never be a moment where I pump my fist in the air and bellow to the heavens that I have seen the final film and, at long last, my watch has ended.
As soon as I wrap up with the movies I was excited to see in any given year, I then immediately turn my sights to what’s coming up. It never stops and it never will, and I’m so very OK with that. With all that said, here are 18 movies I’m looking forward to seeing in 2025:
1/24: Presence: Steven Soderbergh directing a haunted house movie is all I wanted for Christmas, so here we are. Also, it’s Julia Fox’s next starring role after Uncut Gems!
2/14: Captain America: Brave New World: Early word on this has it feeling like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which, to me, is one of the finest action movies of the last 20 years. With Harrison Ford playing the Red Hulk,
consider me cautiously optimistic for this being a return to form for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
2/21: The Monkey: Oz Perkins adapting a Stephen King story means I’m already there.
3/7: Mickey 7: This was on my mosthyped list last year, when it was supposed to come out in March 2024. Bong Joon-Ho is one of South Korea’s most exciting filmmakers, so consider me twice as hyped for this bonkers-looking sci-fi action comedy.
3/7: On Becoming a Guinea Fowl: A Zambian/British black comedy from A24 about a funeral and the secrets we bury in life.
4/18: Sinners: A new Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed) film starring Michael B. Jordan that sees the actor playing twin brothers in what looks like a disturbing period horror thriller. Coogler doing a horror movie should be thoughtful and intense in all the best ways.
5/9: Golden: Director Michel Gondry hasn’t matched the heights of his masterpiece, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (so says my giant forearm tattoo of Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet), so I’m genuinely hoping this comingof-age musical about the life of Pharrell reminds us of his limitless talent.
Daughter, so I can’t wait to see what she does with a retelling of The Bride of Frankenstein, set in 1930s Chicago and starring the great Jessie Buckley as the Bride and Christian Bale as the Monster. I hope this ends up being one of the best movies of the year.
11/7: Bugonia: A new Yorgos Lanthimos sci-fi comedy with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons? For me, Lanthimos has a lifetime pass after Dogtooth and The Lobster, so I’m sure I’ll be there opening night. I hope this is his darkest movie yet and inspires the entire world to feel weird and uncomfortable at the same time.
11/21: Wicked: For Good: The final 10 minutes of the first Wicked were the best minutes of the movie, and since I haven’t seen the musical or read the book, I’m genuinely excited to see where the hell this is going. Also, Erivo is a force of nature.
12/25: Marty Supreme: A Josh Safdie directed ping-pong movie. That is all.
6/6: Ballerina: A spin-off of John Wick, starring Ana de Armas as a badass assassin looks ridiculously fun, and it also has the final on-screen performance of the great Lance Reddick. The Wick movies are a blast, so I’m hoping that exploring little pockets of the same universe yields some cool storytelling.
6/20: 28 Years Later: Based on the strength of the amazing trailer and iconic filmmaking duo director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, I’m really anticipating this movie. There are half a dozen shots in the trailer that chilled me deeply, and now I can’t wait to have a panic attack in the theater in six months.
7/11: Superman: I’m a fan of James Gunn and the brand of acerbic superheroes he patented with the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. So I’m abnormally excited for the launch of the new DC Universe under his leadership. I want to see his writing style put toward characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Swamp Thing.
8/8: The Battle of Baktan Cross: A crime drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Regina Hall, Alana Haim, and Benicio del Toro from visionary auteur P.T. Anderson? Shut up and take my ticket.
9/26: The Bride!: Maggie Gyllenhaal directed the hell out of 2021’s The Lost
TBA: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery: Yeah, I really like these movies (mostly I’m in love with Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc), so I’m hoping we get a limited theatrical run for his next adventure instead of a quiet drop on Netflix like the last one.
TBA: Mother Mary: David Lowery is one of my favorite filmmakers (I have a fairly large tattoo of his movie A Ghost Story forever inscribed upon my person), so a new movie from him has me over the moon. Focusing on a pop star (Anne Hathaway) and fashion designer (Michaela Cole) and their difficult romance, this is already being hailed as the best queer film of 2025.
