Metro Times 02/22/23

NEWS & VIEWS

We received responses to freelancer Timothy J. Seppala’s cover story about metalcore band We Came As Romans, which has persevered following the death of singer Kyle Pavone.

What a heartfelt story. —@SStep84, Twitter

One of the best bands out there. And so happy to say they’re from my state. YA’LL ROCK @wecameasromans. — @ shxetierra20, Twitter

Yo I never knew they were from here. —@frostisrad, Instagram

Is this an amazing article about the hometown boys @wecameasromans? Yes. Did I ball my fucking eyes out? Also yes. What I wouldn’t give to shoot that kid a text, or send cat memes back and forth or talk hockey. Or anything. Kyle forever. —@NikkiMarieDetMi, Twitter

Beautifully written. Not completely accurate, but portrays the love these guys have for each other spot on. Thank you, Kyle’s mom. —@carolinepavone, Instagram

Thank you, @metrotimes. —@wecameasromans, Twitter

Have an opinion? Of course you do! Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com.

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Officials call off search for Lake Huron ‘UFO’

THE TRUTH IS out there… but we may never know it, because we blew it up to smithereens.

According to reporting by The New York Times, officials in the United States and Canada have given up on their search for the wreckage of three unidentified flying objects that they resorted to shooting out of the sky with missiles earlier this month.

The objects were downed using U.S. military craft over Alaska, the Yukon,

and Lake Huron on Feb. 10, 11, and 12, respectively. (Headline: “Inside the Hunt for U.F.O.s at the End of the World.” Is that what the NYT really thinks of Michigan and Ontario?) The incidents came during an extraordinary period of international tensions following the discovery of a large white surveillance balloon floating across the continental U.S. that officials called a spy device.

China maintains that object was a

harmless civilian-owned weather balloon that drifted off course. The U.S. shot that balloon down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, and said it had successfully recovered the wreckage on Feb. 17. It is now being analyzed for clues of its true origin.

Despite the unprecedented nature of this use of military force over North American airspace, officials have left us in the dark as to what these subsequent objects were or whether they were even balloons. They have been described as the size of “Volkswagen Beetles” and “cylindrical,” while the Lake Huron object was described as “octagonal” with strings hanging off

Detroiter sues police department after cop shot her dog, stuffed it in a trash can

A DETROIT WOMAN is suing the city’s police department after one of its officers shot her dog and dumped it into a trash can without telling her.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Feb. 8, alleges a Detroit cop violated the Fourth Amendment rights of Tiffany Lindsay in September 2021 when he jumped over her backyard fence without a warrant or probable cause in search of a carjacking suspect.

Lindsay’s dog, Jack, lunged at the officer, Steven Brandon, biting his forearm and tearing his pants, according to a police report. Brandon responded by striking the dog several times before

drawing a gun and killing the animal.

“Brandon apparently attempted to hide the seizure of Jack from Plaintiff by stuffing Jack’s body into Plaintiff’s neighbor’s trash bin,” the lawsuit states.

If Brandon bothered to knock on Lindsay’s door and ask for permission to search her yard, the incident would never have happened, the lawsuit states.

Brandon’s acts “were intentional, grossly negligent and amounted to reckless or callous indifference to Plaintiff’s constitutional rights,” according to the lawsuit, filed by attorney Christopher S. Olson.

Olson further alleges that DPD kills

more dogs than any police department in the country because it doesn’t take the shootings seriously.

When officers kill a dog, they’re only required to file a “Destruction of Animal” report that is signed by the police chief or his delegate.

“The Destruction of Animal report approval process is a sham rubber stamp,” Olson wrote in the lawsuit.

DPD “has a custom of tolerance or acquiescence in shooting dogs in violation of the Fourth Amendment,” the lawsuit alleges.

Lindsay is just the latest Detroit resident to file a lawsuit against the police

of it. The latter was downed with two $400,000 Sidewinder missiles fired by an F-16 fighter jet, one of which missed its target and landed in Lake Huron.

It now seems likely that the objects were basically just garden-variety balloons that escalated global paranoia, however — a stupid scenario accurately predicted by the German new wave band Nena’s 1983 hit “99 Luftballons.”

“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” President Joe Biden said Thursday. Biden was criticized by Republicans for not shooting the Chinese balloon earlier, which may have prompted the itchy trigger fingers — another example of Democrats being pulled ever rightward by constantly negotiating with an opposition party that never returns the favor.

It appears that the sky is essentially littered with trash, including balloons released by scientific institutions and hobbyists, along with your typical helium party balloons — proving that humans will pollute everything we touch, even the heavens. (During this international balloon crisis, a train derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, spilling toxic chemicals, demonstrating our priorities.)

If that’s the case, the U.S. should probably use its vast military apparatus to come up with ways to extract these objects out of the sky that are perhaps a bit more elegant than simply firing missiles at them.

Then again, we do love our guns here, don’t we.

—Lee DeVito

department for killing a dog, according to a 2016 Reason investigation that found one officer had shot more than 80 dogs during his career.

Since 2016, the cash-strapped city doled out more than $460,000 to settle five dog-killing lawsuits. In one of the latest cases, the city agreed to pay $75,000 to settle a lawsuit in 2020 after body camera footage showed officers lied about the circumstances that led to an officer shooting two dogs during a drug raid.

DPD determined the shooting was unjustified.

Detroit police declined to comment on the latest case, citing pending litigation, but said the officers involved are under investigation.

—Steve Neavling

SHUTTERSTOCK

Allen Park Starbucks workers move to unionize

CONTINUING A WAVE of union activity at coffee chain Starbucks, workers at a Downriver store have also moved to organize.

According to a press release, “an overwhelming majority” of the hourly workers at 23005 Outer Dr., Allen Park signed union authorization cards Monday morning.

“We are a strong team that believes a union is the right way to create changes in our workforce,” the workers said in a letter emailed to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. “We are eager to have our voices heard and our needs respected, so that together we can co-create a family we are once again proud to be a part of.”

In the letter, the works also complained of cut hours, new workers not getting proper training, and unreliable management.

“Starbucks is a multimillion dollar corporation that tries to pride itself on working in partnership with its employees, all while silencing the workers and denying them their right to union representation and a collective voice,” Workers United International vice president Kathy Hanshew said in a statement. “Starbucks calls its employees ‘“partners,’ but it is abundantly clear that this socalled partnership is one of conve -

nience for the company, that leaves many employee concerns unheard.”

She added, “It is time for Starbucks to do the right thing, acknowledge the voice of their ‘partners,’ and allow their workers to unionize without interference.”

In December 2021, workers at a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York voted to form the first U.S. union at the chain. Since then, workers at 12 Michigan Starbucks stores have also formed unions.

—Lee DeVito

New report shines troubling light on guns used in crimes in Michigan

MORE THAN 43,500 guns linked to crimes in Michigan were recovered by law enforcement officials between 2017 to 2021, according to the most expansive federal report in more than two decades on guns used in crimes.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) published a 242-page report to create a statistical snapshot to help law enforcement, lawmakers, and researchers reduce gun violence.

“Information is power,” Steven M. Dettelbach, the ATF’s director, said in a statement. “This report provides more information on America’s crime guns than has ever been compiled in a single publication.”

In Michigan, about half of the guns used in crimes were recovered in Detroit, followed by Flint, Pontiac, Grand Rapids, and Saginaw.

Suburban Detroit was the most common place where guns were purchased before they were used

in crimes. Southfield leads the way, followed by Eastpointe, Warren, and Taylor.

The most common type of gun used in a crime were pistols, followed by rifles, revolvers, and shotguns.

Most of the guns used in a crime had changed hands since they were purchased, but it’s difficult for authorities determine how the firearms got into the hands of a criminal, the ATF said.

The report also examines the theft of guns. Between 2017 and 2021, more than 1,096 guns were stolen in Michigan, and 450 have since been recovered.

On average, nine guns were stolen per theft.

Thefts include burglaries, robberies, and larcenies.

Of those stolen, 73% were pistoles, 10.8% were rifles, 9.2% were revolvers, and 4.9% were shotguns.

Michigan is one of only 15 states

that require gun owners to report gun thefts.

Most of the stolen guns were recovered in Grand Rapids, followed by Saginaw, Detroit, Jackson, and Wellston.

A third of the stolen guns were recovered within 10 miles of the theft. At least eight of them traveled more than 300 miles.

The report comes at a time when a record number of guns are being purchased and mass shootings are on the rise.

Following the mass shooting at Michigan State University last week, Democrats in the state Senate introduced a package of bills aimed at curbing gun violence. The measures include requiring background checks and safe gun storage, as well as enabling courts to temporarily seize guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.

—Steve Neavling

SHUTTERSTOCK

NEWS & VIEWS

After five long, silent seconds, somebody threw a switch to go back to the news conference.

When that ended, at 11:15 p.m., reporter Laster in East Lansing decided to check his microphone.

“Check-check-check-check-checkcheck,” he said. Problem was, he was live on the air and so was Humphries, trying to talk through a smooth transition from the studio.

With a deer-in-the-headlights composure, Laster mumbled through two minutes of recaps and sentence fragments he read from notes. At this point, comprehensible commercials became an inappropriate but welcome change.

And CBS News Detroit was loaded with them, even during a newscast about a gun massacre. In the first 24 minutes of the newscast, CBS News Detroit showed seven minutes of ads, the only local news station to do so in this time frame.

In addition, CBS News Detroit found time for a weather report, something no other local station did in this period. At least the weather guy knew what he was talking about and his microphone worked.

