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4 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com News & Views Feedback 4 News 6 Informed Dissent 8 The Incision ......................... 10 Cover Story A hipper Hazel Park? 12 What’s Going On Things to do this week 16 Music Feature 20 Food Review 22 Bites 24 Weed One-hitters 28 Culture Film ...................................... 30 Savage Love 32 Horoscopes 34 Vol. 42 | No. 44 | August 24-30, 2022 Copyright: The entire contents of the DetroitMetro Times are copyright 2022 by Euclid Media Group LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. The publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Prior written permission must be granted to Metro Times for additional copies. Metro Times may be distributed only by Metro Times’ authorized distributors and independent contractors. Subscriptions are available by mail inside the U.S. for six monthsat $80 and a yearly subscription for $150. Include check or money order payable to: Metro Times Subscriptions, P.O. Box 20734,Ferndale, MI, 48220. (Please note: Third Class subscription copies are usually received 3-5 days after publication date in theDetroit area.) Most back issues obtainable for $7 prepaid by mail. Printed on recycled paper 248-620-2990Printed By Publisher - Chris Keating Associate Publisher - Jim Cohen EDITORIAL Editor in Chief - Lee DeVito Digital Content Editor - Alex Washington Investigative Reporter - Steve Neavling Staff Writer - Randiah Camille Green ADVERTISING Associate Publisher - Jim Cohen Regional Sales Director - Danielle Smith-Elliott Sales Administration - Kathy Johnson Account Manager, Classifieds - Josh Cohen BUSINESS/OPERATIONS Business Support Specialist - Josh Cohen Controller - Kristy Dotson CREATIVE SERVICES Creative Director - Haimanti Germain Art Director - Evan Sult Production Manager - Sean Bieri Graphic Designer - Aspen Smit CIRCULATION Circulation Manager - Annie O’Brien EUCLID MEDIA GROUP Chief Executive Officer - Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers - Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services - Stacy Volhein Digital Operations Coordinator - Jaime Monzon euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising - Voice Media Group vmgadvertising.com1-888-278-9866 Detroit Metro Times P.O. Box 20734 Ferndale, MI metrotimes.com48220 Got a story tip or feedback? Emailorletters@metrotimes.comcall313-202-8011 Want to advertise with us? Call 313-961-4060 Want us dropped off at your business, or have questions about circulation? Call 313-202-8049 Get social: @metrotimes Detroit distribution: The Detroit Metro Times is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. The Detroit Metro Times is published every Wednesday by Euclid Media Group. Verified Audit MemberOn the cover: Photo by Joe Vaughn NEWS & VIEWS We received comments in response to photographer Amy Sacka’s photo essay showing lovers on Belle Isle. Aww I got engaged there. Me and my hubby have been married 19 years! Good place to be in love. —Kristian Garrison, Facebook Who hasn’t fallen a little bit more in love on Belle Isle. —Erin Marquis, Facebook Beautiful. Philip Levine would be proud. Great piece. —@daniellockhar, Instagram Thank you so much for celebrating this remarkable Detroit photographer! Amy Sacka has been celebrating our city for years now, not just the “special” but the ordinary of our city and its people. She holds up a mirror so that we see the best of ourselves. —@patricialaydorsey, Instagram Thank you Metro Times for publishing this piece. We need more love and light. At least I think so. —@amysacka, Instagram Inspired to make my own photo essay now. It’s gonna be the complete opposite tho. People at home, alone laying on the couch with a bag of chips. —@scotteberline, Instagram Feedback
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The extreme 1931 law makes no exceptions for rape or incest and only permits abortion in cases where the life of the mother is at stake. Roe v. Wade had effectively canceled out the law, but it was never taken off the books. Now that the landmark Roe case had been overturned by the conservative U.S. Supreme Court, Michigan officials are scrambling to prevent the old law from being enforced. “We can’t expect doctors to read the minds of a prosecutor and to try to figure out what a prosecutor thinks that life-saving exception means. That is precisely what would happen if the preliminary injunction is not issued,” Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit said during closing arguments Thursday, according to Crain’s Detroit Business
The back and forth has been confus ing to say the least.
Citizens Supporting Michigan Wom en and Children is asking the Board of State Canvassers not to certify the initiative. The group claims the petition is “filled with 43 serious errors.”
zens Supporting Michigan Women and Children, said in a statement. “Amend ing the constitution is serious business, and these people didn’t take it seriously enough even to proofread their own language.”Though some words do appear to be squished together, it’s hardly incom prehensible with a little common sense.
By Lee DeVito
By Randiah Camille Green
The errors in question on the petition include text like PRENATALCARE.”“INCLUDINGBUTNOTLIMITEDTOLATINGTOPREGNANCY”SIONSABOUTALLMATTERSRE“DECIand
Detroit’s Albert Kahn-designed Belle Isle Aquarium celebrated its 10th anniversary since reopening and its 118th birthday on Thursday by unveiling its new octopus tank. According to the Belle Isle Conservancy, it’s the only public aquarium in Michigan to have one.
The tank was donated by Jon Cotton, who said he was inspired by visiting the Houston Zoo as a child. This year, the aquarium also welcomed new additions including garden eels and the endangered axolotl, a Mexican salamander.
KLOCKOWMARC
Cunningham heard two days of testimony from medical profession als before making his decision on the injunction. Whitmer filed a lawsuit back in April asking the Michigan Supreme Court to determine whether abortion is pro tected by the state’s constitution, which is still ongoing.
“The lack of legal clarity about abor tion in Michigan has already caused far too much confusion for women who deserve certainty about their health care, and hardworking medical provid ers who should be able to do their jobs without worrying about being thrown behind bars,” Whitmer said in a state ment. “Once, over the course of a single day, abortion was legal in the morning, illegal around lunch time, and legal in the evening.”
PHOTOCOURTESY
6 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com
Once again, judge rules Michigan prosecutors cannot enforce 1931 abortion ban
Meanwhile, an anti-abortion group filed a claim on Thursday to disqualify the Reproductive Freedom for All amendment from the November ballot because the petition is missing spaces between several words. The ballot measure would enshrine abortion rights into the state’s con stitution if adopted by voters in the November election.
THE FIGHT OVER Reproductive rights in Michigan continues to unfold like a never-ending soap opera. On Friday, a Michigan judge ruled county prosecutors cannot enforce the state’s outdated abortion ban from 1931.
Christen Pollo, spokesperson for Citi
Reproductive Freedom for All turned in a record 753,759 signatures for the petition, errors and all, in July. Only about 452,000 signatures were needed to get the amendment on the Novem berAttorneysballot. for Citizens Support ing Michigan Women and Children wrote “the nonexistent words cannot become part of the Michigan Constitu tion because they are not text,” Crain’s reported.Theboard is scheduled to meet on Aug. 31 to further consider the issue.
The Belle Isle Aquarium is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Ad mission is free. More information is available at belleisleconservancy.org.
Oakland County Circuit Judge Jacob Cunningham issued a preliminary injunction on the abortion law following a temporary restraining order requested from Governor Gretchen Whitmer that was granted by a judge several weeks ago. The restraining order blocked coun ty prosecutors from charging medical providers for performing abortions, and came almost immediately after a Court of Appeals panel ruled prosecutors were exempt from a previous injunction against the ban.
“The text of the amendment is filled with run-on words that are incompre hensible, making an already confusing amendment impossible to understand,”
Belle Isle Aquarium finally has an octopus, and they need help naming him
NEWS & VIEWS
THE OLDEST AQUARIUM in the country has a new eight-legged resident.
Belle Isle Aquarium director Summer Ritner said guests have shown a lot of interest in the creatures over the years. “Guests continually ask if we have an octopus at the Aquarium,” she said in a statement. “I’m sure this addition will become a favorite of visitors and school groups for years to come.” The octopus doesn’t have a name yet. Over the next week, guests can submit name ideas on the Belle Isle Conservancy Instagram account, @bel leisleaquarium. (According to a publicist, the octopus is a boy.)
I don’t recognize our state’s GOP anymore. Not too long ago, I campaigned for Rick Snyder and his non-partisan and transparent leadership. It pains me to say it, but as a lifelong conservative, I cannot sup port Republican candidates who are out of touch with reality.Regardless of how you feel about Trump, these candidates are too focused on an old election to focus on delivering results. Michigan has serious problems, and we need leaders who look toward the future, not through a rearview mirror.
Reavis Graham is a former Republican from Milford. He wanted a race war. Instead, Michigan man gets 20 years in prison.
“I refuse to allow domestic terrorists to incite violence against our residents and communities,” said Nessel. “I am proud to work alongside law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels to safeguard the public from these serious threats and gratified to see justice served.” Watkins was also sentenced to 32 months in prison in May for conspiring to train for a civil war. In that case, Watkins, Gorman, and Tristan Webb broke into the va cant Michigan Department of Corrections Camp Tuscola annex and Tuscola Residential ReEntry Program in Caro in October 2020 and stealing state-issued clothing from one of the Prosecutorsjails.allege they were scoping the site as potential training grounds for “hate camps,” which is the name the group gave its paramilitary firearms training exercises.
By Reavis Graham
Dixon previously said she was pro-life with no exceptions for rape, incest, or the mother’s life. She now claims to advocate exceptions for a mother’s life but still said last month that a 14-year-old victim of incestual rape was a “perfect example” of prohibiting abortion.Shehas taken up other far-right crusades, support ing a “Don’t Say Gay” bill, speaking at anti-vaccine ral lies, waging war with drag queens, and claiming Gov. Gretchen Whitmer intentionally released COVID-19 into nursing homes. At an anti-public safety protest, Dixon said Whitmer “has a Gestapo to come by for her,” referencing the secret police of Nazi Germany.
By Steve Neavling THE LEADER OF a white supremacist group was sentenced to 56 months to 20 years in the slammer for terrorizing a Dexter family, the Michigan Attorney Gen eral’s Office said Thursday. Justen Watkins is the self-proclaimed leader of The Base, a pro-Hitler movement that advocates for a race war against non-white people with the goal of using violence “to overthrow the existing social and political order,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Watkins and Alfred Gorman were charged in October 2020 for terrorizing a family in Dexter. The men targeted what they mistakenly believed was a home owned by Daniel Harper, a podcaster who combats white national ism on “I Don’t Speak German.”
Two days after receiving Trump’s endorsement, Dix on wouldn’t answer whether she believed the election was stolen. However, during May and July debates, she confidently said that she believed Trump won the 2020 election in Michigan and the country. In 2021, she suggested that a left-wing group was involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection and tweeted, “Steal an election then hide behind calls for unity and leftists lap it up.”