TBA: Die, My Love: Lynne Ramsay is one of the finest working directors today, and a cast featuring Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Lawrence, Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, and LaKeith Stanfield suggests this will be a flawlessly acted mind-fuck. If you haven’t seen Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, you really should. It’s one of the best movies ever made.
Also with undated new films coming from Shane Black, Kyle Edward Ball, Julia Ducournau, Romain Gavras, Na Hong-jin, Werner Herzog, Laika, Gregg Araki, Darren Aronofsky, Chloé Zhao, László Nemes, Peter Greenaway, Guillermo del Toro, Ethan Coen, Noah Baumbach, Boots Riley, Edgar Wright, Luca Guadagnino, Hal Hartley, and Celine Song … this might be one of the finest years for cinema in my lifetime.
A new Ryan Coogler film starring Michael B. Jordan finds the actor playing twin brothers.
COURTESY OF WARNER BROS
CULTURE
The Modded generation
Young grassroots car club brings its modified magic to the Detroit auto show
By Eddie B. Allen Jr.
They weren’t always the cool kids.
As teenagers, Mitch McSweeney, founder of the Modded Detroit auto club and car expo, and co-founder Paul Aren were just grateful to have wheels.
“I had a car, and I had friends with some cars,” says McSweeney, 26. “I’d go to the cool car shows and kind of get shunned out because I didn’t have a cool car.”
Fewer than 10 years later, not only has McSweeney’s “cool” car-owner status changed, he and Aren have generated a substantial following for what they call “Michigan’s premier auto enthusiast group.” Modded Detroit will highlight its growth from a grassroots network of young buffs into a staple of local car culture when it joins the Detroit Auto Show Jan. 10 through Jan. 20 at Huntington Place.
The original crew of what would become Modded Detroit were primarily Novi-based, and they’d link up to travel to car events.
“It wasn’t a large-scale thing,” says McSweeney. “We all just kinda knew each other and we were all friends, and they’d invite their friends.”
Even as the group’s members got a little older, stacked a little more cash, and drove a little more stylishly, they encountered discrimination from the more established show organizers.
“One of the biggest problems we had was we would go to these events and there’d be all American cars, or you weren’t welcome,” McSweeney recalls.
Bikes and trucks were often excluded, too. So he and the team set about creating a more inclusive community — a “safe space,” he calls it — summoning a tone of sincerity that conjures an image
of Dr. Phil peeking up from the hood of an engine.
No, there would be no car-shaming among the friends and fellow autolovers in Modded Detroit, which formed in 2019 and adapted the motto “any car, any condition.” But “any condition” refers to the welcome reception extended to drivers of whatever vehicle happens to transport them to Modded expos — only cars reflecting the best in Detroit’s history of flash, dash, and innovation are displayed at Modded’s special showcases, which are usually free and open to the public.
“We want Lamborghinis,” McSweeney adds, “but we also want the built-up Honda Civics.”
The strategy of inclusion, fun, and camaraderie has helped Modded (slang for “modified”) increase its attendance from between 10 and 40 participants during an average weekend outing to 1,500 at Michigan Central train station last Labor Day weekend. In November Modded’s show at Houston Hot Chicken, one of its occasional partnership appearances to support local businesses, drew 2,000 people.
The club’s growing popularity presented a perfect opportunity for Omar Khalil, project manager for the Detroit Auto Show, to recommend it as a partner in the 2025 event, which typically promotes new vehicles by the major car manufacturers, boosting their consumer appeal. Modded’s groundbreaking partnership will highlight 175 privately owned vehicles on exhibit in Huntington’s The Gallery luxury and exotic
vehicle space, and as part of an exclusive Modded showcase on the conference center’s River Level.
“It was a good time to make the connection,” says Khalil, a longtime Modded supporter.
Sam Klemet, co-executive director of the auto show, agrees with Khalil’s suggestion.
“We see this as a great opportunity to tap into the enthusiasts who have real, personal relationships with their vehicles,” says Klemet. “It felt like a natural tie-in, as we look to evolve the show and bring in new audiences and new elements and partners.”