Lapointe

MSU shooting shows CBS News Detroit isn’t ready for prime time

Some day — perhaps soon — metro Detroit television viewers may enjoy innovative journalism on Channel 62, known primarily now as CBS News Detroit and, technically, as WWJ-TV.

Its fresh approach to local TV reportage — from an ambitious, new operation launched in late January — may eventually provide fast, fair, and feisty competition for Channels 2, 4 and 7, which have reported news for decades.

But the gun massacre at Michigan State University last week showed that CBS News Detroit is not yet ready for prime time — which is 11 p.m. for a local newscast.

They got clobbered by the competition on this, the first major breaking news story on their freshman watch. And much of the damage was self-inflicted.

After Channel 4 (WDIV) went live on air first with the story, it was followed quickly — but less thoroughly — by Channels 7 (WXYZ) and 2 (WJBK), both with fewer personnel on scene. All three were on air live before 10 p.m. for a gun rampage that began at 8:18 p.m.

But where was CBS News Detroit? Its Channel 62 showed NCIS: Hawai’i, and

By Joe Lapointe

all its commercials, from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

What about the streaming online option that CBS News Detroit touts as the hot, new direction in immediate local TV news?

That internet stream showed a canned newscast, apparently pre-recorded, mentioning nothing about the mass shooting that left three students dead and five hospitalized.

At 10:25 p.m. on the streaming service, a female voice broke in to say something about the shooting and “multiple crews of our own on the way.”

Then they went back to the canned newscast, which appeared to be simulcast on Channel 50, which CBS calls its “sister station.” For the rest of the 10 p.m. hour, neither CBS News Detroit nor Channel 50, nor the CBS streaming service covered the gun massacre.

You might think things would have improved at 11 p.m.

But then it got worse. Much worse.

After anchors Kris Laudien and Shaina Humphries briefly summarized developments, they introduced reporter Luke Laster in East Lansing for the 11 p.m.

news conference with police and other authorities.

Laster started with a dead microphone, corrected quickly. He appeared rattled and said, pointlessly, that “Everything will be streaming on CBS News Detroit. com. We will have those updates for you here.”

Looking behind him to see the podium and lectern area filling up, Laster then blurted “And we are beginning, folks, we’re going to send it back to you.”

This startled anchor Laudien. He wanted to show the news conference. That made sense. His first few words were silent because his microphone, too, was dead. When it came on, Laudien said, “OK, we are going to take that press conference.”

He raised his right hand, with a pen, as if trying to alert the control room.

“If we can get that back,” he said, “we want to hear what the MSU police are saying.”

Laudien remained composed, but then raised both palms upward as if pleading or in prayer or giving his producer the internationally recognized sign for “W.T.F.?”

After the ads, at 11:24 p.m., anchor Laudien announced that “authorities are just getting ready to release a photo of that suspect. And as soon as we have it, we will share it with you.”

One problem here: The picture had already been released. It appeared on Channels 2, 4, and 7. But — instead of catching up with the photo — CBS News Detroit then threw it to East Lansing and reporter Terrell Bailey.

Bailey was hard to hear not because his microphone was dead but because he was holding it below the camera frame.

He contributed a tedious two-minute conversation with a podcaster named “Clay,” who started spouting his defense of the Second Amendment and his opinion of the human race.

“The way the world seems to have gone is completely sideways and haywire,” the podcaster said.

Yes, well.

Cops say local TV really can help when a mass murderer is on the run because TV pictures might lead to an arrest. Minutes really matter. (Indeed, MSU police later credited the media for generating the tip that led them to the suspect.) But, during these crucial minutes, CBS News Detroit showed, instead, this podcaster guy talking about haywire.

By 11:29 p.m., this interview mercifully ended. The anchors quickly tossed it again to Laster. Again, his microphone was dead, but quickly fixed. At 11:30 p.m., the CBS News Detroit screen showed the two photos of the suspect.

Overall, the CBS News Detroit performance on this story graded a D-minus, and that’s generous. This is not to say that

JOE LAPOINTE

this new news operation will fail forever. The boss remains optimistic.

He is Brian Watson, vice-president and general manager of CBS News Detroit. And he chose not to find fault with how his new team handled its first major challenge in its twelfth day on the air.

“Considering that we were in our third week of being an operating newscast organization, I was pretty proud of our coverage,” Watson tells me.

He stressed that his new crew reported no inaccuracies and worked within its limitations.

“We stayed, we played, within ourselves,” he says. “We stuck to the facts. We didn’t try to push anything to be more than who we are or report more than we knew at the time. I think we did pretty good.”

But he implied that Monday’s effort left room for improvement.

“And I think Tuesday was better than Monday,” Watson said, “and Wednesday we were better than Tuesday.”

Watson said CBS News Detroit will differentiate itself from the local competition. “We’re more concerned with how the news of the day affects people than reporting just on the news of today,” he says. “We’re all about giving voice to those that are often left unheard.”

With online streaming blending with scheduled news shows and consumers looking for information on demand, CBS News Detroit may be on the cutting edge of broadcast journalism.

“Viewing habits, consumption rates, when and where and how and on-what people consume their entertainment, news, and information, is moving faster than it ever has,” Watson says.

On air, his team has some appealing faces, imaginative graphics, and clever slogans like, “On your block, around the clock.” When a newscast cuts to a local story in the field, a graphic shows a drone’s-eye view of the region that swoops down directly to the locale.

After these reports, CBS News Detroit sometimes shows a still photo of the reporter and a map of the primary county to which he or she is assigned. Particularly compelling in this format is Gino Vicci, a street reporter who looks like the police detective you don’t want to deceive during interrogation.

In the studio, they have a busy set that blends into the newsroom, with casuallydressed workers walking around behind the anchor desk, available for questions on live camera.

“We are very proud of our working newsroom,” Watson says. “You can kind of see the news being reported on in real time in its authentic and raw self, right?”

He’s right about that. And there’s a lot to like about this new effort. And they deserve another chance. But, first and foremost, they must cover the news.

Where there is sorrow, there is holy ground

At Michigan State, survivors of a mass shooting walk in silence, mourn

Maya Manuel had barely slept. The day before was Valentine’s Day, and the 20-year-old Michigan State University junior had forgotten about the lovers’ holiday. She stands before a mourning crowd of hundreds outside the state capitol building in downtown Lansing, gathered to peacefully protest, to bear witness. Less than 48 hours earlier, a masked gunman invaded Spartan country, killing three students, and critically injuring five. The tragedy triggers a chilling truth. Preparing for the blunt force of mass death has become a hallmark of learning.

Manuel, who helped organize the demonstration, remembers being a little kid when her teacher explained how an active shooter killed students who resembled her. She remembers sitting on the floor, practicing lock-

By Eleanore Catolico

down drills in the event a stranger comes and tries to kill her at school. Now, she’s all grown up. Many of these students have witnessed the Sandy Hook, Parkland, and other school shootings from afar. Now, a similar disaster scarred the beloved campus, so close to the city where Manuel was raised. MSU’s name has been added to the ledger of communities left broken and uncertain after a mass shooting, a uniquely American scourge.

The psychology major is angry and afraid. “Please look at me. Look at me and understand my pain. Look at these students right here and understand their pain, before you act like you understand us,” Manuel says, still processing these losses. “You haven’t been us. And hopefully soon you’ll never be us. But it could be any

of you. It could be anywhere, at any time. And the sad part is I only feel protected to come here today because I know there are important people here.”

Dozens of MSU students occupy the capitol building’s concrete steps. A swarm of news photographers rush to capture the grief-stricken tableau. The moments of contemplating near-death drain the vibrancy in their eyes. They sit silently. Many carry blank stares as they ignore the flashing cameras. Some hold makeshift signs which broadcast their agony and a cruel new normal: “America is a Loaded Gun,” “Fuck Your Thoughts & Prayers,” “Our Blood, Your Hands.”

These students are the surviving class of the 67th mass shooting in the U.S. in 2023, barely two months into the new year. The tragedy also marks the

Students drop flowers in front of “The Rock” before the MSU-organized vigil for shooting victims began last week. ELEANORE CATOLICO

second mass shooting in the Great Lakes State in less than two years.

Being there requires courage. Two days before, a flurry of police alerts ordered them to shelter-in-place and run, hide, and fight. Thousands, stuck inside apartments and dormitories and stores as the shooter trekked the grounds, feared those excruciating hours would be their final ones alive. Despite a mass exodus of fellow classmates who fled home to embrace their families and a mass influx of outsiders descending onto the campus when they feel vulnerable and unsafe, these students stay. They can’t stomach how once cherished places of study and community transformed into ground zeroes of terror. They hate being known as the lockdown drill generation.

Powerful gusts shake the leafless trees under a muted sky. Nearby church bells clatter. The dried-up front lawn is peppered with forlorn faces. The lawmakers who vowed to take action once again. The heartbroken people from the town of Oxford, where a shooting in 2021 left four students dead. They traveled almost a hundred miles to share their outrage for another community shocked by suffering. Oxford and MSU are now bonded in grief. One by one, the students walk up to the podium.

It is Jamison Bandivas’s 22nd birthday. The MSU senior and fraternity brother is visibly torn apart because of his proximity to Monday’s carnage. He was 100 feet away from the Union, where one of the shootings happened. He saw a girl running out of the building, screaming. “A guy came up to us and said someone walked in the unit and just shot the clerk,” he tells the crowd. “And then she started screaming, ‘My boyfriend is the clerk!’ And then she keeps begging her boyfriend to pick up the phone, and he didn’t pick up the phone.”