Kristina Karamo is running for secretary of state. I’ll admit, I don’t know everything that the secretary of state does, but, clearly, based upon her back ground and comments, Karamo has no business holding this office. Trump has taken an interest in this race because this office is in charge of elec tion administration. Until last year, Karamo was an unknown poll worker who began appearing on Fox News to claim that illegal ballots were tallied at the former TCF Center in Detroit. Karamo believes Trump won the 2020 election and, this month, shared a link to a post that claimed Trump already won 2024 and will restore “justice against the en emies of KaramoAmerica.”supports QAnon and other far-right conspiracies. She claimed that anyone who supports reproductive rights “must worship Satan.” Karamo even attacked Ariana Grande for putting children “under a satanic delusion,” blamed Beyoncé for lead ing “Black Americans into paganism,” and called Jay-Z a “Satanist.”Lastly,Matt DePerno is running for attorney general. He is one of the biggest proponents of Stop the Steal, meeting with Trump on Jan. 6, appearing at Capitol rallies calling for a “forensic audit,” and leading the conspiracy-laden and ultimately failed litigation effort that sought to overturn Antrim County’s election. This month, DePerno was named in a criminal investigation of alleged voting machine tampering.Asattorney general, DePerno says he will prosecute women and their doctors — with no exceptions — for seeking abortions. As a lawyer, DePerno was fired from his firm for padding client billings, investigated for legal malpractice, and accused of assaulting a client. It’s time to move on from the 2020 election, but that’s hard to do with candidates that all have taken up the crusade against our elections, elected officials, the rule of law, and democracy. We should all recog nize that there is a cost to this craziness, and that cost is a lack of leadership that’s focused on fixing real issues. If we want responsible leadership in Lansing, then voting for candidates who are true public ser vants, even Democrats, is the only option.
In September 2019, a U.S. Army soldier in Kansas was arrested on accusations of providing instructions online about how to build bombs to burn down Harper’s house.
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SHUTTERSTOCKWASHTENAWCOUNTYSHERIFF’SOFFICE
I’M HAVING DÉJA vu after this month’s primary. Last summer, after our Republican-led state senate found no fraud in the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump said, “The Senate ‘investigation’ of the election is a coverup.” He then called Detroit the “most corrupt election city in the U.S.” Since then, he has made it his mission to take revenge on our state, endorsing more than 20 candi dates up and down the ballot. In return, these candi dates endorse similar baseless claims about the 2020 election and other anti-democratic conspiracies.
The home was owned by a man with the same name, but not the podcaster.
It’s hard to know where to start with our menu of GOP candidates. At the top of the ticket for governor, Tudor Dixon wants you to think she is a moderate conservative. But don’t be fooled. The real Dixon is dangerous and extreme.
Opinion: I’m a former Republican. What happened to Michigan’s GOP?
8 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com
SHUTTERSTOCK
“I don’t think him being behind bars would stop him from winning the Republican nomination,” a Republican consultant told NBC News, quite ac curately.Butwinning a nomination and win ning an election are different things. Even in a polarized era, in which most voters care more about the party than the candidate, extremists and idiots lose votes. The more extreme and idi otic the candidate, the more votes they lose. The far-right positions and jackass bellicosity required for a candidate to win a Republican nomination are going to cost the party seats this year. I can’t help but wonder if Ron DeSantis and Doug Mastriano will be 2034’s Pat Toomey — candidates who redefined extremism, only to have someone else redefine it later. A party on this trajectory should have trouble competing outside of the reddest dis tricts in the reddest states. Of course, I said the same thing in 2010. Get more at billman.substack.com.
Informed Dissent
The Republican propaganda machine is eating its own.
Trump, for example, believes the Mar-a-Lago search helps him political ly. In a way, it does. By playing martyrin-chief, he raised a ton of money that might have otherwise gone to Jim Baker’s apocalypse buckets. He also got a huge bump in the polls against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who was just in Pennsylvania campaigning for the antisemite-curious Mastriano.
NEWS & VIEWS
Not coincidentally, Democrats have regained the (very narrow) lead on the generic ballot for the first time since November.Duetogerrymandering, that lead probably isn’t strong enough to keep the House in Democratic hands, and it might prove ephemeral anyway. Biden remains less popular than Trump was at this point in his presidency, and Republicans got smashed in 2018. And the axiom that the general public doesn’t tune in until after Labor Day isn’tButwrong.think about what regular people will see when they start paying atten tion: a crop of candidates so infected by Fox News Brain that they won’t pivot to the general election. They denied the 2020 election results, committed to banning abortion, and backed Trump like drones prostrating before a cult leader during the primary; now they wonder why that strategy doesn’t have mass appeal. As Trump and his acolytes celebrate Rep. Liz Cheney’s 37-point loss in the Wyoming primary last week, they fail to imagine what everyone else sees: a party rejecting a conservative apostate whose only crime was prizing democ racy over Donald Trump. As they attack the FBI — one congressional candidate called for Attorney General Merrick Garland’s execution — for recover ing stolen classified documents from Trump’s house, they fail to realize that beyond their base, the public believes the Mar-a-Lago search was justified. The Republican propaganda machine is eating its own. Candidates who only consume right-wing media and only sit for friendly, softball interviews — a trend among Republicans this year — are mistaking the passions of a few for the beliefs of the many.
The Republican Party is destroying itself in its drift to the far right By Jeffrey C. Billman Living in Philadelphia dur ing the Tea Party wave of 2010, I had a close-up view of where the Republican Party was headed. After Sen. Arlen Specter, the icon Pennsylvania moder ate, provided one of three Republican votes for President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus, the GOP’s rightwing labeled him a RINO and put a target on his back. When Specter realized that he would lose the Republican primary to Pat Toomey, the head of Club for Growth, he switched parties, hoping to find succor among Democrats. Though the party establishment lined up behind him, Specter lost the Democratic pri mary to Joe Sestak, who lost the general election to Toomey, who took office on the vanguard of the conservative right. Twelve years later, Toomey isn’t seeking a third Senate term. If he did, he almost certainly would have lost in the Republican primary. He, too, was labeled a RINO for not wholeheartedly embracing President Donald Trump. And that was before he voted to convict Trump following the second impeachment. The state GOP publicly rebuked him. Instead, Pennsylvania Republicans have backed the Trumpselected Dr. Oz, who is running one of the most dogshit Senate campaigns in history. They also supported Doug Mastriano, another Trump-backed, farright election denier who pals around with antisemites and appears likely to lose a winnable election for governor in November.That’sbecome a common refrain this year: Trump’s preferred candidates have dominated Republican primaries but struggled to build mass appeal. Oz looks hapless. In Georgia, Herschel Walker can’t string together a coherent sentence. JD Vance’s snide populism is turning a safe bet in Ohio into an actual horse race. Blake Masters, a subsidiary of right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel, is the Democrats’ best friend in Arizona. Even Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who’s been huffing the MAGA glue like a fiend, is behind. Republicans are starting to recognize their vulnerability. “Having amateur candidates who’ve never run for office before carrying the banner for the Re publican Party in critical Senate races is a risky maneuver,” a Republican pollster told The Washington Post Last week, Mitch McConnell came close to admitting that the Senate was slipping from his grasp. “I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate,” he said. “Sen ate races are just different — they’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.”
And Republicans can no longer bank on President Joe Biden’s unpopularity tanking his party this fall. The Supreme Court’s abortion decision rattled not just the Democratic base but also sub urban and young voters. In addition, gas prices are falling, and Biden has racked up a series of legislative wins, over blanket Republican opposition, on issues like veteran health care and Medicare drug pricing that poll in the stratosphere. (Meanwhile, under Sen. Rick Scott, who ran one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in American history, the National Republican Sena torial Committee is lighting money on fire.)
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looking for tangible ways to measure our shared commitment to one another — and the number of times someone cheats a four-way stop is helpful, a “four-way trust quotient” if you will. There are several three- or four-way stops I drive through regu larly, and I’ve found that the number of drivers who cheat the stops has gone way up over the past several years. It speaks to a broader set of trends that worry me. To understand why, consider that there are a few possible reasons why people cheat four-way stops. Some simply feel entitled to it. They are just better than having to stop and wait for others. Others, perhaps because of the entitled few, have stopped trusting the system to deliver on what it promises — they cheat before they’re cheated. Then there are those that are just too distracted to pay attention. Who are the entitled in our political and economic systems? They certainly include the folks who’ve gamed it to de liver more wealth to the very pinnacle of our income distribution than history has ever seen. There are the billionaires that create elaborate schemes to hide their wealth and avoid paying taxes. There are the corporate leaders that have gamed the system to consolidate their market position and moved their money offshore to protect it, only to bring it home to influence our elections to ensure that nothing fundamentally changes. And we can’t forget the politi cians whose power depends on that money.Beyond cheating the system, they promote cultural tropes that say that justify it. They hide behind the cultural notion that it was their “hard work” or “smarts’’ that got them there. Not only are they the system’s most corrupt takers, they believe themselves to be makers. This is not to say that power or wealth imply entitlement or rule break ing, but it is to say that entitlement and rule breaking are an increasingly easy path to wealth. Then there are the folks who watch them, sick and tired of losing turn after turn. If everyone cheats, they reason, I might as well do the same. These are the people who give up on the system. They decided that a system so eas ily cheated isn’t worth investing in. Millions of Americans are making this choice every single day. Struggling to afford a mortgage or rent, watching their health insurance deductibles creep ever upward, sending their kids to schools that haven’t been upgraded since they went there — it’s not even that they want to get ahead, it’s that they don’t want to keep falling behind Finally, there are the ones who are too distracted to pay attention. Sadly, they’re the majority. They’ve been told that nothing can or will fundamen tally change, so they simply check out. Sometimes they cut the line. Some times they’re too distracted to even know that it’s their turn. What does it matter anyway? It wasn’t built for them.This isn’t just a metaphor. For those of us anxious about the ways our politics are driving us apart, it’s easy to blame “Washington” for what’s hap pening. And trust me, they’ve earned every ounce of it. However painful it is to admit, our leaders reflect something in us. What we do in our communities builds to our broken national politics — and those politics shape our choices nearer to home. While waiting your turn at a four-way stop may not solve the broken incen tives that are polarizing Washington, it normalizes the notion that we cannot trust or demand better from them. It tells everyone else that it’s everybody for themselves, rather than everybody for each Becauseother.when something breaks, we have a choice about what we do about it. Do we defend it, try to fix it? Or do we participate in breaking it further? When it comes to our politics, I hope we choose the former. And maybe that starts with us, a lot closer to home.
Trusting systems — any system — is getting harder to do. But choosing to cheat the system is worse.
The Incision
NEWS & VIEWS
SHUTTERSTOCK
What four-way stops can teach us about this moment in America By Abdul El-Sayed
Originally published May 24 by The Incision. Get more at abdulelsayed. substack.com.