Aren, 24, has worked with McSweeney since the early days of Modded Detroit, and says the auto show invitation came as a highlight in his labor of love on behalf of the car-enthusiast community.
“I was thrilled!” he says. “I was over the moon.”
As a member of a family that values Detroit’s history in the automotive world, and grandson of a former towtruck company owner, Aren is passionate about contributing to the preservation of a culture on wheels.
“I think this town has always had a pretty good car culture to it, like back in the ’50s with all of the colors and the big, sweeping wing tails on the back,” he says. “We’re just the newest generation that’s trying to mold it into something that works for us.”
Borrowing from aspects of the West Coast, low-rider show tradition, “monster” truck fanfare, and practically everything in between has given Modded a
reputation for flair and knowledge that translates to about 150,000 social media followers. Occasional experiments, such as Modded’s swimming pool in the back of a van, might have tested Henry Ford’s sensibilities, but they keep the Instagram and TikTok crowds engaged.
“There’s a huge term: ‘built, not bought,’” says Aren. “You can buy a car from a dealership, but someone who’s really gonna get some attention is the one who lifts it and puts massive wheels on it.”
Among rarities scheduled for exhibition in the Modded Detroit auto show space are a Ford F-150 that’s been developed into the “world’s fastest dragrace truck” and a 25-year-old Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R imported from Japan. The Japanese car brand has been featured in video games like Need for Speed.
“That’s a huge way that kids like us get into cars,” Aren says. “People can see these cars in video games and then come to see them in real life.”
Aren and McSweeney are confident the diversity of vehicle brands and creative modifications will enhance this year’s auto show.
“It’s, like, super-unique stuff that’s all over the place,” says McSweeney.
While the effort, including logistics, tents, and signage, is larger than what Modded typically manages, the Modded team is eager to see the public’s reaction.
“I couldn’t have imagined the scale of what we were going to be doing,” McSweeney adds. “It’s an insane opportunity, and it’s going to happen. I’m so excited.”
Modded Detroit, a club for young car enthusiasts, joins the Detroit Auto Show this year.
COURTESY PHOTO
CULTURE
Savage Love Quickies
By Dan Savage
: Q Would you be willing to share my list of proposed gender-free pronouns with your readers, listeners, and followers? I’ve enclosed a graph listing them that details how they should be used. They are very liberating.
A: Sorry, but I’m unwilling to share your list of new pronouns with my readers, listeners, and followers, as there are currently more than enough gendered pronouns, non-gendered pronouns, and neo-pronouns in circulation. I don’t see any point in adding more to the mix.
: Q Should I get on Grindr?
A: “Every gay man should know how to use Grindr but we all need to remember that it’s just like any social media app: useful, addictive, toxic and it should never, ever replace real life interactions,” says queer author and filmmaker Leo Herrera. “The apps are simply one tool in a huge sex arsenal that we’ve developed for hundreds of years. And right now, gay men of all ages are walking away from the apps and embracing tradition: picking up strangers in bars and bathhouses and parks. So, before you download Grindr, learn the basics of analog cruising — traditional cruising so you’re not dependent on Grindr.” Leo Herrera is the author of the book Analog Cruising, a great resource for younger gay men who never learned how to pick someone up in person and older gay men who forgot how after the apps came along. Follow Herrera on Instagram and Threads @herreraimages.
: Q How can I meet you, Dan?
A: You can meet me in person — in the flesh — when I host the Part One premiere of the HUMP! 2025 Film Festival in Seattle February 14-15. I’ll also be hosting screenings in San Francisco on February 20, 21, and 22, and Berlin on April 22 and 23. To find out more about the amazing films in HUMP!’s 20th anniversary season — and to get tickets to see HUMP! in a theater near you — go to humpfilmfest.com.
: Q How do you get over the proverbial one who got away?
A: You know what they say: “The fastest way to get over someone is to get under someone new.” And it turns out they — the proverbial they — were on to something. In a 2023 piece for The Atlantic defending rebound relationships, Faith Hill cited research done by Amy Hackney, a psychology professor at Georgia Southern University, which found that the sooner heartbroken people started dating — the sooner they got under someone new — the faster they healed from their heartbreak. So, if you haven’t already gotten under someone new, go throw yourself under someone ASAP!