He barricaded himself inside a nearby Target. Customers cried. Then he saw a girl who found a Valentine’s Day card. On that card, she wrote a goodbye letter. “I thought, ‘Why do we have to do this?’” Then Bandivas saw an international student, totally panicked. He tried to calm him down. The student told him how his parents warned him about the U.S.. “This is what we’re known as around the world,” Bandivas says, who is the son of Filipino immigrants. “I have to ask myself, is this the American Dream they wanted for me?” Right now, he feels like this shooting was a close call, but his chances of survival are running out. “Next time, I am dead,” he says. The girl’s scream has been ringing in his head ever since.

Alaina Dockery, a 20-year-old woman who lives a couple blocks away and works at a local Speedway gas station, plants herself on the shriveled up grass. She stands alone as she watches people close to her age recount the raw and graphic and disturbing details of their survival. They process their sorrow and express guilt because walking and breathing now feels like a privilege.

While growing up in Muskegon, Dockery knows how bullets destroy a body. Her mother worked inside a hospital where they performed open heart surgery. She saw people after they were shot, which made her more worried about her daughter’s safety. Dockery knows how trauma can live in the mind even if a person never confronts a loaded gun. The night of the shooting, a ripple of fear plagued her roommate, an MSU sophomore, who was at the home they shared but still prepared a goodbye note for his parents he was ready to send anyway.

“You don’t want to have a doomsday plan,” she says. “We don’t want to live in a world like this.”

At first, Monday seemed ordinary and uneventful for Ellie Barron, a 19-year-old sophomore who dreams of becoming a wildlife veterinarian. She had a morning class at Berkey Hall, many hours before two students were shot and killed during a Cuban history class. She skipped out on a braceletmaking party at the Union, another site of horror. Instead, she worked on a scholarship project she had put off because of nerves and a lack of belief in herself. In the early evening, she went to ultimate frisbee practice, where they would talk about how to reach nationals. That’s when a team member got an alert on their Apple Watch about the shooting. Barron began frantically texting her friends.

“I was asking them where they are and if they’re safe. And one of my friends was in the bathroom at Berkey, hiding with 72 other people,” she says.

“And she was telling me that she loved me. And she was telling me that she was scared. And I wanted to tell her that it was all going to be OK. But I couldn’t because I didn’t know it was going to be. I didn’t know if I was ever going to see her again.” Barron, her team, and hundreds of others shel-

tered inside the weight room, wondering whether or not they were going to live to see another sunrise. “We were crying and freaking out and making plans for what to do if the shooter came in,” she says.

Barron wants people to know her life matters. Her friends’ lives matter. Her classmates’ lives matter. She shouldn’t have had to wonder whether or not she would see her friends and family again. She shouldn’t have had to jump every time a water bottle dropped onto the floor. She shouldn’t have had to hide behind exercise equipment. Her voice is quivering as she speaks into the microphone. She hopes people will understand what happened to her. What happened here.

Palpable dread and memories of shootings thicken the blistering, wintry air. Haphazard bangs from a nearby construction crane startle the already emotionally fragile students, proving how life after gun violence invokes hyper-vigilance of once mundane noises. Some MSU students have already endured these fears. They’ve already lived through a mass shooting within their short lifetimes.

Hours pass by. Some camera crews depart. The crowd thins. Still, tearful testimonials pour out of these students, as they cry for change: stricter gun laws, a future where they don’t have to feel so afraid. They came to MSU for an education. But here they are, thrust into the spotlight as the school shooting epidemic’s latest victims. “How many more?” has been the collective refrain of the last few days. After the alerts and the goodbye letters and the desperate texts and calls to loved ones, they are still fighting for their lives. Would anybody listen?

Grieving in real time

Anthony McRae, the 43-year-old man police identified as the suspected gunman, later shot and killed himself a few miles from campus, according to police. Ever since, these horrific deaths and injuries cast a pall over the usually lively and warm place of learning. The massive school grounds stretch 5,200 acres across the heart of East Lansing, and more than 50,000 students attend MSU. Over the years, the public university has gained notoriety for its

business, education, and agriculture programs; Big Ten sports teams; and a bevy of illustrious alumni, including NBA Hall of Fame point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

In the wake of the shooting, school officials canceled classes for about a week. The routine drumbeats of studying and tests and grades may prove difficult to follow once students return to classes. How could anyone focus on academics after such a painful and harrowing chapter? And the collective grief is accompanied by more questions without answers. Why do mass shootings happen at all? Will students and staff ever feel safe again? Will the same cycle of rapidfire media coverage and empty platitudes play out like it has everywhere else people have been injured and murdered by active shooters? How many more?

Dustin DeFelice, the director of MSU’s English Language Center, tries to stay chipper. He chaperones a group of roughly a dozen Japanese students sporting black winter coats as they walk together in an almost single-file line along the mostly empty sidewalks of Lansing. They reach a bus stop near Red Cedar River and wait to catch a ride back to campus. These students, all from Nagoya University, came to the Midwestern college town hoping to improve their English proficiency skills. They are here to study for a few more weeks before flying back home.

The students were eating dinner in Landon Hall when the alerts arrived and were locked down until past midnight. “This was really traumatic for them,” DeFelice says. DeFelice is upset that students who’ve come from across the world had their experience ruined. The tragedy may stain how they view the U.S.. (In Japan, gun violence is rare, though last year, the country’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated by a man with a homemade firearm.) So he and other faculty members are encouraging students to attend ongoing listening sessions or put together flowers for makeshift memorials honoring the dead. “The families that are suffering right now, what they’re going through, I can’t even imagine,” he says. The bus rolls up, picks up DeFelice and the students, and cruises down the road, toward the lonely quiet of the campus.

There are some whispers of everyday college life. Gaggles of students shuffle down winding paths or chat and laugh as they sip coffee inside a Starbucks on East Grand River Ave. There’s still feverish typing on MacBooks. These whispers coexist alongside totems of grief. Bouquets of store-bought flowers — luscious red roses, hot pink carnations, sunny yellow tulips —

The students were eating dinner in Landon Hall when the alerts arrived and were locked down until past midnight. “This was really traumatic for them.”

droop atop a concrete ledge outside of Berkey Hall, a roughly 80-year-old building perched on the northside of campus. Students have taken sociology and public policy courses inside, but the wooden double doors are now closed off by yellow police tape. The building remains shuttered for the spring semester. More flowers are fanned around the base of a tall, slim tree nearby. There’s rarely a person who passes by who isn’t moved to stop before these shrines. In a city painted in green and white, the light of Spartan nation has slightly dimmed.

Below dreary clouds, a pilgrimage to The Rock, a boulder situated next to the school auditorium known for the messages students scrawl on it, begins a little after 5 p.m. This is where a vigil organized by university officials would commence. The collective mourning has spread far beyond the borders of MSU as solemn vigils have occurred elsewhere. Thousands of mourners trek across a mini-bridge overlooking a muddy river. They carry more flowers and little white candles, and flood the lawn surrounding the boulder, now a bastion of sorrow. A holy ground. The boulder’s bumpy facades are spray painted with the messages like “Always a Spartan,” and “We Stand Spartan Strong” along with the names of those who died.

They mourn the promise of the young lives lost forever: Arielle Diamond Anderson, a 19-year-old junior from Harper Woods, who dreamed of

becoming a pediatrician. Brian Fraser, a 20-year-old sophomore from Grosse Pointe, was a fraternity president. Alexandria Verner, a 20-year-old junior from Clawson, was a star student and athlete. Three short, white crosses with powder blue hearts commemorate each of the fallen students. Scrolled across the hearts are handwritten signatures. More students trample over wood chips to drop more flowers piling around the boulder, gaze at the names: Brian, Arielle, and Alexandria. They had much left to give to the world.

The inspirational ballad “You’ll Never Walk Alone” soars from loudspeakers. A chaplain delivers a brief sermon to comfort the weary souls. The mourners light candles and lift them toward the sky above. There are still five students recovering inside nearby Sparrow Hospital after doctors and nurses treated their wounds and helped them hold on. One of the critically injured is John Hao, an international student from China. He’s now paralyzed from the chest down, per media reports. The sight of bullets and bloodshed was so unbearable that the hospital’s lead medical chief teared up during a press conference the morning after the tragedy. Nothing seems to eclipse the vigil’s eerie silences. More speakers describe their pain and implore the crowd to hold their loved ones close: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Board of Trustees Chair Rema Vassar, men’s head basketball coach Tom Izzo,

among others.

Jo Kovach, the undergraduate student body president, had spent the day talking to school leaders from across the country who’ve endured the fears of mass shootings before. This wasn’t the work she’d envisioned for herself. This wasn’t supposed to be her job. She pays homage to the lost students. “These beautiful, amazing Spartans were taken from this world senselessly, but they will never be forgotten by each and every one of us tonight,” she says. She tells the classmates huddling together, sullen and soundless in front of her that it’s OK for them to grieve. “There’s no rulebook telling you what to do in these situations,” she says. She warns them to protect their mourning against media who’d treat their grief as a “sideshow” before the nation’s eyes. Moments later, there is a stirring rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Then more consoling words. United in grief, they sway to the school’s anthem “MSU Shadows.” The vigil ends. Thousands of mourners slowly disperse. An ocean of sorrowful eyes ebbing and flowing in slow motion.

It’s almost midnight. A few blocks away from The Rock, 32-year-old security guard Christoval Hernandez checks IDs outside the door of The Tin Can Bar, a once bustling, afterhours haunt with a dive-y vibe that’s now a little barren. The bar is usually brimming with students playing pong on Wednesday nights. There’s a few students drinking here together

as hard rock songs play in the background. One is sitting at the bar alone with AirPods in, scrolling through his smartphone.