10 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com
If you’ve ever driven a car, chances are you’ve stopped at a fourway stop. You know, where two roads intersect at four stop signs. The rules are simple. It’s your turn only after every car that was there before you has gone. If everyone follows the rules, it creates an emergent system, a simple round robin that flows so long as there are cars at the stop signs. But every once in a while, someone cheats.Thestakes are small enough that the system isn’t enforced, after all. And cheating on a four-way stop doesn’t really harm anyone else. What’s a few more seconds at the intersection in the end? Which is also why the value of cheating is so low. But people do it anyway. They inconvenience their fellow drivers, usually neighbors — or at least people with whom you share a community — to gain just a few more seconds.I’malways
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Then a friend recommended Hazel Park. “Hazel Park? What’s in Hazel Park?” he recalls responding.Turnsout, there’s a lot going on these days in Hazel Park, a 2.8-square-mile city that is experiencing a renaissance.Thecouple found a two-bedroom apartment in Ha zel Park for $850 a month, just blocks from a stretch of John R Road that is undergoing a transformation.
?IN2020,TWOYEARS
A longtime blue-collar suburb bordering Detroit, Ferndale, Madison Heights, and Warren, Hazel Park was known for decades for its horse racing, dive bars, and greasy spoons. Today, it’s home to a sizable LGBTQ community, two high-end restaurants, new condos, eight recre ational cannabis dispensaries (plus the state’s first marijuana consumption lounge), and an industrial
Top: From horse-racing to high-end pop-ups, young professionals flock to a hipper Hazel Park. Bottom: Yani Frye prepares a creative cocktail at FRAMEbar.
from college, Brandon Gaines was bored with his hometown of Rochester Hills and began searching for a new place to live with his boyfriend. They looked at all the usual places for young pro fessionals in metro Detroit — Ferndale, Royal Oak, Midtown. Each had an eclectic mix of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops within walking distance of apartments.Butallwere well beyond their budget.
“Moving here was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” Gaines said. “The community has accepted us, and I feel more at home here than I ever did in Roch ester Hills. Everything I need is right here.”
AFTER GRADUATING
STEVE NEAVLING JOE VAUGHN A experiencingblue-collarWhyHazelhipperParkthelongtimesuburbisarenaissanceBySteveNeavling FEATURE
12 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com
Hip, high-end eateries
In the next five years, HAZEL PARK is going to
E X P L O D E . ” JOE VAUGHN STEVE NEAVLING STEVE NEAVLING
Clockwise, from top: Diners at the trendy Frame restaurant. Young entrepreneurs are revamping the Eastern Palace Club, which closed last year. This year, LGBTQ-friendly Hazel Park celebrated its second annual Pride month celebration. park that has embraced the new green economy. Young professionals are drawn to the relatively inexpensive houses, hip new businesses, and the city’s close proximity to I-696 and I-75.
In September 2015, renowned chef James Rigato helped set Hazel Park on a new path when he opened his restaurant, Mabel Gray, inside an abandoned din er on John R just south of Woodward Heights. Across the street was a blighted, long-vacant CVS pharmacy that is now being converted into a four-story building with apartments and retail stores. With exposed plaster walls, vintage tableware, and an open kitchen, the snug, 1,600-square-foot restau rant features a seasonal, constantly changing menu of fresh, local, and made-from-scratch ingredients.
In April 2021, the council passed a human rights ordinance to protect LGBTQ residents from discrimi nation, and in February 2022, the city banned conver sion therapy, the widely discredited practice that aims to “cure” LGBTQ people. A month later Hazel Park joined the psychedelic revolution by becoming the third city in the state to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms and other entheogenic plants, following Ann Arbor and Detroit.
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In April 2018, Doug’s Delight reopened with ice cream, milkshakes, slushies, brownies, cookies, and sundaes. Two years later, Chicago couple Matt and Mo Marzullo took over and set up a savory eatery inside called Matt and Mo’s Italian Beef, which sells authentic Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches (currently trendy thanks to the FX hit TV series The Bear), as well as hot dogs, toasted ravioli, cheddar fries, and pizza puffs. They still offer ice cream, too, including flavors like It’s a cool renaissance, and it’s just the beginning.
“The most important thing that happened is that everyone found out we’re open for business,” Hazel Park City Manager Ed Klobucher tells Metro Times “We’ve been very interested in bringing newer, updated businesses to Hazel Park. It was a conscious decision to attract some destination businesses.”
Mabel Gray has 22 employees, and most are fulltime.When Mabel Gray opened, an ice cream stand, Doug’s Delight, stood abandoned two blocks north of the restaurant. A staple in the community for nearly 50 years, Doug’s Delight closed when the owner died in August 2014. Then Rigato purchased the building, pouring about $400,000 into it.
Politically engaged new residents helped elect pro gressive city officials, and two of the five city council members are LGBTQ.
Mabel Gray quickly became a celebrated restaurant that draws people from all over Southeast Michigan, providing diners a glimpse of a city on the rise. In 2017, Mabel Gray won the coveted Detroit Free Press restaurant of the year and was featured in The New YorkRigatoTimes.bought a house in Hazel Park and is now one of the city’s biggest boosters. “I love Hazel Park,” Rigato tells Metro Times. “My goal was to open a funky space and have creative free dom. Sixteen hundred square feet allowed that. The Southeast Michigan community has embraced me.” Rigato knows it was an unorthodox decision to open up in Hazel Park, but as someone who spent time in the city in his young 20s, he saw the potential.
“It was a terrible idea,” Rigato half-jokes, “but it was good for the city. I’m playing the long game. I want it to be there in 30 years.”
The votes were unanimous. At 33, Luke Londo is the youngest city council member. He was elected to a four-year term in No vember.“Politics at this level is about community, not ideol ogy,” Londo tells Metro Times. “We sit down at the end of the day and talk about being good stewards of the residents. The decisions are simple. These are the things our constituents want.”
“Ferndale and Royal Oak are the darlings of the area, but to me, Hazel Park has always been the over looked, funky cousin,” he says.
In Hazel Park, John R stretches from Eight Mile to 10 Mile. The area south of Nine Mile has been dubbed the South End, where vacant buildings still dot the landscape. Only one restaurant, Pizza Connection, is open in the South End, even though John R is sur rounded by residential neighborhoods.
“Imagine being on a vacation,” Pierce tells Metro Times. “As soon as you walk in, you are transported to this beach-side dive bar. It’s really mind-blowing. You feel like you are transported somewhere warm and somewhere not necessarily in Michigan.”
Next door to Mabel Gray are two ephemeral restau rants with rotating chefs under one roof. In a nonde script building on John R near Woodward Heights, Frame and FRAMEbar have become destination diningOpenedspaces.byCari and Joe Vaughn in 2017, Frame is a restaurant within a restaurant, accessed through a false door near the bathrooms of FRAMEbar. With exposed brick and ethereal lighting, the hid den dining space offers something new every week end, from modern Moroccan cuisine to a traditional Mexican dinner, all cooked by celebrated chefs.
Frame is also used for workshops to teach about wines, breads, crêpes, caviar, sourdough, ceramics, and even astrology.
The 32-year-old hopes to open in September, but cus tomers may have to wait until next spring or summer.
Three blocks north on John R is Dairy Park, an abandoned, barn-shaped ice cream shop that had been a staple in the community since 1954. After several recent owners failed to keep the Dairy Park afloat, Mike Piciali is renting the unique build ing and offering a new menu: shredded meat sand wiches, burritos, and skillets with his signature crispy seasoned hash browns sold out of his popular food truck Shredderz. He’ll also serve ice cream, grilled cheeses, chorizo burritos, and pulled pork.
14 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com key lime pie, Midnight Train to Traverse, Blue Moon, Detroit Grand Slam, and cookies n’ cream.
WELOME TO THE SOUTH END
Seeing the potential, three young business partners — Mike Pierce, Dustin Leslie, and Adam O’Connor — are completely revamping the Eastern Palace Club, a Mediterranean restaurant that closed in September 2021, located on John R between W. Madge and W. Evelyn avenues. If all goes as planned, the Key West-themed Eastern Palace Club will open in September or October, with a tiki-themed bar and dining area with plenty of space to share a craft cocktail or mocktail with friends. Channeling tropical paradise vibes, the Eastern Palace Club will feature beach-inspired food from the people behind the Smoked Lotus BBQ pop-up. The menu is expected to include broasted chicken, ribs, barbecue rice rolls, and briskets.
“Hazel Park is an up-and-coming place,” Piciali tells Metro Times. “Ferndale and the surrounding cities are noticing what Hazel Park has to offer. There are a lot of great properties, and people want it to be better than what it has been.”
“Hazel Park is going to have a downtown,” Londo tells Metro Times. “I’m really hoping that in five years or so that John R is going to be similar to what you see in Ferndale, but we’re trying very deliberately to curate our own sense of identity. The goal of Hazel Park is to be a one-stop destination.”
Unlike many communities in Michigan, Hazel Park embraced cannabis legalization, providing a business-friendly environment that is paying back in dividends. Most of the new cannabusinesses occupy previously abandoned buildings, and all are contributing to the city’s cash-strapped budget.
The excise tax on recreational marijuana alone brought in more than $300,000 in the past year, says Hazel Park Councilman Mike McFall. A staple in the community for nearly 50 years, Doug’s Delight reopened and now houses Matt and Mo’s Ital ian Beef.
But city officials and entrepreneurs are beginning to transform the landscape, and they believe it’s going to be Hazel Park’s next bright spot.
STEVE NEAVLING
In front of the building is FRAMEbar, a restaurant with a full bar and outdoor patio. The menu rotates every month with a new chef and is paired with cocktails and music. This month features sushi chef ShinyaBehindHirakawa.FRAMEBar is a tented backlot with a bar, a shipping container kitchen with a wood- and gasfired oven, and plenty of space to hang out to watch films and comedians.
With all of the new developments in Hazel Park, nothing has been quite as impactful and noticeable as the legalization of recreational marijuana. The city now has eight adult-use dispensaries, more than any where else in metro Detroit, along with more than 30 other recreational and medical marijuana businesses — including the state’s first cannabis consumption lounge, Hot Box Social, just two blocks south of Ma bel Gray and Frame on John R.
Piciali doesn’t expect the transformation to happen overnight, but he says each new business is lifting up Hazel“DevelopingPark. piece by piece is going to get where it needs to be,” he says.
THE GREEN RUSH
Also along John R, city officials are planning to transform a vacant lot into what they’re calling, “Pop Up Hazel Park,” a space for pop-up businesses, food trucks, and a farmer’s market. The project is funded by a $450,000 grant from U.S. Rep. Andy Levin. Councilman Londo says it’s only a matter of time before a downtown takes shape, and points to Nine Mile Road in Ferndale as an example of how a small city can create a walkable destination with bars, res taurants, coffee shops, and retail stores.