: Q Would you please talk about the movie Babygirl, Dan!
A: Writer Rebecca Woolf will be joining me on the Lovecast to talk about Babygirl, the new film starring Nicole Kidman as a powerful corporate executive who gets into a D/s relationship with a hot male subordinate. Woolf wrote a (spoiler-packed) essay about the film on her website that I can’t wait to discuss with her on my show!
: Q What’s the best way to describe DP?
A: Two men enter, one man cleaves.
: Q I fell in love with an unhappily married man in an open relationship. He ultimately decided to divorce his wife to be with me. When he told her he wanted a divorce, she told him she was three months’ pregnant. They had an agreement to not have kids for the time being, given their issues. Now he says he feels stuck. This was messy before the pregnancy, and it’s extra messy now. It’s hard because I’ve never loved someone so much, and he says the same about me. I can’t imagine moving on from him. He won’t consider getting a divorce and co-parenting with her, and I’m not sure why. What should I do?
A: You have two (legal) options: You can wait for this man to divorce his wife — a wait that will probably never end — or you can get under someone new.
: Q It seems reasonable to ask ... given who’s returning to the White House ... that you revive your ITMFA campaign? My ITMFA buttons and T-shirts are a little tattered, and I could use a fresh stash for handing out. Please?
A: I raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and the International Refugee Assistance Project selling ITMFA (“Impeach the Motherfucker Already”) buttons, T-shirts, lapel pins, and mugs after that
man entered the White House in 2017. I believed at the time that impeaching him might save the country. But seeing as that motherfucker was impeached twice and indicted dozens of times and it didn’t make a damn bit of difference, I don’t think calling on him to be impeached a third time is going to help. We’re going to need new strategies, new candidates, and new merch.
: Q Is there anyone in the Montreal area who can safely inject saline into a man’s scrotum?
A: Scrotal inflation is a niche kink — not many people are into it — but Quebec wouldn’t be Canada’s kinkiest province if it weren’t for the critical mass of kinksters who call Montreal home. So I’m guessing there’s probably at least one pervert in Montreal who can safely blow your sack up to the size of a basketball. But that particular pervert isn’t in my list of contacts, which means you’ll have to find them yourself.
: Q When my girlfriend eats my pussy, there’s no problem! When my husband eats my pussy, I invariably get a yeast infection. It’s actually starting to piss him off. Help!
A: Wait, your husband is giving you yeast infections — or his epidermal microbiome is — and he’s pissed off? Aren’t you the wronged party here? Maybe a dermatologist could help and/or maybe your husband could go down on your girlfriend a few times in the hopes that her epidermal microbiome re-seeds his. But if your husband can’t go down on you without giving you a yeast infection, then he doesn’t get to go down on you. I had a serious boyfriend who was allergic to my semen (that’s a thing) but loved facials. I couldn’t come on his face, but other guys could. And did I whine about it? Did I get pissed off? No and no. I arranged for other guys to come on his face right after I came on theirs.
: Q May I ask a personal question? What is your relationship like with your husband’s boyfriend? I can only imagine that it must be complicated.
A: My relationship with my husband’s boyfriend is a lot less complicated than my relationship with my husband.
: Q Could you please recommend a lube that doesn’t irritate vulvas/vaginas?
A: Some women swear by water-based lubricants; others swear by silicone-based lubricants. Water-based lubes can get tacky and need to be reapplied but are easily washed off; silicone-based lubes stay slick a lot longer and require fewer reapplications but they’re harder to wash off. Individual results/preferences vary.
Women and other readers with vulvas/vaginas are invited to shout out their favorite lube brands in the comments.
: Q Me and my new partner — great sex begins at 49 (and after divorce!) — do a lot of pretend breast feeding. The pretend breast feeding is intimate, erotic, matronly, and so sexy for both of us. But the guilt after sucks. How do I not feel guilty about this?