As a parent, Hernandez is already preparing his 7-year-old daughter for the worst when she grows up, like teaching her CPR, because he won’t always be there for her. He doesn’t think he’ll be around for that long. Hernandez wasn’t on campus the night of the shooting, but a bunch of students began blowing up his phone and freaking out. He wasn’t afraid because he’s seen violence firsthand as a National Guard veteran who manned barracks in Iraq. But he was afraid for those students. He worries the days following the shooting may hurt local businesses like The Tin Can Bar in the long run, but another trouble hangs in his head: “I just want to know why he targeted the college kids,” he says. “That’s all.”

Guilty for being alive

The day after the school-organized vigil, rains shower the city. The listening sessions are still underway across campus. A golden retriever named Claudia frolicks outside the revolving door of the ritzy Graduate hotel. She is jovial and friendly as her long tongue sticks out of her mouth. There are a few older volunteers who’ve come along to help. Claudia is among a small group of trained comfort dogs from Toledo who’ve been visiting local vigils and churches to help bring calm

MSU students sit quietly on the capitol step buildings during a youth-led demonstration last week.

ELEANORE CATOLICO

for people in distress. The “comfort dog ministry” was created by Lutheran Church Charities. “We don’t like coming to these things,” says Bonnie Fear, the organization’s crisis response coordinator. “But we know that when they do happen, we’ll be there for these people.” Fear and Claudia hop into a van and head to another site.

Inside the Graduate, the lobby is buzzing as people lounge in sofa chairs, order coffee, and hover over to the front desk. Warm lights glow. Wisley Silva is a 35-year-old teacher from Brazil who’s enrolled in a teacher methodology program here at MSU. He’s been staying at the hotel for the last several weeks. During this cold and wet morning, Silva is still consumed by the tragedy. In his home country, he has seen violence before in big cities: violence from the drug trade, crimes of passion, robberies. But a mass shooting? Those kinds of acts are rare. He doesn’t spout lists of names of cities where those kinds of shootings have occurred in Brazil, like so many people can do here in America. It’s hard for Silva to recall even a few examples. The shooting still fogs his thoughts. “I have never experienced something like this,” he says. “Just knowing that a person can [go] into a school or university and kill people just because they want to. There’s no reason for that.”

The night of the shooting, Silva just had dinner with friends at a campus building nearby. The group was walking on the sidewalk, on their way back to the hotel. They were walking right past Berkey Hall when they heard a loud bang. Then Silva’s friend asked if the noise was a gunshot. Silva looked up. He saw students inside Berkey trying to break the windows. At first, Silva thought the students were committing vandalism. Then he saw students running and screaming. That’s when he and his friends started to run. Then the cop cars and helicopters came —the moment when Silva knew what was happening was something much bigger and more sinister. He and his friends ran back to the hotel and shelteredin-place. Then he heard the news that three people were killed. He started to feel sick. “I cried a lot,” he says. “I couldn’t sleep.”

He wasn’t afraid or traumatized. He is a father of a six-year-old daughter. He thought about how she could die from a tragedy like this. He felt guilty for still being alive. Silva’s mind began to spiral, as his imagination drafted more painful close calls. What if he was outside the Union? What if he had to start to run? If he was there, he may have encountered the shooter. “Probably, I wouldn’t be here talking to you,” he says.

As he barricaded himself inside the hotel, Silva called his wife and told her he was safe. He told his wife not to tell his mother because he was worried she’d get panicked and sick. She’s already in poor health. People back home were worried too. His students. His home of São Bento. Now, the days after feel strange. “Everything became normal,” he says. Some of his classmates told him these kinds of tragedies happen, but they have to move on with their lives. They asked him where they should go eat lunch. “How could you think about lunch at this moment?” Silva remembers telling them.

He hasn’t gone to a listening session because he’s really shy and didn’t have the courage to speak up. This is his first time talking about what happened, and afterwards, he feels a little better. Right now, he doesn’t feel safe at all, but then again he’s always felt a little unwelcome as an immigrant, often noticing suspicious stares. He knows he’ll never walk near Berkey again. Passing by there would trigger memories of those atrocious moments. “When I close my eyes, I can hear the guns. I can hear people running,” he says. “I can hear the cops, sirens. And for me, it’s very complicated to go back there.”

The days after the shooting have unveiled an onslaught of more harrowing stories and more unsettling details of the suspected shooter. There have been more vigils. There have been funerals for the students who died. Angry people, scared people, confused people. Legislators vowing change to gun laws. GoFundMe pages have sprouted up for those still recovering from their injuries. There’s been an emotional men’s basketball game between MSU and long-time rival University of Michigan filled with heartfelt tributes. There are those who may want to tell their stories of what happened and the aftermath and how they’ll try to cope. And those who don’t want anything to do with the media. There are still those still recovering from the shock and trauma. There are those who have completely moved on. More questions without answers, again and again.

A passionate opinion piece from the editorial board of The State News, the student newspaper, demanded leaders extend the break. “Our school is broken. Our home is destroyed,” the editorial board wrote. On Sunday afternoon, university officials announced classes would resume on Monday, seven days after the massacre that scarred Spartan nation forever. Maybe those students who return to classes will finally break the silence.

It’s a gray day on Detroit’s Westside near Plymouth and Wyoming. Snap Dogg is outside his mother’s two-family flat dressed in black Amiri jeans and sneakers, and a perfectly fitting paisley print jacket. He’s walking, talking, posing for pictures.

“I done brought everybody over here. I was really the first rapper to bring rappers from out of state to Detroit,” he claims. “I brought Lil Baby to this street right here!”

Back inside the foyer of the home, Snap takes a seat at the bottom of the stairway. His mother hears him come in and yells from upstairs: “I’m his biggest fan!”

Snap can’t help but crack a smile. Even though he’s a year away from turning 30 and seen his music career go higher than most, his mother’s support and love is still part of the fuel that drives him.

Snap grew up on this very block, trying to balance school life with the allure of the streets. Football played a powerful role in his life as he was a standout wide receiver at Northwestern High School.

“The streets drag you in,” he says. “It’s like, you wanna do right, you wanna stay in school, but you have them times where you like, ‘I ain’t got them fresh pair of shoes, I want that!’”

He adds, “If it wasn’t for sports I would be dead or in jail forreal, forreal.”

Football wasn’t the sport Snap excelled at. Boxing was a shared passion between his father and siblings, which included Snap’s twin brother Bronco.

“My dad was also a twin. Him and his brother grew up boxing,” Snap says. “My dad got 14 kids, so it’s 11 boys and three girls, so when we were little, we used to put on the gloves. I had to fight with them to be the tough one. I was already in love with fighting. Bronco was in love with fighting too. He really wanted to box.”

Snap has six gold chains hanging around his neck, one of which has an emblem of a bronco swinging from the bottom of it. He turns it around to show an engraving that says, “RIP BRONCO.”

Snap’s senior year of high school was as turbulent as a year could get. In October of 2011 he and several others were charged with armed robbery and murder that Snap vehemently denies participating in.“They tried to give a nigga 25 [years],” he says. He became a teenage father, and Bronco was shot to

Rapper Snap Dogg poses on Detroit’s Westside. | KAHN SANTORI DAVISON

death in 2012 by a retired police officer during a break-in.

“The same morning we found out he was dead, my family was fucked up,” he says. “I couldn’t see them like that. I went to school that same morning within hours after I found out he passed away. … I just remember having my head down and the principal was like, ‘Go home, we’re sorry for your loss.’”

Despite the setbacks, Snap still managed to graduate high school. He enrolled in Central State University and joined the football team, but Snap’s heart was no longer in football. He was a new father, and by his own admission he just didn’t feel like school was going to get him anywhere.

“I only went to college to play football,” he says. “I literally looked at my roommate like, ‘I’m ‘bout to go home and rap, bro.’”

Once home, Snap immediately got to work.

In 2014 Detroit’s hip-hop scene was an incubator of sorts. BandGang, Team Eastside, and Doughboyz Cashout encompassed a Detroit street sound that had built local followings that had never been seen before while Big Sean and Eminem were still the national faces of Detroit hip-hop. The “Detroit sound” (as it’s called today) was still a few years away from blowing up nationally.

Snap found an organic connection and matching energy in another up and coming Detroit star, producer Antt Beatz.

“He took me under his wing, he created the whole Snap Dogg sound,” he says. The pairing was perfect. Outside of producer Helluva, nobody has done more to advance the Detroit sound than Antt Beatz. (Billboard named him a top 10 rap producer in 2022.) The first offering from the duo was 2014’s “My Story,” a violent unhinged trap proclamation: “I kill for my bros I love this pistol action / when it’s time to go to war I know they all clapping.”

Antt Beatz felt that Snap was a real life O-Dog (the character played by Larenz Tate in the 1993 film Menace II Society) and brought that same energy in his sound and image. The video for “My Story” was shot on the Westside with several scenes recreated from Menace II Society — and was even temporarily shut down by the Detroit Police Department. The video did 100,000 YouTube views the first month. Leaning into the O-Dog comparison, Snap’s first project, named Menace 2 Society, was released a year and a half later. “We still had CDs back then and I was selling them out of the trunk of my car,” he says.

It didn’t take long for Snap’s music career to gain momentum. The popular but controversial hip-hop website

WorldStar Hip-Hop was years past its peak, but still strong enough to give an emerging artist like Snap Dogg a push by posting his music. But most importantly, Snap was building a fanbase while also making full use of the social media platform Instagram.

“I basically blew up Instagram,” he says. “Back around that time I used to be on there with them with big-ass guns. I was showing my lifestyle that wasn’t nobody doing. Video shoots, the police chasing us — all that would be real, so people would be loving the lifestyle. We had never seen nothing like this on the internet.” Snap claims he’s “the most viral rapper to come out of Detroit, Michigan in rap history.”