“Sometimes we tell people we’re in Hazel Park, and they say, ‘Where?’” Mark Kurlyandchik, editorial director of Frame, tells Metro Times. “To us, this feels like the center of the universe. We’re exposing people from all over the region to Hazel Park.” With Frame and Mabel Gray on one block, and a planned mixed-use development across the street, city officials have envisioned the beginning of a downtown.“Wewould like more on the John R strip,” Kurly andchik says. “There are a lot of millennials moving in with a lot of new energy. We want to bring some diversity to Hazel Park and make it a vibrant down town.”
The restaurant owners also purchased a home across the street, which it uses to house visiting popup chefs from out of town.
“The city has been incredible to work with,” he says. “They welcomed me with open arms. Those guys sat down at the table and said, ‘How can we help?’ There was no delay. There were no zoning arguments.”
Pierce, who bought a house in Hazel Park about five years ago, says there’s “huge potential” in the South End. “It’s just the perfect time and place,” Pierce says. “I’ve seen what’s going on. With the city continuing to become an inclusive, up-and-coming area, we’re seeing this community go through a full shift where we’re getting a ton of artists and musicians. It’s a cool renaissance, and it’s just the beginning. In the next five years, Hazel Park is going to explode.”
Rigato, like many entrepreneurs who spoke with Metro Times, credits Hazel Park officials for creating a business-friendly environment.
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In addition, the cannabusinesses have provided hundreds of good-paying jobs with benefits, and many of those employees live in Hazel Park, where they spend a lot of their money.
“We’re trying to stay away from the Walmart weed and following parallels to the craft beer industry,” Goure says. The new businesses will help bolster the South End as a “destination location,” he says. Goure would like to see a financial institution in vest in the area, and for a major franchise and brewery to set up shop in the South End. “We are just thrilled,” Goure says. “We’ve been the stepchild of Hazel Park, and we have not received that much attention. I think this is the future. We are dressing up this whole South End and making it festive.”
“You really can’t find that anywhere,” the 26-yearold tells Metro Times And she would know. She’s now a real estate agent and is finding that homebuyers are drawn to Hazel Park for the relatively inexpensive prices.
“Marijuana has really helped change the percep tions of our city,” McFall says. “People who come here for marijuana may not have stepped in our communi ty otherwise. People are coming and eating and doing more. They are exploring more, and understanding what’s going on in the city.”
Goure began to notice attitudes were shifting when the city gave his friend, the famous stoner and marijuana advocate Tommy Chong, a key to the city in April 2015 when he stopped by B.D.T. Smoke Shops ahead of Ann Arbor’s Hash Bash. A year earlier, Hazel Park residents voted to de criminalize marijuana in the city. In November 2018, when recreational marijuana was legalized statewide at the ballot box, more than 75% of Hazel Park residents voted in favor of the initiative.
One of the major draws to Hazel Park is the relatively inexpensive houses. Of the 10 cities in southeastern Oakland County, Hazel Park has had the lowest me dian sales price of a home in years, according to real estate records.
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“All of the great things about Hazel Park does not mean it’s a gold rush,” Rigato says. “Affordable prices is why we’re here. If you want Hazel Park to be cool, stop being a slumlord. If you’re sitting on a piece of shit building and asking 30 bucks per square foot, you should reconsider your contributions to Hazel Park.”
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GOOD DEALS ON HOUSES
The owner, Curt Goure, is one of the city’s biggest boosters. He recently strung up 28 strands of LED lights outside his shop over John R with a banner that reads, “Welcome to Hazel Park’s South End.”
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“They have all been amazingly good corporate citizens, and they are always willing to donate money and time and resources to community events,” Klobu cher says.
FROM HORSES TO GREEN ENERGY
For decades, the blue-collar city was known for the Hazel Park Raceway, a horse-racing track built atop a garbage dump that took up 10% of the city’s geo graphic area. Thousands of people used to pack into the grandstands to watch thoroughbred racing. In 2018, the track closed for good, ending a nearly 70-year era. For a city that relied on tax revenues from the track, it could have been a nightmare to lose the raceway. But Hazel Park officials wasted no time finding a new purpose for the land. With the help of Ashley Capitol, the site is now used by businesses that help build a cleaner, greener economy. One of the companies is Exlterra, a sustain able technological solutions firm from Switzerland that moved its North American headquarters to Hazel Park. The company has a technology that helps clean up polluted sites without using chemical prod ucts or soil removal. “They are a modern-day Leonardo da Vinci with their ability to solve problems that people think are unsolvable,” Klobucher says. “We’re really proud of the international work they are doing.”
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Since Detroit and many other communities in the metro area don’t yet allow recreational marijuana dis pensaries within their borders, thousands of people are visiting Hazel Park every day to frequent the can nabusinesses.
Hazel Park has a long history with marijuana. For 49 years, B.D.T. Smoke Shops has been selling cannabis paraphernalia and other marijuana-related products, long before the proliferation of head shops. The indisputable anchor of the city’s South End, B.D.T., has drawn generations of stoners to Hazel Park. For many young people, it’s a rite of passage.
The median sale price for a home in Hazel Park was $160,000 in June 2022. That’s compared to: $300,000 in Berkley $580,000 in Beverly Hills $460,000 in Birmingham $250,000 in Clawson $250,000 in Ferndale $485,000 in Huntington Woods $243,000 in Oak Park $510,000 in Pleasant Ridge $325,000 in Royal Oak
“It’s a great time to buy, even in the craziness of the housing market,” Peil says. “It’s still affordable, especially with all of the growth over the past four or five years in Hazel Park, and I think we’re going to continue on that trajectory.”
The value of homes also is rising faster than most of the neighboring cities. The median sale price of a home in Hazel Park rose 39.1% in the past three years, more than all of the other southeastern Oakland County cities, with the exception of Beverly Hills (39.4%) and Oak Park (51.9%).
“Since being here for three years, I have really grown to like it. It’s the perfect location, and we’re only 12 minutes from downtown,” Peil says. “We have great neighbors. We’ve never felt unsafe. Everyone is really nice. I have been pleasantly surprised by how it feels to live here.”
Peil is a relative newcomer to metro Detroit, and happenstance brought her to Hazel Park. When she moved from Bay City to the metro area to be closer to her boyfriend, her friends were moving out of a rental in Hazel Park. She and her boyfriend moved in, and grew to appreciate the city.
“I have people looking in this neighborhood (Ford Heights), and they look at both places, and the one across the street in Ferndale is nice, but smaller and less of everything, and is like $80,000 to $100,000 more. People were offering $30,000 to $40,000 above asking price to live in Ferndale.”
For Maria Nuccilli, a librarian at Wayne State University and drummer in the band Deadbeat Beat, the appeal of Hazel Park isn’t the new businesses.
For B.D.T. Smoke Shops, marijuana is a three-gen eration business. In a few months, Goure’s daughter Dana Elgie plans to open a Class A microbusiness dis pensary and cultivation establishment, called Hive, next door to B.D.T.’s. The concept is to grow small amounts of high-quality cannabis.
“We are using the money to cover pensions,” McFall tells Metro Times. “We kicked the bucket down the road, and now we have to pay for it. If we didn’t have the dispensary money coming in, I honestly don’t know what we would do.”
Resident Carly Peil recently paid $150,000 for her 1,500-square-foot house with four bedrooms and two baths.
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With a population of about 16,500 residents, Hazel Park is still a long way from its peak of 25,631 people in 1960. But city officials and residents seem both vigilant and patient about a full revival.
Originally from Grosse Pointe, she and her husband Neil rented in Ferndale, Hamtramck, Pleasant Ridge, and Hazel Park. After renting in Hazel Park for eight years, they were won over by the friendliness of the city, and bought their home in August 2020.
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To make more headway, Rigato says the city must be tougher on owners of abandoned buildings. He says some landlords are sitting on properties, waiting for more money.
Peil lives a block-and-a-half from Ferndale, where the prices for houses are much higher.
“These are good jobs that people can support them selves on,” Klobucher says. The cannabusinesses also are giving back in chari table ways, providing funding for events and com munity organizations. The Breeze dispensary on John R, for example, contributes to Hazel Park Promise, an initiative to provide scholarships for high school graduates to attend college.
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Peil and her boyfriend frequent FrameBar, Mabel Gray, Doug’s Delight, the dispensaries, and Kozy Lounge, a popular dive bar. As a Realtor, Peil gets a lot of requests for houses in Ferndale, Royal Oak, and Madison Heights. She always encourages prospective buyers to check out Hazel Park. “A lot of my clients who aren’t looking at Hazel Park end up loving the feel of the neighborhood, the prices, and the homes,” she says. “Hazel Park is still under the radar. It’s becoming more popular. With the affordabil ity and all these new businesses, people are pleasantly surprised when they give Hazel Park a chance.”
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With all the new growth, Nuccilli says Hazel Park isn’t just about the newcomers.
Despite the acceptance of marijuana today, Goure says attitudes in the city were far more different even a decade ago. “We were the black sheep of the city,” Goure tells Metro Times. “The consensus in Hazel Park not that long ago was that marijuana was something bad. The city took a chance and embraced it. The war on drugs is a lost cause. People are over it.”
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“I like that the city and the neighbors aren’t preten tious,” she says. “We have great neighbors. They look out for each other. Once we moved to this side of town, we found our people.”
“I just hope the homeowners who have been here for a long time get to reap some kind of reward for be ing interested in this little town,” Nuccilli says. “I want to see the city grow and flourish for everyone.”
20 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Submit your events to metrotimes.com/calendar. Be sure to check venue websites for COVID-19 policies.
While the Detroit Cobras primarily played covers of classic and obscure tracks, it transcended being a mere bar band, with Nagy, sporting Bettie Page bangs and tattoos, and her band bringing a rock ’n’ roll edge to the songs.
As a celebration of Nagy’s life, the remaining members of her band — cofounder Mary Ramirez (guitar), Steve Nawara (guitar), Dale Wilson (bass), and Kenny Tudrick (drums) — are reunited to perform a tribute set. In Nagy’s place is guest vocalist Marcus Durant of San Francisco-based Zen Guerilla, who toured with the Detroit Cobras when he was part of the MC50 50th anniversary incarnation of De troit’s MC5. The bill is rounded out by the Compulsive Gamblers of Memphis (featuring Detroit Cobras collaborator Greg Cartwright), with the Sugar Tradi tion of Detroit, and Johnny Walker of the Soledad Brothers of Ohio. —Lee DeVito Doors open at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28 at the Magic Stick; 4120 Woodward Ave.,; 313-833-9700; majesticdetroit.com. Tickets are $10, with proceeds from the event donated in Nagy’s name to Detroit Animal Care.