A: As perversions go, your kink barely registers as a kink. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy sucking on their partner’s nipples? Most of us aren’t consciously invoking (or acting out) pretend breast-feeding sessions, but on some level we’re latching onto distant sense/sensual memories. And even if this is weird, which it isn’t, who cares? You enjoy it, she enjoys it, it gets you both off, and you’re not forcing anyone to watch or participate who doesn’t want to watch or participate. And if it makes you feel better, there are far worse kinks out there. Enjoy your partner’s tits and thank your lucky stars you’re not into coprophilia or crypto.
: Q What cautions should I take as a gay Dom to prevent consensual kink and pain play from being misconstrued later as abuse or assault? A sub wants to be slapped, trampled, and [fat-shamed]. Do I need some sort of contract?
A: “Communication is the best caution we Doms can take,” says The Funny Dom, a kink educator, author, and content creator who lives — and dominates subs — in Australia. “Things can’t be misconstrued if they’ve been plainly and specifically discussed and planned — and safewords agreed to — before they’re carried out. But absolutely he could look at drawing up a ‘contract’ that they both read and sign, as a way of really formalizing consent, and making sure they’re literally on the same page.”
The Funny Dom and I both want to emphasize that slave contracts or play contracts aren’t legally binding — because of course they’re not — and your sub is free to withdraw his consent at any moment. If you keep going after he uses his safeword or tells you to stop, you will have crossed the line that separates kink play from abuse and assault.
Follow The Funny Dom on Instagram and Threads @TheFunnyDomReturns. The third installment of The Funny Dom’s Guide to Kink is out now!
Read the full column online at savage.love. Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love!
Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love
CULTURE Free Will Astrology
By Rob Brezsny
ARIES: March 21 – April 19
Aries poet Charles Baudelaire said that if you want to fully activate your personal genius, you will reclaim and restore the intelligence you had as a child. You will empower it anew with all the capacities you’ve developed as an adult. I believe this is sensational advice for you in 2025, Aries. In my understanding of the astrological omens, you will have an extraordinary potential to use your mature faculties to beautifully express the wise innocence and lucid perceptions you were blessed with when you were young.
TAURUS: April 20 – May 20
In many Asian myths, birds and snakes are depicted as adversaries. Their conflict symbolizes humanity’s problems in coordinating the concerns of earth and heaven. Desire may be at odds with morality. Unconscious motivations can be opposed to good intentions. Pride, self-interest, and ambition might seem incompatible with spiritual aspirations,
high-minded ideals, and the quest to transcend suffering. But here’s the good news for you, Taurus: In 2025, I suspect that birds and snakes will cooperate rather harmoniously. You and they will have stirring, provocative adventures together.
GEMINI: May 21 – June 20
Using a fork to eat food was slow to gain acceptance in the Western world. Upper-class Europeans began to make it a habit in the 11th century, but most common folk regarded it as a pretentious irrelevancy for hundreds of years. Grabbing grub with the fingers was perfectly acceptable. I suspect this scenario might serve as an apt metaphor for you in 2025. You are primed to be an early adapter who launches trends. You will be the first to try novel approaches and experiment with variations in how things have always been done. Enjoy your special capacity, Gemini. Be bold in generating innovations.
CANCER: June 21 – July 22
Psychologist Abraham Maslow defined “peak experiences” as “rare, exciting, oceanic, deeply moving, exhilarating, elevating experiences that generate an advanced form of perceiving reality, and are even mystic and magical in their effect upon the experimenter.” The moment of falling in love is one example. Another may happen when a creative artist makes an inspiring breakthrough in their work. These transcendent interludes may also come from dreamwork, exciting teachings, walks in nature, and responsible drug use. (Read more at tinyurl.com/PeakInterludes.) I bring these ideas to your attention, Cancerian, because I believe the months ahead will be prime time for you to cultivate and attract peak experiences.
LEO: July 23 – August 22
pleased that I’ve made dramatic progress in liquidating much of the perverse cultural conditioning that imprinted me as I was growing up. I’ve largely liberated myself from racism, sexism, classism, ableism, heteronormativity, looksism, and even egotism. How are you doing with that stuff, Virgo? The coming months will be a favorable time to work on this honorable task. What habits of mind and feeling have you absorbed from the world that are not in sync with your highest ideals?
LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22
Here’s one of my predictions for you in 2025, Libra: You will reach the outer limits of your domain and then push on to explore beyond those limits. Here’s another prediction: You will realize with a pleasant shock that some old expectations about your destiny are too small, and soon you’ll be expanding those expectations. Can you handle one further mind-opening, soul-stretching prophecy? You will demolish at least one mental block, break at least one taboo, and dismantle an old wall that has interfered with your ability to give and receive love.
expand your understanding of the nature of muses. They may be intriguing people and might also take the form of voices in your head, ancestral mentors, beloved animals, famous creators, or spirit guides.
CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19
Astrologers in ancient China had the appalling view that over two-thirds of all omens are negative, threatening, or scary. I haven’t seen formal research into the biases of modern Western stargazers, but my anecdotal evidence suggests they tend to be equally pessimistic. I regard this as an unjustified travesty. My studies have shown that there’s no such thing as an inherently ominous astrological configuration. All portents are revelations about how to successfully wrangle with our problems, perpetrate liberation, ameliorate suffering, find redemption, and perform ingenious tweaks that liberate us from our mind-forged manacles. They always have the potential to help us discover the deeper meanings beneath our experiences. Everything I just said is essential for you to keep in mind during 2025.
AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18
I’m sure some of you have grandiose ideas of change, self improvement and the like. Don’t let failure get you down, that’s what your favorite watering hole and drinking buddies are for.
According to my analysis of the astrological omens, your life in 2025 will be pretty free of grueling karmic necessity. You will be granted exemptions from cosmic compulsion. You won’t be stymied by the oppressive inertia of the past. To state this happy turn of events more positively, you will have clearance to move and groove with daring expansiveness. Obligations and duties won’t disappear, but they’re more likely to be interesting than boring and arduous. Special dispensations and kind favors will flow more abundantly than they have in a long time.
VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22
One of my most enjoyable goals in life has been to expunge my “isms.” I’m
SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21: If you’re not married and would like to be, 2025 might be your best chance in years to find wedded bliss. If an existing intimate bond is less than optimal, the coming months will bring inspiration and breakthroughs to improve it. Let’s think even bigger and stronger, Scorpio, and speculate that you could be on the verge of all kinds of enhanced synergetic connections. I bet business and artistic partnerships will thrive if you decide you want them to. Links to valuable resources will be extra available if you work to refine your skills at collaboration and togetherness.
SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21
I wonder how you’ll feel about the fact that I’m declaring 2025 to be the Year of the Muses for you Sagittarians. Will you be happy that I expect you to be flooded with provocative clues from inspiring influences? Or will you regard the influx of teachings and revelations as chaotic, confusing, or inconvenient? In the hope you adopt my view, I urge you to
Over the years, a few people who don’t know me well have accused me of “thinking too much” or “overthinking.” They’re wrong. While I aspire to always be open to constructive criticism, I’m sure that I don’t think too much. Not all my thoughts are magnificent, original, and high-quality, of course; some are generated by fear and habit. However, I meticulously monitor the flow of all my thoughts and am skilled at knowing which ones I should question or not take seriously. The popular adage “Don’t believe everything you think” is one of my axioms. In 2025, I invite you Aquarians to adopt my approach. Go right ahead and think as much as you want, even as you heighten your awareness of which of your thoughts are excellent and which are not.
PISCES:
Feb.19 – March 20
I’m pleased, bordering on gleeful, that your homecoming is well underway. All the signs suggest that as 2025 unfolds, you will ripen the processes of deepening your roots and building a stronger foundation. As a result, I expect and predict that your levels of domestic bliss will reach unprecedented heights. You may even create a deeply fulfilled sense of loving yourself exactly as you are and feeling like you truly belong to the world you’re surrounded by. Dear Pisces, I dare you to cultivate more peace of mind than you’ve ever managed to arouse. I double-dare you to update traditions whose emotional potency has waned.
Homework: Whether or not you believe in reincarnation, imagine that you lived another life. Where was it? Who were you? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
JAMES NOELLERT
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