One of Snap’s most viral moments came in 2016 when the Detroit police again shut down the filming of one of his videos, this time for the track “I’m Trippin.” Prior to the police pulling up, Snap can be seen firing prop guns alongside a camera crew.

That same year Snap released his most notable album to date, Problem Child of Detroit.

“Now that was the one,” he says. “That album was so special because it’s the first tape, that was my first time knowing how everything goes. This tape, I was so confident in myself. And at that time I ain’t gon’ lie, I had beef going on. So I was really hot-head Snap, you couldn’t tell me nothing.” Snap says the record racked up 1 million streams in 24 hours.

Snap was one of the first of three Detroit acts (along with Peezy and BandGang) to catch the attention of Ghazi Shami, CEO of San Franciscobased Empire Distribution. Shami made a name for himself by offering artist-friendly musical distribution deals, and eventually Empire became a full-fledged record label.

“When I got with Ghazi it was just organic love,” Snap says. “Even when he first took me out I literally looked him in his face, and said, ‘Yo, why me?’ And he was like, ‘You’re going to be one of the biggest in life, in the future.’”

Snap adds, “Everybody was scared of me around that time.”

With Empire’s help, Snap dropped “WYA,” a brash and boastful Helluvaproduced track with a contagious hook:

“Niggas say they looking for me, I pull up right now where you at / Right now, where you at / Nigga tryna spend some money, I pull up right now where you at / Right now, where you at / You know that chopper hold a 100, I pull up right now where you at.”

By now, Snap had evolved into one of Detroit’s most recognizable hiphop ambassadors, with his popularity spreading way outside city limits. Chicago all-star Lil Dirk dropped a verse on Snap Dogg’s song “Curv,” he shared the mic with Fetty Wap on “How Many,” and Chief Keef reached out to him via SmokeCamp Chino, and they formed a bond. He credits Chief Keef with being the one who inspired him to “punch

in” his verses instead of writing them down, or recording section by section.

“When I went to Chief Keef house, this muthafucka work so fast!” Snap says. “I couldn’t be writing, trying to keep up with him. And he was like, ‘Snap, do it like this, speak yo mind and feel the beat.’”

His popularity even spread to the hardwood as NBA legend Shaquille O’ Neal called Snap one of his favorite rappers. Around this time, Snap also befriended and recorded with West Coast legend Snoop Dogg.

“I ended up linking with Snoop Dogg through [Detroit comedian] HaHa Davis,” Snap says. “When I first came out they used to joke, ‘Snap Dogg is a fake Snoop Dogg.’ So I used to be in my room like, ‘I ain’t fake, I can’t wait ’til I meet Snoop Dogg.’ So HaHa set that up. He had a relationship with Snoop Dogg. I moved to L.A., shot the video with Snoop. Before we did that we built a relationship. When I went out there he talked to me for like five hours. Snoop was the first person to get me to stop being a hot head.”

Snap participated in Snoop Dogg’s celebrity basketball game in 2018, recorded “Problems” with Roc Nation artist Casanova, released “Take Off” with Lil Baby, and “Free the Guyz” with Sacramento rapper Mozzy. His most significant connection was with YSL Records leader and hip-hop heavyweight Young Thug.

“I dropped ‘WYA’ and boom, Thug

Snap Dogg performed at the inaugural Weed Bar Awards at the Detroit’s Music Hall Center for The Performing Arts. | KAHN SANTORI DAVISON

commented on my shit like, ‘This hard,’” Snap says. After he moved to L.A., Snap linked up with Thug, and the two soon established a mentor-mentee relationship. Young Thug offered a bit of tough love, guidance, and support. He told Snap his temper had prevented him from reaching out to him earlier, and he also encouraged Snap to get right with God.

“He said, ‘When I seen you weren’t a hot head no more, that’s when I knew I could bring you in,’” Snap says. “This a million-dollar company, he ain’t trying to bring nobody in that can fuck that up.”

Snap says he was in talks to sign a deal with YSL when “the bullshit happened.” The “bullshit” Snap is referring to is the May 22 arrest of Young Thug for suspicion of gang involvement and conspiracy to violate the Georgia criminal racketeering law. Young Thug and several other YSL affiliates have all been impacted by his arrest.

Snap can only wonder what could have been.

His next three projects — Sacrifices (2018), In Yo Feelings (2020), and Taking No Chances (2022) — can all be classified as solid wins, but none packed the knockout blows of Problem Child of Detroit. Speaking of which, in 2021 Snap made his professional featherweight boxing debut by defeating Yasser Abouleila by knockout in the fourth round. “I trained everyday and I was going to the studio as soon as I left the gym,” he says.

After the fight, Snap took a break to center himself and tap back into the kind of music he wanted to make. With a new fresh focus he released 6 Rings in the fall of 2022, his strongest effort since Problem Child of Detroit.

His style has always been a loose combination of Detroit trap and Chicago drill. “Love Fa Da Streets,” “Cemetery,” and “Frontline” are all instant-classic Detroit bangers. “Head Down” reflects the contrast as he melodically raps on the hook, “Head down, man down where yo’ gun at” — and then immediately yells the same hook. “Pain Killers” is an ode to making success out of nothing, while “Hide & Seek” is a quintessential bass-heavy Snap Dogg track. “They kick me when I was down, now I’m back at it / All that back-stabbing nigga made me turn savage,” he raps.

“For one the music is there, it’s undeniable music,” Snap says of the project. “I went back and listened to Problem Child of Detroit and then 6 Rings — it’s the same vibe, the same feeling, I ain’t got no features.”

Snap has an unappreciated underdog mentality when he speaks of his music and how he’s viewed in Detroit’s current hip-hop landscape. When he first made his debut eight years ago, De -

troit’s emcees and producers still hadn’t collectively broken through nationally, at least since the days of Em, Slum, and Royce. Along with Tee Grizzley, Snap was very much a part of that new wave of energy that elevated Detroit’s current collection of talent to the level that it’s on now.

Despite his achievements and notoriety, Snap says he feels he doesn’t get that respect he deserves.

“The thing is when I really sat back and thought, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ I’m not doing nothing wrong,” he says. “I interact with the people, I’m humble, I don’t think I’m better than nobody. It’s like they support the fuck out of me in the city, but it just be like certain shit.”

He adds, “I just ask, why y’all hating on me? What reason do y’all have to hate on me? If you don’t like the music, you don’t like the music. But you gon’ like me as a person. You gon’ like what type of dude I am.”

Snap is careful with his words because he’s not trying to hate on any other artists’ success. His gripe is with anyone that’s trying to write him out the hip-hop narrative of this city or feels him and his brand of music

doesn’t belong here. 6 Rings carries the energy of a comeback album from an artist who shouldn’t have had to come back from anything. Musically, Snap has always represented Detroit as hard as anyone and he dares another fan, critic, or artist to say otherwise.

“Anything you see any big artists doing ’til this day, I should be a part of that type shit,” he says. “I’m one of the founders of this shit, bro. Nobody would be coming here to the D if it wasn’t for me, bro.”

Last year, Snap suffered another huge blow when his father passed away. Snap admits he hasn’t truly unpacked his father’s death yet and has always used music as a tool to get him through losing a loved one.

“The music is the therapy,” he says. “I lost Bronco, I lost my auntie, my daddy, I lost my cousin, my lil cousin, and these were like real important people in my life that really motivated me. … The same day I viewed my daddy body I went straight to the studio.”

He adds, “Still to this day I still haven’t grieved about my dad, I dropped my tears and everything but I still haven’t let it out. I’m not into showing weakness, I feel like if you

show weakness people will attack that.”

Snap Dogg credits his manager Floss with providing much needed structure musically and professionally. He says he’s constantly working on new material and says he even has unreleased tracks with G Herbo, Chris Brown, E-40, and XXXTentacion that may or may not ever see release.

“I got shit with XXXTentacion, I was on his last album,” Snap says. “His mamma flew me out to be on that album. I laid the verse but they took me off due to some political reason, but she kept it 100 with me and showed me love. She paid me for the verse and everything.”

Snap’s next big musical offering will be a single-video collab between him and the Chicago emcee Famous Dex. The track has already been recorded, and the duo plan to shoot the video this Saturday — and possibly debut the song at Famous Dex’s performance at the El Club later on that same day.

Snap cites the matching energy and general camaraderie between him at Dex as a contributing factor to the collaboration.

“We linked up early in my career and we’ve always rocked with each other,” he says. “This song is crazy as hell! It’s definitely one of them ones.”

More than anything, Snap is proud of himself for the man he’s becoming. He no longer puts guns in his videos, he avoids drama, and doesn’t go on Instagram Live doing ridiculous stunts anymore. The only time he channels his famous hot temper is when he’s behind the mic.

He routinely participates in community engagement events like back to school giveaways, charitable causes, and supports sports activities at his alma mater Northwestern high school. He still doesn’t drink, smoke weed, or do any kind of drugs. He’s a father of seven who’s doing everything he can to exceed his own expectations.

“I’ve grown tremendously,” he says. “I’ll go on YouTube and see how I used to be and I see why they wasn’t fucking with me! Man, I was tripping. Them Thug and Snoop conversations with me changed my life.”

He adds, “It’s 2023. I know this about to be my year, I know I’m about to take over, I know everything we working on is about to happen, all the sad nights, the blood, sweat and tears. I know 2023 is the year for it to happen … This bigger than Snap Dogg, I got my whole family depending on me!”

Snap Dogg will perform with Famous Dex on Saturday, Feb. 25 at El Club as part of Famous Dex Revival Tour; 4114 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit; 313-757-7942; elclubdetroit.com. Tickets are $39.51.