Raven: Women Who Dare, along with Flint author Kelsey Ronan signing her debut novel Chevy and the Hole. De troit’s Jean Alicia Elster will also be on deck with her recent fiction effort How It Happens. Anita Fitch Panzer will be rolling into the Book Beat parking lot with The Topsy Turvy Bus, a functioning upsidedown school bus that runs on solar power and vegetable oil. Children can see inside the environmentally friendly project, learn about composting, and work on recycling projects. Panzer also authored a children’s book about the bus called The Topsy Turvy Bus. Music performances include soul singer Dar nell Kendricks, Ukrainian refuge artists Olga Yalovenko and Yaroslav Gnezdilov, and rock musicians Carolyn Striho and Scott Dailey. Leni Sinclair’s classic rock and jazz photography will also be displayed. Oh, and there’s cake. —Randiah Camille Green The anniversary celebration takes place from noon-5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28 at Book Beat; 26010 Greenfield Rd., Oak Park; thebookbeat.com. Admission is free.
WHAT’S GOING ON
SUN, 8/28 Book Beat 40th anniversary One of metro Detroit’s long-standing indie bookstores is celebrating 40 years with a day of author signings, music, and vendors. Book Beat in Oak Park has been serving the community since 1982. Its 40th-anniversary celebra tion will take place in and around the shop on Sunday, featuring the book launch for Photographs from Detroit, 1975-2019, a retrospective collection of lauded photographer Bruce Hark ness’s work. New York Times bestselling author Beverly Jenkins will be signing copies of her latest novel, To Catch a
—Lee DeVito Events start at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 26 and Sunday, Aug. 28 at PJ’s Lager House; 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-961-4668; pjslagerhouse.com. Admission is free.
FRI, 8/26-SUN, 8/28 ‘The End of an Era’ at PJ’s Lager House
After years of saying as much, last month, PJ’s Lager House owner PJ Ryder said he was selling his business in a deal (with the owner of the nextdoor James Oliver Coffee Co.) that is expected to be completed by the end of September. Shortly after the news was revealed, the long-standing Corktown music venue and bar announced its “The End of an Era” concert series, the first of which kicks off on Friday with Timmy’s Organ ism, the Cheetahs, the Chris Casselo Trio, the Firewalkers, and the Vibra tions. The second show in the series is scheduled for Sunday with soul singer Melvin Davis, who is celebrating his 80th birthday, along with the New Orleans-inspired Gabriel Brass Band. The shows continue into September and October, including a Sept. 13 show featuring all artists that work at the Lager House, or their family.
In January, the rock band the Detroit Cobras announced that its frontwoman Rachel Nagy had suddenly died. No cause of death was given. “There are no words to fully articulate our grief as we remember a life cut short, still vital and inspirational to all who knew and loved her,” the band wrote on Instagram. “With the Detroit Cobras Rachel Nagy carried the torch of Rock, Soul and R&B to fans all over the world.”
The late Rachel Nagy of the Detroit Cobras will be remembered on Sunday. DOUG COOMBE
SUN, 8/28 Rachel Nagy: Celebration of Life, Love, & Leaving
SAT, 8/27 SW Fest The second-annual family-friendly SWFest celebrates the diversity of Southwest Detroit’s music scenes, bringing 40 musical performances across three stages in and around the historic Senate Theater. Bocafloja, a rapper from Mexico City, is set to perform, along with plenty of local acts, including Siena Liggins, Gabriel Duran, Forever Golden, Neena Roe, Jahz Watts, Object, and Sara Marie Barron, among others. There will also be art, food, vendors, and other resources available to the community.
—Lee DeVito From 2-11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27 at the Senate Theater; 6424 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-894-0850; senatetheater.com. Admission is free.
EMPLOYMENT SW Engineer - Vehicle Motion Embedded Controls (VMEC), Milford, MI, General Motors. Gather &analyze architecture & SW technical reqmts from IBM DOORS & Rhapsody tools &Architecture & Calibrations Team, & formulate embedded SW reqmts. Engr, design, & dvlp embedded ECU for Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control & Anti-Lock Braking Systems controllers in ICE psgr vehicles & BEVs, using MATLAB, Simulink & C, on vehicle architecturebased Electronic Control Modules & Vehicle Integrated Control Modules. Perform embedded ECU testing in vehicle &on test bench, using dSPACE HIL, ETAS INCA, Vector CANap/CANoe tools, & Lauterbach HW, to verify functionality at Function, Controller & System levels prior to production release. Set technical objectives & tasks to implement production intent SW for infrastructure & platform SW components supporting communication for embedded ECUs in Embedded C, using Git, Gerrit, Jenkins, Eclipse, RTC tools, & following MISRA CERT C standards. Master, Electrical, Software, Automotive Systems, or Electronics Engrg. 12 mos exp as Engineer, testing or verifying that system or subsys meet OEM Function, Controller & System levels reqmts using dSPACE HIL, INCA, & CANape tools, on test bench, or related. Mail resume to Ref#38302, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Detroit,MC:482-C32-C66,Center,MI48265.
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SW for infrastructure & platform SW cmpts supporting communication for embedded ECUs in Embedded C, using Git, Jenkins, & RTC tools, & following MISRA CERT C standards, or related. Mail resume to Ref#499, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, Detroit,MC:482-C32-C66,MI48265. Wed 8/24 PATIO BAR OPEN@5PM Modelo Promo@6pm Thurs 8/25 WDET 101.9 COMEDY SHOWCASE SERIES “What’s So Funny About Detroit?” Hosted by Culture Shift’s Ryan Patrick Hooper Feat. 6 Detroit Stand-Up Comics! INFO&TICKETS@ Doors@6:30PM/Show@7:30PM*WDET.ORG/EVENTSMizzRUTH’SGRILL@5pm Fri 8/26 FUNK NIGHT MizzDoors@9/$5(monthly)CoverRUTH’SGRILL@7pm Sat 8/27 Something Elegant Dance Party ALL LADY DJ SETS (monthly) TOPP DOGG GRILL @7pm Mon 8/29 FREE POOL ALL DAY Tues 8/30 B. Y. O. R. Bring Your Own Records (weekly) You Can DJ! @9PM NO COVER! Sat 9/03 DETROIT YOGA LAB pres. Detroit Yoga in the Yard 12:30-1:30pm* $15 ticket incl. class & one detroityogalab.comcocktail Coming Up in September: 9/02 Delphinium Incarnate BURLESQUE 9/03 Yoga in the Yard@12:30p* 9/03 Pam Murphy Memorial Party 9/09 Parkhouse Night (monthly) 9/10 Old Miami DALLY DAY! DJ’s & more 9/15 LITERARY DEATH MATCH 9/16 Beauville and Friends 9/17 Seatbelts/Cinecyde/DrunkenCircusMonkey*weatherpermitting JELLO SHOTS always $1
EMPLOYMENT Software Engineer, Milford, MI, General Motors. Gather & analyze architecture & software technical requirements from IBM DOORS/Rhapsody & Architecture & Calibrations Team, & formulate new embedded SW reqmts. Engineer, design, & dvlp embedded ECU BSW for Ethernet controllers (Autonomous) in ICE & Battery Electric Vehicles using C. Configure Ethernet Stack/ Switches code & Integrate w/ controller GM Code. Perform embedded ECU testing in vehicle & on test bench using dSPACE HIL, ETAS INCA, & Vector CANoe. Set technical objectives & tasks to implement production intent SW for infrastructure & platform SW cmpts supporting communication for embedded ECUs in Embedded C, using Git EcoSystem, Gerrit, Jenkins, Packman, Artifactory, Eclipse, IBM RTC tools, & following MISRA CERT C standards, & GM SW dvlpmt process. Bachelor, Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Computer, or Automotive Engrg, or related. 60 mos exp as Engineer, Lead, or related, setting technical objectives & tasks to implement production intent
22 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com
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The set was put together by Chicago’s Numero Group, which is perhaps best known for its lavish reissues of weird obscurities. Numero co-founder Ken Shipley says the genesis of the box set was inspired by Chris Stein’s tape archive, which had been stored in his home near Woodstock.
“We went to Chris’s barn, and im mediately when we opened it up, it was just like, here’s a great project,” Shipley says. “This is a massive band whose master tape archive is, for the most part, just weathering the storm out here in upstate New York.”
DANIELLE ST. LAURENT
“Since the intensity of the pandemic slipped away, we’ve been going full blast,” says drummer Clem Burke by phone from Los Angeles. After the U.K. tour, the band went into the studio to record tracks for its first new studio album since 2017’s Pollinator, which is expected to be released in the spring. The new album is part of a flurry of work that was side lined by the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-founded by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein in 1974, Blondie was an integral part of New York’s fecund punk scene. But the group’s approach — combining lush pop sensibility with the au courant sounds of electronic music, disco, reg gae, and rap — was always bigger than any constricting genre labels.
Burke cites other influences for that tune. “We thought we were experiment ing with electronic music when we did ‘Heart of Glass,’ it wasn’t quote-unquote ‘a disco song’ to us,” he says. “It was kind of a combination of Kraftwerk and DonnaLurkingSummer.”beneath it all is a pop sensi bility, Shipley says. “All the girl-group flourishes, to me, were really interesting. I love how there’s this kind of [Phil] Spector-esque pro duction to some of Chris’s arrangements that he is borrowing from this really early-’60s place,” Shipley says. “When you listen to some of the recordings, what makes them so magical is that you’re really stripping away any of the new wave Workingartifice.”onthe box set was a pleasant experience for Burke. “It was great to hear that stuff again,” Burke says. “I don’t sit down and listen to Blondie music all the time, so yeah, to do it all in a couple of sittings was kind of nostalgic, but in a good way.” Blondie music still evokes images of “Racing down the Bowery on a crowded afternoon,” as Harry sings on “Long Time” from Pollinator. But the world has come a long way from those heady times on New York’s Lower East Side. Burke laments the current social cli mate, which seems to be the antithesis of the open-minded scene that gave birth to Blondie. “It’s just insane what’s going on,” Burke says. “I don’t really want to get into politics, but … I don’t know what’s happening with all these reactionary throwback sort of precedents that are being set now. It’s really terrible. Ev erybody should just be able to do what they want to do as long as you don’t hurt anybody else.”
Debbie Harry and co. drop retrospective box set on day of Detroit gig, but don’t call them a nostalgia act
24 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com
By Brian J. Bowe
“In Detroit 442, maybe, baby, I could ride with you”: Blondie rolls into the Fox Theatre on Friday.
“I mean, Debbie in particular is not big at looking back,” Burke says. “That’s why, when we got back together in the late ’90s, the agenda was to make a new record, when we did that record No Exit. We never wanted to come back and just start playing the hits, without new music.”
But even as Blondie plots a new album, the band has been contemplat ing its past. The same day Blondie plays Detroit, a gargantuan new retrospective box set hits stores. Titled Against The Odds 1974-1982, the set includes the band’s first six LPs and a heaping help ing of pre-hiatus rarities. The unreleased tracks are culled from demos, rehearsal tapes, B-sides, and obscure singles.
Build back Blondie
From that wealth of material, the best 50 songs were culled. “It was about trying to get it down to the best of it, to the most interesting, the most listenable version of it,” Shipley says. Shipley says the band’s initial reaction was mixed, noting that some members at first didn’t like the warts-and-all ap proach.“I’mkind of interested in Blondie not as the polished band that people know them as, not as the hits,” Shipley says. “A work in progress Blondie to me is a more interesting Bondie. So our initial drafts really, like, leaned on the rougher, more unpolished version of the band.” Part of Blondie’s artistic appeal has always been the way the group digested the sounds of its milieu to make some thing fresh. “The disco scene that was going on at the same time was almost more sub versive and more underground than the New York rock scene in the mid ’70s,” Burke says. “Disco music was always kind of like the soundtrack in New York City simultaneously as the whole scene at CBGB and Max’s was evolving.” Living in New York, those sounds would merge. “I think that was part of the influence of ‘Heart of Glass’ for us,” Burke says. By releasing some Blondie music in its embryonic state, the box set shows listeners how songs “Heart of Glass” came“There’stogether.like five different versions of that song,” Shipley says. “When you lis ten to the beginning, you realize that it’s a reggae song, and then you listen to the final version and you can kind of hear it as a reggae song, too.”
For new wave veterans Blondie, 2022 has been a year of making up for lostThetime.band rolls into Detroit’s Fox Theatre on Friday with spooky punk legends the Damned. They’re fresh off of a U.K. co-headlining tour with Johnny Marr and a triumphant perfor mance at the Cruel World festival in California, where they joined a who’s who of vintage alternative acts.
On this tour, Harry and Burke will be joined by longtime guitarist Tommy Kessler and keyboardist Matt KatzBohen. Co-founder Chris Stein is not up for touring, so KMFDM guitarist Andee Blacksugar are filling in. Sex Pistols co-founder Glen Matlock is fill ing in on bass in place of Leigh Foxx, who Burke says is also sidelined by health issues. Blondie performs with special guests the Damned on Friday, Aug. 26 at the Fox Theatre; 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-471-7000; 313presents.com. Tickets start at $29.50. Doors at 7 p.m.
The band scored big hit singles with “Heart of Glass,” “Call Me,” “Rapture,” and “The Tide is High” before taking a 15-year hiatus in 1982. Even with that impressive CV, continuing to make new music is important, Burke says, because Blondie works hard to avoid being pigeonholed as a strictly nostalgia act.
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Elhajj, who immigrat ed from Lebanon in 2010, said the kaak was originally a breakfast and lunch food sold by street cart vendors in the 1960s and ’70s. At the time, vendors generally just served it with za’atar, but in recent decades the dish has evolved. Brick and mortar stores in Beirut started serving it with creamy cheeses, and in more recent years it’s further de veloped to become more of a sandwich. One gets the sense it now fills a similar role as the bagel sandwich. In Lebanon, Elhajj used to eat the dish nearly daily, and he was surprised to see that no one ran a kaak store in Dearborn. Prior to opening in April, he spent a few months training and learn ing how to make kaak at Abou Arab, Lebanon’s largest kaak shop. Sesame House’s cheese roster is im pressive — haloumi, bulgareh, akkawy, kashkawan, labneh, picon, and more. The menu is divided into about four sections — salty, sweet, specialties, and meat.The salty dishes are primarily cheese and a condiment, like one with akkawy and kashkawan that bursts with the super melty cheese. Akkawy is a soft, smooth, and salty brine cheese made with cow’s milk, while kashkawan is a mild yellow cheese also made from cow’s milk that some compare to ched dar, though that seems to be more about the physical properties than taste. Altogether, an intense kaak. The kashkawan cheese worked well with bologna, and if you’re as much of a connoisseur of fried bologna sand wiches as I, then this is the dish for you. Among the best kaaks is one with bulgareh cheese, a Bulgrian cousin to feta, though a bit creamier and a bit saltier. It came with olive oil, cucum bers, tomatoes, and kalamata olives. The kafta and soujouk kaaks each arrive with tomatoes, pickles, corn, and mayonnaise, along with a healthy coating of kashkawan cheese. For those who haven’t had them, kafta is essen tially ground beef that’s heavy on seven spice, cumin, and cinnamon, while soujouk is an intense Middle Eastern sausage with red chili, fenugreek, cumin, and other spices. Both are the best bets if you’re in the market for Lebanese meats. The haloumi with chili paste of fers a nice balance with mild, spongy haloumi that maintains its shape when melted, and a garlicky, chili-packed red paste. The only item we tried off the sweet section was a kaak full of nutella. Nutella is universally good, so we knew going into the order that this would be a winner.Eachkaak is roughly 12 inches — enough to fill up a hungry person and leave some leftovers, and the sand wiches are quickly assembled and run through the oven once ordered. Sesame House’s interior has a fast casual vibe seating, though kaaks are also made to take on the road.
Bagels, Lebanese street food-style
FOOD Dearborn’s Sesame House introduces kaak, a Lebanese bagel sandwich. TOM PERKINS
26 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com
Sesame House 14240 Warren Ave., Wheelchair$3.49-$9.49313-722-4639housesesameinstagram.com/Dearbornaccessible
Dearborn’s Sesame House is the first in the neighborhood to build a concept around the kaak, though some others serve it, and offers a menu with about 30 combinations of cheeses from across the Middle East and Eastern Europe, meats like soujouk or kafta, and condi ments and spreads like mahammara or chiliOwnerpaste.Kassem
By Tom Perkins Warren Avenue in Dearborn is stacked with banging Lebanese bakeries serving incredible sfeeha, mashrouha, and other meat and spin achBut,pies.so far, there hasn’t been a shop dedicated to kaak, a ubiquitous Leba nese dish that is, in essence, the Middle Eastern nation’s bagel. The kaak is thin, flat, and round with a big hole that gives it a purse-like shape, and the package is coated in sesame seeds. At its best, kaak is a bit crispy on the out side from being cooked in a super hot oven and slightly chewy on the inside.
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“The energy and atmosphere of downtown and the One Campus Martius building is the perfect place for Sugar Factory’s family-friendly din ing.”The Sugar Factory is currently accepting reservations for its Detroit grand opening; interested diners should call 947-219-0700.
Bitch Kraft: a three-piece featuring PJ’s cook Emma Boyhtari on guitar and vocals, sound guy Steve Kowalski on guitar, bass, and vocals; and manager and talent buyer Katelyn Burkart on drums.
Those include: Air People: a new band from PJ’s Lager House cook and bartender (and Gar dens frontman) Jeffrey Thomas.
Sugar Factory announces opening date
The candy-themed restaurant chain will open its doors in Detroit on Monday, Aug. 29, according to an announce ment made on its social media pages. It was announced back in January that the Sugar Fac tory would be opening in downtown Detroit at the One Campus Martius building, 45 Monroe St.
WHAT WILL BECOME of Sala Thai’s former space in the Eastern Market now that the long-standing restaurant has closed? We don’t know, but it’s now available for lease to another restaurant or retail space.
Property management company Beanstalk Real Estate Solutions posted an advertisement for the 2,600-square-foot space, located in a former firehouse on Russell Street.
The Eastern Market haunt with its wooden interior and heaping portions of spicy noodles quietly closed in April of 2022. An abrupt statement on Sala Thai’s Facebook page on April 9 announced it would be closing for business that same day.Sala Thai originally opened in Detroit’s Lafayette Park neighborhood in 1994 and moved to the Eastern Market location in 2002, according to the restaurant’s website. Its Sterling Heights location remains open.
THE WAIT IS over: Sugar Factory has finally announced the date for its grand opening in downtown Detroit, and they’re currently taking reservations.
–Randiah Camille Green
“We are excited to bring our decadent dishes, sweets and treats to the Detroit community, which have been enjoyed by guests around the world for over a decade,” shared owner Charissa Davidovici in a press release from the winter announcement.
–Alex Washington
Former Sala Thai building in Eastern Market is up for lease
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“This one is a little special in that all of the bands are employees with or related to PJ’s Lager House,” the event organizers said in a statement. “PJ’s has presented some amazing bands over the years, and many of them have had members who are part of the PJ’s crew.”
Space Stars: a group led by bartender Dan Clark, with our former bartender Craig Brown (Craig Brown Band, Terrible Twos) on guitar and former booker Chris Campbell (Terrible Twos) on bass, with Bobcat (Terrible Twos) on drums. Curtis Roach: a TikTok-famous rapper whose mom Martha is a PJ’s bartender. The Reelers: a band fronted by Kowal ski that is reuniting after Uncle Kracker poached its bassist and drummer for its first show in five years — and final showDoorsever.open at 7 p.m. and there’s no cover.The show joins two previously an nounced “End of an Era” concert series shows, including a Friday, Aug. 26 show featuring Timmy’s Organism, the Cheetahs, the Chris Casselo Trio, the Firewalkers, and the Vibrations; and a Sunday, Aug. 28 show featuring soul singer Melvin Davis, who is celebrating his 80th birthday, along with the New Orleans-inspired Gabriel Brass Band. Other “End of an Era” concerts are planned for Saturday, Sept. 17 and Sat urday, Oct. 1, though the lineups have not yet been announced. Last month, owner PJ Ryder an nounced that he was working toward selling the business to the owner of the next-door building that houses the James Oliver Coffee Co. PJ’s Lager House is located at 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; pjslagerhouse. com. –Lee DeVito Sugar Factory.
workersperformancesanannouncesHouse‘EndofEra’concertwithbyandtheirfamily
PJ’S LAGER HOUSE has announced the details for its third “End of an Era” concert series show before it gets sold to new owners. The show is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13 and will feature all perform ers who worked at the long-standing Corktown bar and music venue over the years, or their family, organizers say.
SUGAR FACTORY/FACEBOOK Sala Thai. STEVE NEAVLING
PJ’s Lager
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32 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com WEED One-hitters A golden age of marijuana users in their golden years
Williams says many elders feel free to inhale, digest, and consume cannabis openly without shame in their golden years.
Arlene Williams, 85, grew up in Detroit and has since become an outspoken advocate of cannabis.