Snap Dogg wears a necklace in honor of Bronco, his twin brother. | KAHN SANTORI DAVISON

WHAT’S GOING ON

Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Be sure to check all venue website before events for latest information. Add your event to our online calendar: metrotimes.com/ AddEvent.

Wednesday, Feb. 22

Live/Concert

Ella Jane with Ash Tuesday 7 p.m.; Blind Pig, 208 S. First St., Ann Arbor; $17-$67.

Gideon, For The Fallen Dreams, Orthodox, Guerilla Warfare 5:30 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $20.

Theory of a Deadman & Skillet: Rock Resurrection Tour 6 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $29.50-$75.

WYCD Ten Man Jam 7 p.m.; Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $39.50.

DJ/Dance

Jason Hogans & WeAre AfroBotK

8 pm-midnight; Ziggy’s, 206 W. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti; $10 suggested.

(More than) Punk Nite w/ DJs Nips & Horrorshow 8 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; No Cover.

Thursday, Feb. 23

Live/Concert

Hatriot, Reducer, Black Tööth, Disciety 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $13.

Ice Cube 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $43-$83.

The Seatbelts 8-11 p.m.; The Shop T.I.T.P. (if you know), 23309 Dequindre, Warren.

Viagra Boys 7 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25.

Friday, Feb. 24

Live/Concert

Asylence, As Darkness Falls, John Penman, Archthrone, MPD 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $10.

Centenary 7 p.m.; Tangent Gallery & Hastings Street Ballroom, 715 E. Milwaukee Ave., Detroit; $15-$20.

Dominique Mary Davis wsg Kirk

“AutoKat” Williams @Tuxedo Bar 9 p.m.; Tuxedo Bar, 11745 Woodward Ave., Highland Park; $12.

Gimme Gimme Disco 9 p.m.; Saint

Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $15.

GoldenOak 8 p.m.; 20 Front Street, 20 Front St., Lake Orion; $18.

Hayley & the Crushers w/ Fen Fen + DJ Big Kahuna 8 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak.

Illmatic, Invoking Gods, Fleshwound, Dead Wrong, Love Loss 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $10.

R&B Only LIVE 8:30 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $74.99.

Stephen Sanchez 7 p.m.; El Club, 4114 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit.

SZA 8 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $39.50-$149.50.

DJ/Dance

Bikini Bottom Rave 9 p.m.; The Crofoot Ballroom, 1 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac.

Dance for Dilla 6 p.m.-1 a.m.; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), 4454 Woodward Ave., Detroit; MOCAD Members $15 online / $20 door | Non Member $20 on line / $25 door.

Saturday, Feb. 25

Live/Concert

Beatlemania Live (Beatles

Tribute) 8 p.m.; McMorran Place, 701 McMorran Blvd., Port Huron; $32-$35.

Dirty Mic & the Boys, New Relatives 7:30-11:30 p.m.; Gray’s Opera House, 231 N. Main St., Romeo; $10.

Eliza Edens, The Ferdy Mayne 8 p.m.; 20 Front Street, 20 Front St., Lake Orion; $18.

Emo Night Brooklyn (18+) 9 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $15.

FREEZE FEST IV 7 p.m.; Blind Pig, 208 S. First St., Ann Arbor; $15.

Laura Rain and the Caesars 8-9 p.m.; Cornerstone Village Bar & Grille, 17315 Mack Ave., Detroit; 15$.

Margo Price 8 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $99.

Three Men and A Tenor 8-11 p.m.; The Hawk - Farmington Hills Community Center, 29995 Twelve Mile Road, Farmington Hills; $30 in advance / $35 at the door.

Whiskey Glasses: Morgan Wallen Tribute Night 9:30 p.m.; The Bull & Barrel Urban Saloon, 670 Ouellette Avenue, Windsor; $7.07.

Winestoned Cowboys, The Whis-

Depeche Mode is coming to Detroit

ENGLISH ELECTRONIC ROCK

band Depeche Mode has announced a string of North American tour dates, including a Motor City stop.

The band’s “Memento Mori Tour” will make its way to Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 8. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 24 at 313presents.com, livenation.com and ticketmaster. com. Information about fan presale opportunities is available at depechemode.com.

It’s the band’s first tour in more than five years, and the first since founding keyboard player Andy Fletcher died in 2022. Fletcher died days before Detroit’s Movement

key Charmers + DJ Nitroh 8 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; FREE.

DJ/Dance

Dilla World LIVE In The Metaverse 9 p.m.-2 am; Marble Bar, 1501 Holden St., Detroit; $15 Pre-sale / $20 Online / $25 Door.

Sunday, Feb. 26

Live/Concert

Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros Featuring The Wolfpack 5:30 & 6:30 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $35-$99.50.

Carrie Underwood 7:30 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $34.50-$120.

Lyfe Jennings and Conya Doss

7:30 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $40-$52.

Sunday Jam Sessions Hosted by Sky Covington & Friends 8 p.m.-midnight; Woodbridge Pub, 5169 Trumbull St., Detroit; donation. Winter Meltdown 5 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $10.

DJ/Dance

Detroit Loves Dilla noon-2 a.m.; McShane’s Irish Pub & Whiskey Bar, 1460 Michigan Avenue, Detroit; free.

Music Festival, and we remember hearing many odes to Depeche Mode during DJ sets all weekend, a testament to the band’s impact on electronic music.

According to a press release, the tour is on track to be the band’s largest ever — and could very well be one of the biggest worldwide tours of 2023.

It’s also the band’s first tour since it was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

The tour is in support of Memento Mori, the band’s next studio album, due March 24. The band has already released a lead single, “Ghosts Again.”

—Lee DeVito

Monday, Feb. 27

Live/Concert

MetalSucks presents: FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, OBSCURA, Wolfheart, Thulcandra in Detroit 6 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $25.

DJ/Dance

Dilla Jams 9 p.m.-2 a.m.; Woodbridge Pub, 5169 Trumbull St., Detroit; free.

Tuesday, Feb. 28

Live/Concert

That 1 Guy 7 p.m.; Blind Pig, 208 S. First St., Ann Arbor; $20. Wishbone Ash 6:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $30$200.

DJ/Dance

B.Y.O.R Bring Your Own Records Night 9 p.m.-midnight; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; Free.

Karaoke/Open Mic

Continuing This Week Karaoke/ Open Mic

Karaoke with The Millionaire Matt Welz 8 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; free.

THEATER Performance

Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts Annie Jr. $15 Friday 7 p.m. and Saturday 2 p.m.

The Music Box Detroit Symphony

Orchestra. Thursday 7:30 p.m., Friday 8 p.m. and Saturday 8 p.m.

Musical

Blues In The Night Wednesday, 8 p.m., Thursday, 8 p.m., Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 2 & 8 p.m. and Sunday, 2 & 6:30 p.m.; Meadow Brook Theatre, 207 Wilson Hall, Rochester; $43; 248-377-3300; mbtheatre.com.

Jagged Little Pill (Touring)

Wednesday, 8 p.m., Thursday 8 p.m., Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday. 2 & 8 p.m. and Sunday, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd, Detroit; $39-$131; 313972-1135; thezenithatthefisher.com.

Jesus Christ Superstar (Touring)

Tuesday 8 p.m.; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd, Detroit; $41-$126; 313-9721135; thezenithatthefisher.com.

Music Hall Present Menopause

- The Musical Sunday, 3 & 7:30 p.m.; The Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave., Detroit; $40-$70; 313-887-8503.

Nicely Presents “The Drowsy

Chaperone Saturday, 7:30-9 p.m. and Sunday, 2-3:30 p.m.; The Berman Center for the Performing Arts, 6600 W. Maple Rd., West Bloomfield; $35; 248-406-6677; nicelytheatregroup.org.

COMEDY

Improv

Go Comedy! Improv Theater

Fresh Sauce. $20. Every other Friday, 8 & 10 p.m.; $20 Fridays, Saturdays, 8 & 10 p.m. Free Sundays, 9 p.m.

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle

Depths of Wikipedia Live in Royal Oak

Join @depthsofwikipedia creator Annie Rauwerda on a journey through Wikipedia’s most interesting corners. You’ll have the time of your life [citation needed]. $25. Thursday, 7:30-9 p.m.

Stand-up Opening

Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom Jim Jefferies. $30-$70

Saturday, 9 p.m.

Detroit House of Comedy Bonner & Earl’s Downtown Friday Night. From $25. Friday, 9:45 p.m.

Blind Pig Blind Pig Comedy FREE Mondays, 8 p.m.

The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant The Sh*t Show Open

Mic: Every Friday and Saturday at The Independent FREE Thursdays, 10 p.m.; FREE Fridays, 11 p.m. and Saturdays, 11 p.m.

Local buzz

By Broccoli and Joe Zimmer

Dilla World Weekend: Raise the Flag and Big Fella Records are coming together to throw a stellar series of events to honor the legacy of the late great hip-hop producer J Dilla, who died 17 years ago this month at age 32. The series kicks off at MOCAD on Friday with “Dilla Dance,” hosted by Detroit’s own Boog Brown and featuring a special attraction that will allow guests to hear music not heard in more than 20 years from Dilla’s lost MPC 2000. Then comes “Dilla Bowl” at Garden Bowl on Saturday, followed by “Dilla World LIVE In The Metaverse” that same evening at Marble Bar. “Beats and Brunch” and “Hip Hop Happy Hour” will take place at McShane’s on Sunday, and the grand finale “Dilla Jams” will happen on Monday at Woodbridge Pub. You can learn more by following @raisetheflagdetroit2023 on Instagram.

—Broccoli

Wires & Wax: Spotlite might be known for its DJ programming, but it also hosts a pretty impressive selection of live acts as well. One such event is coming up this weekend

on Friday, Feb. 24, as the Wires & Wax series continues with a live performance by Haz Mat and a vinyl DJ set from DJ Psycho. These two Detroit staples have had a number of collaborations over the years, and their chemistry is always apparent. In Haz Mat’s own words, it will be a “free for all MUSICAL ODYSSEY in the deep!!”, which sounds pretty great to us. The event will also kickoff Haz Mat’s quarterly residency at Spotlite, so be sure to grab tickets on Resident Advisor to be a part of the action.

and beyond. Local fave Something Blue rounds it out, playing everything in between. It all goes down at TV Lounge this Friday, Feb. 24, with tickets available via Resident Advisor. I would also recommend staying tuned to Culture Code on Instagram (@cultcode.x), since future programming is sure to delight.

—Joe Zimmer

—Broccoli

Is your techno up to code? The Culture Code is the celebration of underground dance culture hosted regularly by The AM (who had one of my favorite releases last year). For the final weekend of Black History Month, the residency is presenting CODE X, a special line-up of Black and brown creatives, running the full gamut of the techno and deep house spectrum. The lineup includes AMX (aka The AM), Max Watts, and Scan7, a rare chance to see some pure techno legends and bright new stars sharing the bill. On the other side, Ash Lauryn, Rick Wilhite (of Mahogani Music and 3 Chairs fame), and Meftah are sure to play the deepest of the deep house cuts, as some of the best selectors in Detroit

Texture takeover: After throwing down in Mexico City this weekend, the Texture crew is coming back home to host a two-day series at Marble Bar on March 3 and 4. The weekend starts with an all-nighter on Friday from 9 p.m.-9 a.m. featuring sets from Kittin & The Hacker, Laurel Halo, Marie Davidson, Scott Z, Fabiola, and more. After a short brunch and nap break, the music starts again at 9 p.m. on Saturday and goes until 3 a.m. Sunday, led by the sounds of Black Rave Culture, Anthony Naples, and Father Dukes. Expect psychedelic light shows, heady deep grooves, and a slew of familiar faces and new favorites behind the decks. Go ahead and make your weekend plans easy by buying tickets to both nights via Resident Advisor —Broccoli

Got a tip about Detroit’s music scene? Hit us up at music@metrotimes.com!

A J Dilla tribute mural by artist Victor “Marka27” Quinonez painted for the BLKOUT Walls Festival. STEVE NEAVLING

Going Southern on Six Mile

This is the second straight time I’ve been assigned to review a carry-out only restaurant. One wonders why. I’ve never given my editor cause to question my table manners, nor has he ever seen me eat. But I confess: After picking up and plowing through two impressive orders from Southern Smokehouse, I’m grinning ear to ear in barbecue sauce and gravy, still licking my fingers over the experience.

This grab-and-go spot opened a decade ago by brothers Kevin and Dwayne Hayes, the latter having trained under Chef Milos Cihelka at Southfield’s former Golden Mushroom restaurant. Having set up shop on a bustling stretch of West McNichols Road, Southern and its crew were catering to a considerable lunch crowd when I first popped in. Waiting my turn, I people-watched. A man in painter’s whites showed the patience of Job in line behind a woman putting staff through their paces with all kinds of questions, special requests, and separate orders. Another customer insistent on inspecting the day’s oxtails added her two cents to the atmosphere, and one of Detroit’s finest (PD) claimed some civic special privilege, doubleparking her cruiser out front before joining the queue.

By Robert Stempkowski

And the line moves fairly fast. Running what’s essentially a commissary kitchen, Southern keeps a virtual conveyor belt of down-home victuals rolling out into long, banquet-style steam tables staged up front. Behind bank-quality security glass, much of the menu fare’s kept hot off the fire for all to see. Fried chicken, fish, ribs, and such get called back to the cooks to order. Like Oxtail Lady, I appreciated the opportunity to look over what I was considering eating, visually noting things to try on my next visit, and watching dish-out staff generously filling containers. From a what-you-seeis-what-you-get perspective, Southern’s set-up serves its customers in fine fashion.

Fresh-fried okra certainly made a great first impression. One of two sides I picked with my lunch perch ($7.45), it reminded me of what this commonly frozen product’s real appeal is: crunchy-creamy from outside-in and frittered free of any greasiness whatsoever (via correct oil temperature and cook time). So, too, the perch filet. If borderline precious in portion, perfectly executed; its flesh steamed firm and moist in crisp, cornmeal crust. (For lack of lemon, I squeezed some Taco

Bell sauce packets on top that I found in my fridge. Delicious.) As to my second side, coleslaw; it was what it was, chopped, creamy, serviceable.

Breaking into the next box, I found my favorite food, fried chicken ($8.45, breast with two sides). Winner, winner. Thinly crusted and tasting close to Cajun-spiced, this piece of white meat notorious for its narrow, proper doneness window couldn’t have pleased me more. Just minutes too long or little in the fryer can leave chicken breast an over- or underdone disappointment. Mine, piping hot and juicy, was plucked from the oil with perfect timing. Cinnamon-kissed candied yams that came with were brown sugar-sweet and buttery, and collard greens cooked down in stock still held their lighter color and leafy texture.

After a nap to recover an appetite for ribs ($17.95, half slab, two sides, lunch and dinner), I woke to seven or so St. Louis-cut bones, luxuriously lacquered with a sweet-side sauce and pork lusciously smoked through, low and slow. Passing their own muster, those bones pulled out of that meat like sticks from a melting popsicle.

Baked beans struck me as too sweet, period. I prefer more savory balance;

say, added bacon and/or onion. And if Southern’s mac and cheese isn’t the perfectly creamy kind, on the bright side, it’s the same cheddar-y marshmallow texture my mom used to make; pillowy and pocketed with melted cheese throughout. Yes, please and always, that’s homemade to me.

Heading back for seconds, I dive into two dinner plates. Brisket is stellar ($15.45 with sides). Smoke-ringed and sliced thin, it’s piled high and encircled — but not covered up — by sauce. Sampling forkfuls with and without allowed me both the full-on, lip-smacking pleasure of Southern’s beefiest barbecue and the alternate opportunity to appreciate this hearty, whole muscle meat on its own merits. Notoriously tough to render succulent and tender, this was blue-ribbon brisket: plated with point (fat marbled) and flat cut (lean) portions still conjoined and their taste and textural differences on deft display. Bringing me back down to earth, whole pintos were a plain Jane bore, while lima beans only roused my tastebuds with seasoning I couldn’t discern or compliment. On both visits, bread options also proved a bit of a bust. There’s lots to love in Southern’s overall menu packaging, but dull, dry cornbread and dinner rolls are its Styrofoam peanuts, in my opinion.

Two hearty, smothered pork chops ($13.95 with sides) put me way over my calorie count for the day. Good gravy, these were the soul of Southern’s comfort foods, blanketed with what one definition describes as “the flour-thickened juices of meats or poultry which are produced during slow-cooking.” I felt thickened myself after finishing them both, along with smooth-as-silk mashed potatoes and a vinegar-puckered potato salad. Meat and potatoes with a side of potato. That’s me.

Professional duty demands I save room for dessert. Failing to do so, I force-fed on banana pudding ($4.25) scooped into a container large enough for two to share. Studded with banana chunks and softened vanilla wafers, it didn’t go unappreciated.

In hindsight, of all I packed away for the purposes of this review, maybe it was best that I ate everything Southern Smokehouse had to offer in the privacy of my own home. Oink oink.

At Detroit’s Southern Smokehouse, you get mouth-watering soul food to-go.

SE7ENFIFTEEN

FOOD PizzaPlex calls it quits

A spellbinding new Hamtramck bar

By Konstantina Buhalis

YOU CAN SIT for a spell at The Black Salt, Hamtramck’s latest bar set to open next month.

The menu is divided into two parts: classic cocktails and “spell” cocktails, which use seasonal ingredients and include a ritual, with both bartenders and guests participating.

Owner Zoey Ashwood says her west Michigan roots mixed with her interest in nature to create the bar, which celebrates intention, connection, and the literal fruits of the earth.

“I’m given the opportunity to open a bar and have a business,” she says, “ I want to open a place that I’ve always wanted to go to.” She calls the Black Salt “a very open and inclusive space, a very spiritually diverse space, and then a creative space as well.”

Ashwood says her fascination with Druidism, Wicca, and Paganism has been part of her life since she was young. Though she was raised Irish

Catholic on the west side of the state and attended Catholic school, Ashwood says she felt a deep connection to spirituality through Michigan’s nature.

“I just played in nature in ways that are very spiritual that I didn’t learn until later in life, [and] I was like, ‘Oh,’” she says. “I was practicing divination from a very young age by taking sticks and dropping them and seeing, you know, if they dropped in this kind of pattern meant that the trees were telling me this, and then I’d go do that.”

Ashwood brought that passion for nature to her bar, creating infusions that hold properties designed for metaphysical and medicinal purposes.

“We’re very much looking at all the different types of ingredients and how they’re being used and then putting those into different cocktails,” she says.

Ashwood explains that the ritual aspect of the spell menu could be as simple as stirring the drink in a specific

direction or placing the garnish on it.

“It’s literally, like, in your mind and in your intention directing that,” she says. “But there’ll be a simple completion of the spell that’s done while you’re consuming the cocktail, or, you know, as you write after you receive the cocktail, and then that’s the drink. That’s the spell.”