“All these same people who were the hippies then developed into what we call the ‘yuppies’ 20 years ago,” Sim mons says. “Now for them, marajuana is OK, and there’s so much money involved in it now — you growing it, you selling it, whatever else.”
As cannabis becomes legal in more states, more people are being open about their use, including seniorcitizen social media influencers — like the Dabbing Granny, who shares her green adventures with her 1.2 million Instagram followers, helping new users find their Cannabisway.activist Arlene Williams, 85, has traveled the world advocating for drug reform, while also seeking out the best remedies in cannabis wellness. Growing up in Detroit, Williams says her parents whispered among them selves about “wacky cigarettes” and the scandal of actor Robert Mitchum being arrested for cannabis possession.
A 74-year-old retired business owner who called himself an advocate of the cannabis product Rick Simpson Oil, which some claim has the potential to help treat cancer, says he used to hear pot referred to as the “Devil’s Weed.” Now that the plant is legal, he says, “People are more free to admit that they useHemarijuna.”adds,“You get old enough and you say, ‘Oh, you know all that was bumpkin.’”Joe“Top Dog” Price, a 71-year-old client of CB Squared, says he was told marijuna will make you lazy and mess with your mind when he was younger.
While Price doesn’t think teenagers should smoke weed, he says he doesn’t care how people react to him smoking. “I’m 71!” he says. In the ’60s, Simmons grew up with hippies, hanging out at the Eastown Theatre, where acts like Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac performed. Simmons recalls sitting on the floor watching rock concerts with friends.
Wil liams knew there was a stigma around using marajuana, but once she was out of her parents home, married at age 17, she suggested to her husband she wanted to try some. “He thought I was absolutely insane,” Williams says, but adds that he went along with it. “That is how I started smoking, but it was never a big part of our lives,” she says. “It was something we did on New Year’s and on birthdays.”
By Kianga J. Moore When it comes to cannabis, the progression to acceptance has been a long one. Baby Boomers, children of the Silent Generation, were warned of the effects of marijuana use from histrionic movies like 1936’s Reefer Madness and 1949’s Wild Weed. These films focused on addiction and mental health crises if you dared smoke the “green stuff.” But now that cannabis use is legal and normalized throughout much of the country, many adults are now settling into a THC-infused retire ment.Mechanic
Recardo Simmons, 67, had his first experience with weed on a basketball court in Detroit. An older teenager fired up a joint attempting to pass it along to Simmons, who didn’t know what it was at first. “I looked at it, and the guy asked me, ‘Oh, you scared?’” Simmons says. Once he realized it wasn’t a cigarette, he declined the offer and said, “This is straight up dope.” Cannabis has long been labeled as a gateway drug. But a couple of years later Simmons would smoke occasion ally with his friends after discovering it wasn’t that bad after all. “It wasn’t heroin,” he says. After research pointed to health benefits of cannabis and voters in states like Michigan began legalizing it for medicinal use, stigma of the plant dis sipated.
COURTESY PHOTO
Over the past three years, Page, 44, noticed an increase in retirement-age cannabis users. She cultivates 72 plants for five of her patients, who she says like the “lift THC gives them,’” which helps their chronic pain and sleep issues.
“I don’t want to trivialize a war that’s going on in Ukraine or anywhere, but rather then drop bombs, let’s just drop a load of reefer and just chill out,” she says.She adds, “I don’t know what it will do for you. I know what it did for me, and it helped me.” Toke on, aging ones.
Rebekka Page, owner of CB Squared Smoke and Vape Shop on Detroit’s west side, is a medical marijuna grower for her senior clients. A cancer survivor with a background in nursing, Page believes cannabis helped improve her symptoms. “This is the reason I chose to pursue the industry,” she says.
A 2020 study in JAMA Internal Medicine found that cannabis use in the past year by U.S. adults 65 years and older increased sharply from 0.4% in 2006 and 2007 to 2.9% in 2015 and 2016.According to a 2018 study published in the peer-reviewed Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, most U.S. adults age 50 or older who had used cannabis in the past year (75%) said they felt there was a slight risk or no risk to toking once or twice a week. “Marijuana use seems normalized among older populations as more of those who ever used marijuana age, as laws legalizing marijuana spread across the United States,” the authors wrote, while noting that more research is necessary into the impact of cannabis use on the health of aging adults. (Sci entific studies on the health effects of cannabis are limited due to its federal schedule one drug classification.)
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A still from “Daron, Daron Colbert,” set in Southwest Detroit. PHOTO
For Steen, a Michigan native who’s worked extensively in both commercial and narrative film production, pres ently as part of RATHAUS Films, a project spotlighting fictional characters amid Delray’s swiftly changing land scape was initially the plan. But after a chance run-in with Daron Colbert, the film’s star and key structuring presence, Steen’s aspirations shifted toward con veying something about the area more directly rooted in a longtime resident’s point of view. “Obviously environmental racism is something that people are talking about more and more,” Steen says. “Before Daron, I was writing a script set in that world. How would growing up there next to industry and pollution affect you generationally? And when I met Daron, I was like, here’s a person who’s grown up in and around this world his entire life. Why would I write a character when one already exists, es pecially one that is an aspiring actor?” Colbert, who will be 23 in Septem ber, describes his upbringing as largely solitary, strongly rooted in Delray’s sparse environment. The area lacked parks or much to do for most of his upbringing, and he can be seen within the film navigating largely vacant land scapes, nearly always pictured alone. In an interview conducted by phone, he described his dad’s house as one of just three on the block for many years; today, though, it’s the last one left.
Short film spotlights Delray actor and his Detroit neighborhood
CULTURE
Daron“Daron,Colbert”
COURTESY
34 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com
“There weren’t many kids in the neighborhood when I was growing up,” recalls Colbert. “We felt like we were our own environment, segregated from the rest of the city.” Growing up throughout his teens, Colblert often found himself hanging around a fire station near his home, where he’d get to know firefighters as well as a friend named Connie, who was close with the crew there. When he was 14 or 15, a director came knock ing for actors to feature in “Wait ‘til the Wolves Make Nice,” a short film by Jess Dela Merced centered on a group of bored Delray teenagers drawn to mischief by a new arrival. Colbert embraced the opportunity, which led to work on a second production, Robert Joseph Butler’s “The Girl on the Mat,” a sports drama about female wrestlers. Across his work (“Daron, Daron Colbert” is his third film project), Col bert describes the excitement of trying something new and showing sides of himself he can’t display in real life as part of what pulls him to acting. By the time Colbert approached Steen, while the latter photographed a stray cat in a Delray field, he’d accrued enough confidence in his portfolio to introduce himself to others — and especially filmmakers — as an actor. “He just had this confidence,” recalls Steen. “He was in this short film that was executive produced by Spike Lee that played SXSW. So when he said he was an actor, he actually is — he’d done it before.”Abouta year after their initial intro duction, Steen reached out to Colbert and asked him to show him around, giving him a better sense of his experi ence in Delray. By the end of their day together, Steen asked Colbert to be the subject of and a key collaborator on the film. Working together to structure their story, which enmeshes newsreel foot age, environmental photography, and voiceover with scenes — some staged — of Colbert going about his daily domestic and work routine, the short’s abstract structure is anchored by its effort to provide a portrait. (Though the film was shot quickly, editing took about six months.) This becomes clear est through a series of monologues Col bert delivers in three parts, recounting a series of names he’s gone by and their origins. Conveyed with both an offhand confidence and a certain seriousness to the camera from a darkened, woodpaneled room in his late grandmother’s old Delray home, this structuring device evokes Barry Jenkins’ featurelength Moonlight in its elaboration of a young male identity and persona that’s highly particular, and only more so for being visibly shaped by the strongly evoked contours of his environment.
Rated: Run-time:N/A13 minutes
By George Elkind News coverage of billowing industrial smoke recedes into footage of lushly reclaimed, depopulated urban space in the opening of Kevin Steen’s new short film “Daron, Daron Col bert.” Eventually, this chemical exhaust recedes into the background, morphing into a distant feature and fact of life.
Though Steen points to a stew of influences ranging from the Ross brothers’ pseudodocumentary Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, Ken Loach’s 1969 hallmark Kes, and an early 1995 Vin Diesel short called “Multi-facial” — alongside other projects he’s worked on himself, none of them subsume his newest work. Whether Colbert’s deliv ering a monologue, cutting grass, or working at a tire warehouse onscreen, there’s a sense of directness and a lack of compromise to his presentation that’s linked deeply to the film’s inti macy with him as a subject and creative collaborator.Whilemuch of what Steen and Colbert discussed and filmed concern ing his life in Delray — mysterious explosions waved off by hazmatsporting men, roads bubbling up from mysterious spills — doesn’t make it into the film, the weight of these events remains felt throughout. With refined, unobtrusive camerawork and graceful editing, Steen and his collaborators spotlight a place and community he describes as “forgotten” while also, in ways spearheaded by Colbert’s mono logue, making space for a quiet, firm confrontation. By addressing their viewers directly, they in some way call an audience for the neighborhood and its history into being — and in doing so make Delray and the experiences had there a little less forgotten. The result of all this, serving now as both a formidable short and a calling card for an early-career actor, may outlast the homes on many Delray blocks.
The 13-minute film, set in Southwest Detroit’s Delray neighborhood and screening in this year’s celebrated Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, is enveloped by a kind of blunt sur reality endemic to the neighborhood, a symptom of the area’s longtime abandonment by those with the power to aid it. In light of the impending con struction of the Gordie Howe Bridge and the all-but-forced relocation efforts of its longtime residents (also enabled by civic neglect), the act of capturing its dwindling community onscreen acquires a distinct sense of urgency.
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By Dan Savage
There is more to this week’s Savage Love. To read the entire column, go to Savage.Love. :Q I’ve been with my wife for ten years. We are both 36 years old. We moved in fast and didn’t take time to learn certain things about one another. For example, I watch porn, which she only found out about after we moved in. She had a visceral reaction. She told me it was a dealbreaker for her, no negotiation. I agreed to stop but didn’t. Fast forward ten years and now I’m medicated for ADHD, which makes it much easier to avoid impulse behaviors like looking at porn. We have come close to divorce over this issue, as well as over how toxic I was before getting treatment for my ADHD. I’ve contributed my share of negativity to theNow,marriage.asitstands, the agreement we have is that I will not watch porn of any kind. This is where we really start to differ. To her, porn is masturbating to ANYTHING. Looking at porn? Not allowed. Looking at women in bikinis? Not allowed. Coming across something that sexually charges me and mastur bating to it? I have betrayed her trust. So, I don’t watch “porn” anymore but I feel extremely resentful about how I am controlled. The latest example of this was when she was helping our kid play a game on a device that had to be connected to Facebook. Mine was con nected, and a message came up with a recent conversation. In it I thanked a friend for being there for me, check ing in on me, sending jokes, etc. This friend likes to send funny memes, some of which are risqué. I mentioned that I appreciated his jokes, even the ones that would have “upset my wife.” She is now accusing me of using friends (and memes) as loopholes to get around my promise NOT to look at porn. I’m so tired. I have so much shame around masturbation now and I feel like I have no privacy. We are about to see another couples’ counselor. Any suggestions for me?
P.S. If the last couples’ counselor you saw didn’t turn to your wife at the end of your first session and say, “You’re a fucking psycho,” they sucked at their job.
Ask: questions@savagelove.net. Listen to Dan on the Savage Lovecast. Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage.
—Worried About This Constant Harassment Eroding Relationship
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A: I don’t know exactly what your wife has had to put up with. You men tion toxic behavior on your part prior to seeking treatment for ADHD. Toxic energy, toxic actions, toxic toxins — whatever you did, I’m going to assume your bullshit came close to intoler able, WATCHER, and award your wife some points for putting up with your bullshit.Withthat said… Giving up porn is a price of ad mission some are willing to pay. A person with an otherwise healthy relationship to porn — someone who, like most people, can enjoy porn in moderation, someone who can use porn without neglecting their partner sexually and/or being inconsider ate about their partner’s feelings — sometimes falls in love with a person who, for whatever reason, can’t stand the idea of their partner watching porn. Some people have sensitivi ties, others have insecurities; some on the Left have political objections, some on the Right have religious objections. Giving up porn is not something I would ever agree to, but a reasonable person might agree to stop watching porn (or pretend they’ve stopped watching porn) for someone theyButlove.ifthe person who insisted their partner stop watching porn later de fines absolutely everything as porn — porn itself, non-pornographic photos, good-looking people walking down the street, memes shared by friends — then it was never about the porn. It wasn’t about their insecurities or their political objections or their precious religious beliefs. It was about control. And the worst thing about controlling people is that they’re never satis fied. No matter how much control a romantic partner gives up, it’s never enough. A controlling person’s de mands escalate slowly at the start of a new relationship, WATCHER, when it’s still relatively easy for someone to end things. But once the relationship is harder to exit — once leases have been signed, marriages have been performed, children have been born — the controlling person’s demands not only escalate rapidly, they also tend to become more arbitrary and irrational. (No memes? Really?) Your wife’s bullshit is intolerable, WATCHER, and you shouldn’t put up withEveryoneit. is entitled to privacy, even married people. Likewise, everyone enjoys a zone of erotic autonomy, even married people. Experiences you fantasize about, when and how you masturbate, things you can safely do without violating your monogamous commitment and/or putting your partner at risk… not only shouldn’t someone try to take those things from you, it’s not in anyone’s power to take those things from you . We can’t police our partner’s fantasies. Ideally, our partners feel safe sharing their fan tasies with us and involving us to the extent we can or wish to be involved. But we can’t prevent our partners from looking at whatever they want to look at, provided they’re consider ate about when and where, and we certainly can’t stop our partners from thinking about whatever they want to think about, dick in hand or no dick in Gethand.adivorce.
Q I am a gay man in a large Cana dian city and I have a question about monkeypox. I have been seeing a male escort for several years and have built a friendly relationship with him. We both received the monkeypox vaccine in late June. My question is whether I should stop seeing him while mon keypox is still running rampant. Some further background — he is still advertising for clients online and he’s told me that he’s still sexually active and doesn’t always use condoms. I know he is in a financially precarious situation, which is why he escorts, so I don’t blame him for doing what he must. It pays the bills. I honestly miss him and our intimate connection, but I’m afraid I’d contract monkey pox even though we’re both vacci nated. Should I take a pause in seeing him because he is still having sex with multiple people?
:
Or get better at tell ing your wife what she insists on hear ing, doing whatever you want when you’re safely in the zone (of erotic autonomy), and covering your tracks.
—Worried About Monkeypox Go to Savage.Love for Dan’s answer to this question and more!
LoveSavage CULTURE
Jerked Around
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CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19
In the Spansh language, there’s the idiom pensando en la inmortalidad del cangrejo. Its literal translation is “thinking about the immortality of the crab.” It applies to a person en gaged in creative daydreaming — her imagination wandering freely in hopes of rousing innovative solutions to practical dilemmas. Other languages have similar idioms. In Finnish, istun ja mietin syntyjä syviä means “wondering about the world’s early origins.” Polish has marzyć o niebieskich migdałach, or “dreaming about blue almonds.” I en courage you to enjoy an abundance of such explorations in the coming days, Capricorn. You need to fantasize more than usual.
ARIES: March 21 – April 19 In the coming weeks, I urge you to flee from stale and rigid certainty. Rebel against dogmatic attitudes and arrogant opinions. Be skeptical of unequivocal answers to nuanced questions. Instead, dear Aries, give your amused reverence to all that’s mysterious and enigmatic. Bask in the glimmer of intriguing paradoxes. Draw inspiration and healing from the fertile unknown. For inspira tion, write out this Mary Oliver poem and carry it with you: “Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company with those who say ‘Look!’ and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads.”
SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21 You know more about how karma works than all the other signs. Scorpiostyle intelligence typically has a fine intuitive grasp of how today’s realities evolved out of the deep patterns and rhythms of the past. But that doesn’t mean you perfectly understand how karma works. And in the coming weeks, I urge you to be eager to learn more. Become even savvier about how the law of cause and effect impacts the destinies of you and your allies. Meditate on how the situations you are in now were influ enced by actions you took once upon a time. Ruminate on what you could do in the near future to foster good karma and diminish weird karma.
LEO: July 23 – August 22 You should never allow yourself to be tamed by others. That advice is always apropos for you Leos, and even more crucial to heed in the coming weeks. You need to cultivate maximum access to the raw, primal sources of your life energy. Your ability to thrive depends on how well you identify and express the beautiful animal within you. Here’s my only caveat: If you imag ine there may be value in being tamed a little, in harnessing your brilliant beast, do the taming yourself. And assign that task to the part of you that possesses the wildest wisdom.
TAURUS: April 20 – May 20 A blogger named Chaconia writes, “I’ve cultivated a lifetime of being low maintenance and easy-going, and now I’ve decided I’m done with it. Demand ing Me is born today.” I’m giving you temporary permission to make a similar declaration, Taurus. The astrologi cal omens suggest that in the coming weeks, you have every right to be a charming, enchanting, and generous version of a demanding person. So I au thorize you to be just that. Enjoy your self as you ask for more of everything.
AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18 My Aquarian reader Georgie Lee wrote to tell me what it’s like being an Aquarius. I offer it to you because you are potentially at the peak of express ing the qualities she names. She says, “Accept that you don’t really have to un derstand yourself. Be at peace with how you constantly ramble, swerve, and weave to become more of yourself. Ap preciate how each electric shift leads to the next electric shift, always changing who you are forever. Within the churn ing, ever-yearning current, marvel at how you remain eternal, steady, and solid — yet always evolving, always on a higher ground before.”
Kabbalistic writer Simon Jacob son says, “Like a flame, the soul always reaches upward. The soul’s fire wants to defy the confines of life. It cannot toler ate the mediocrity and monotony of sheer materialism. Its passion knows no limits as it craves for the beyond.” That sounds both marvelous and hazardous, right? Jacobson concludes, “Whether the soul’s fire will be a constructive or destructive force is dependent on the person’s motivation.” According to my astrological analysis, your deep motiva tions are likely to be extra noble and generous in the coming weeks, Sagit tarius. So I expect that your soul’s fire will be very constructive.
VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22 Whenever you are contemplating a major decision, I hope you raise ques tions like these: 1. Which option shows the most self-respect? 2. Which path would be the best way to honor your self? 3. Which choice is most likely to help you fulfill the purposes you came to earth to carry out? 4. Which course of action would enable you to express your best gifts? Are there questions you would add, Virgo? I expect the coming months will require you to generate key decisions at a higher rate than usual, so I hope you will make intensive use of my guiding inquiries, as well as any others you formulate.
38 August 24-30, 2022 | metrotimes.com Hey if you’re not into crowds I would recommend this weekend and not the next. Also the staff will be far less annoyed making your Oldfashion Cosmo Drop Margarita. IceCheapColdBeer!!
SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21
This week’s homework: What’s a past action you need to forgive yourself for?
LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22 Libran blogger Ana-Sofia Cardelle writes, “I look back on past versions of myself with such love and tenderness. I want to embrace myself at different parts of my life.” I hope you’re inspired by her thoughts as you carry out the following actions: 1. Create an altar filled with treasures that symbolize major turning points in your destiny. 2. Forgive yourself for what you imagine to be old errors and ignorance. 3. Sum mon memories of the persons you were at ages 7, 12, and 17, and write a kind, thoughtful message to each. 4. Literally kiss seven different photos of your face from earlier in your life. 5. Say “thank you” and “bless you” to the self you were when you succeeded at two challenging tests in the past.
PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20 Here’s a good way build your vi brancy: Use your emotional intelligence to avoid swimming against strong cur rents for extended periods. Please note that swimming against strong currents is fine, even advisable, for brief phases. Doing so boosts your stamina and fosters your trust in your resilience. But mostly, I recommend you swim in the same direction as the currents or swim where the water is calm and current less. In the coming weeks, I suspect you can enjoy many freestyle excursions as you head in the same direction as vigor ous currents.
Cancerian poet Danusha Laméris discovered that earthworms have taste buds all over their bodies. Now she loves to imagine she’s giving them gifts when she drops bits of apples, beets, avoca dos, melons, and carrot tops into the compost bin. “I’d always thought theirs a menial life, eyeless and hidden, almost vulgar.” But now that she understands “they bear a pleasure so sublime,” she wants to help the worms fulfill their destinies. I mention this, Cancerian, because I suspect you may have compa rable turnarounds in the coming weeks. Long-held ideas may need adjustments. Incomplete understandings will be filled in when you learn the rest of the story. You will receive a stream of interest ing new information that changes your mind, mostly in enjoyable ways.
CULTURE Free Will Astrology
GEMINI: May 21 – June 20 The witch Lisa Chamberlain writes about the magical properties of colors. About brown, she says it “rep resents endurance, solidity, grounding, and strength.” She adds that it’s used in magic to enhance “balance, concentra tion, material gain, home, and compan ion animals.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, the upcoming weeks should be a deeply brown time for you Geminis. To move your imagination in a righteous direction, have fun wear ing clothes in shades of brown. Grace your environment with things that have the hues of chestnut, umber, mahogany, sepia, and burnt sienna. Eat and drink caramel, toffee, cinnamon, almonds, coffee, and chocolate.
CANCER: June 21 – July 22
By Rob Brezsny
JAMES NOELLERT
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