Ashwood says the cocktails are created with what’s known as “kitchen magic,” or in simple terms, “cooking with love.” The goal is to eventually turn The Black Salt into an apothecary of sorts, where guests can come in and have tailored spells made for them, but initially, The Black Salt is focusing on spells for basic human needs and a zodiac-themed drink for each sign’s corresponding month.

“We’re gonna start with, like, a grounding and cleansing cocktail, a money or prosperity cocktail, an attraction, love cocktail,” she says.

For the skeptics out there or those who might be a bit wary of witchcraft and paganism, you can also order a standard cocktail with no magical properties. Ashwood says the bar will have double-sided coasters, one with an eight-pointed star, signaling they want ritual, or the other with the bar’s name emblazoned on it to signal the customer wants a standard drink.

Ashwood says one of the main priorities of The Black Salt is for the guest to interact with magic on their own terms. If you’re ready to dive into divination, The Black Salt will also have tarot and oracle decks for rent at the bar (similar to renting pool balls) that guests can use to look for guidance or see what the week has in store for them. The Black Salt will also have a devoted staff ready to help patrons navigate their metaphysical needs.

While living in New York City, Ashwood says she would take her car up the Hudson River and go into nature and embrace her interest in Druidism and Wicca-related practices, believing that the rituals and time in nature helped her stay grounded. After some life changes, Ashwood returned to Michigan, began working as a tarot card reader, and earned a life coach certification.

During the pandemic, Ashwood was looking for a space and came across the former Mephisto’s on 2764 Florian St. Ashwood says she knew that was the building for her, and The Black Salt was born.

The bar is expected to open at 4 p.m. on March 3, with a raffle from until 6 p.m. with a prize of a “Prosperity and Protection” mystery bag featuring items from Downtown Tarot Company.

Ashwood says the space will host private Sabbath events for those who want to embrace the white light magic,

SINCE 2017, PIZZAPLEX (4458 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit) has been the cool Neapolitanstyle pizzeria on the city’s Southwest side.

Over the years, the restaurant has offered more than pizza, hosting fundraisers to support local food banks and introducing other worldly foods to their menu like Filipino BBQ and Italian pastries like cornetti and tiramisu.

But now, after nearly six years the community-rooted pizzeria will be closing its doors. Its final day of business will be on Monday, Feb. 27.

In a social media post, the PizzaPlex team took the time to thank everyone for their support over the last few years.

“From the Neapolitan oven we sourced, to the events we hosted, to the team members who helped write and tell our story over the years, to the introduction of Filipino dishes on our menu — we made every single decision with deep intention, and we all tried our best,” the social media post read. “So, after years of living that dream, we share with heavy hearts that we have made the tough but necessary decision to close PizzaPlex after this month is over.”

A GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign has been created to help assist PizzaPlex employees navigate the restaurant’s abrupt closure.

Despite a sad moment for the pizzeria, PizzaPlex isn’t going out quietly. They are still hosting events leading up to their final day of business. On Thursday, Feb. 23, the space will host a final PizzaYOLO: Pizza-making and wine tasting event, and on Monday Feb. 27, there will be a Vermouth and Cocktail tasting.

—Alex Washington

and there will be free full-moon rituals to charge crystals and divination decks. Ashwood says she wants The Black Salt to be not just a kitschy bar but a gathering place for people to embrace spirituality through nature and commune with each other.

“We’re here to just put really good energy into the world and provide something that is kind of lacking,” she says. “Fill a hole.”

The Black Salt is set to open in Hamtramck in March. ZOEY ASHWOOD

Black market bust seizes more than 5,400 cannabis plants

MICHIGAN STATE POLICE busted a large-scale cannabis growing operation in Ogemaw County on Wednesday as authorities continue to crack down on the black market.

Police seized more than 5,400 cannabis plants and more than 100 pounds of processed cannabis in Richmond Township.

The two residential search warrants were carried out by the state police’s Marijuana and Tobacco Investigation Section (MTIS), which is tasked with enforcing the state’s cannabis laws.

Sheefy McFly is dropping his own cannabis brand on 313 Day

DETROIT ARTIST SHEEFY McFly does whatever the fuck he wants.

Right now he wants to drop his own cannabis strain, so on 313 Day, aka Detroit Day, or whatever else you wanna call March 13, McFly will release his weed brand CRUD.

The artist is well known for his colorful abstract paintings of mashed-up and disembodied faces. He’s also a rapper and DJ, but he’s always considered himself a weed connoisseur.

“I’ve been smoking since [I was] a teenager,” he tells Metro Times over the phone. “When I grew up, that’s what we used to call weed in my hood, ‘crud.’”

CRUD is a partnership with DogHouse Farms and was developed and grown at the company’s Detroit location. McFly, whose real name is Tashif Turner, tells us the partnership came about after a friend who bought one of his paintings introduced him to some mutual friends at DogHouse.

“I had been trying to get into the weed industry for the past two years and when I seen the weed market was really becoming a multi-billion dollar industry in Michigan, I knew I had to get my hand in it,” he said. “DogHouse is pretty cool too ’cause their grow is on the Eastside which is where I’m from, but they hail from the West Coast and they have award-winning genetics. I don’t know shit about growing weed, but they got that in the bag. I’m just coming in with the creative end.”

CRUD is the name of a lifestyle brand McFly is building with DogHouse and also the name of the first strain he’s releasing with more to come. It’ll be sold in eighths to start and McFly says he

designed the packaging to look like a box of cereal.

“I’m a cartoon guy, like ’90s nostalgia, that’s really my shit,” he says. “So I created the CRUD box to look like a cereal box with the eighth inside and you also get a sticker as well. There’ll be four free collectible stickers that come with it. That’s what I want to focus on, like every different package is an art experience. On the back of the box, there’s a maze or connect the dots, you know, stuff like you used to find on the back of a cereal box.”

The 313 Day release party for CRUD will be at a private location, but McFly plans to partner with a few Detroit dispensaries to sell CRUD.

“It’s gone be a Detroit exclusive at first,” he says. “The farthest we’ll probably go is Hamtramck but basically that’s Detroit too, and then we’ll go further out later but this one’s just for the city, really.”

CRUD is an Indica-dominant hybrid which McFly says has a “distinct taste that’s not too earthy.”

“I was trying to search for something like my first time smoking Runts,” he says, adding that he spent weeks smoking different DogHouse phenotypes to find one he liked. “I feel like CRUD is a little bit heavier than Runts and it looks pretty too. It doesn’t get you stupid high, you can still function, and you get a great taste.”

Besides his weed venture, McFly is also gearing up for a solo show with all new paintings at Ferndale’s M Contemporary Art called Mantra which opens on April 21.

“I feel like the faces and the designs I develop are a mantra for me — it’s

therapy for me,” he says about the show. “I’ll be emphasizing the recurring images and symbols that I’ve been using, and getting back to the wood cutouts and some other things that I’ve been dipping into over the past five to seven years of my style really forming into itself.”

You can follow @sheefymcfly on Instagram for more updates on CRUD.

—Randiah Camille Green

“MSP’s MTIS will continue to conduct investigations and actively pursue criminal charges throughout Michigan against businesses and individuals who continue to cultivate, manufacture, and distribute black market marijuana and marijuana infused products,” state police said in a news release.

Briana Hanna, the new director of the Cannabis Regulatory Agency, hinted last year that authorities plan to do more to crack down on illegal cannabis.

State regulators and cannabis business owners say the black market is still thriving and contributing to plummeting profits as prices for licensed cannabis continue to decline.

—Steve Neavling

Teen cannabis use continues to decline, according to study

OPPONENTS OF CANNABIS have long claimed that legalizing it for adults would lead to an increase in teen use.

They were wrong, according to a new federal report.

Cannabis use among teenagers dropped from 2019 to 2021, hitting the lowest number in at least a decade. That’s despite more states legalizing its use for medical and recreational use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Youth Risk Behavioral Survey.

In 2021, 16% of high school students reported using cannabis in the past 30 days, compared to 22% in 2019.

Between 2011 and 2021, cannabis use declined from 26% to 14% among male high school students. For female high school students,

cannabis use dropped from 20% to 18% during the same period.

For context, the first states began legalizing adult-use cannabis in 2012. Michigan voters legalized cannabis for medicinal use in 2008 and for adult-use in 2018.

“Female students were more likely than male students to currently use marijuana. Black students were more likely than Asian, Hispanic, and White students to currently use marijuana,” the agency said. “LGBQ+ students and students with any same-sex partners were more likely than their peers to currently use marijuana.”

The report provides more evidence that creating legal systems for adults to purchase cannabis does not lead to an increase in use among teenagers.

—Steve Neavling

COURTESY

CULTURE

With the help of a friend, Qualls restored the car on weekends over the course of a year, a little bit at a time. He says he just wanted to get the car in working order because it reminded him of his old man.

“I just wanted to drive and experience what my dad experienced,” Qualls says.

Then, once the story of the Black Ghost came to light, Qualls wanted to make sure his father was memorialized. The car was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Historic Vehicle Register in 2020, and Hagerty Drivers Foundation released a documentary film about it. In 2022 Greenlight Collectibles released a series of toy cars, and last year, Dodge even manufactured a limited-edition run of 300 Black Ghost-style Challengers, what the company calls “a modern manifestation of the historic vehicle” before it retires the model next year.

A requiem for Detroit’s legendary ‘Black Ghost’

You can catch this badass Dodge Challenger at the 70th annual Autorama before it heads to auction

By Lee DeVito

Growing up in Detroit, Gregory Qualls never thought too much about the black 1970 Dodge Challenger his father Godfrey kept under blankets in the garage — until his dad occasionally brought it out. “It was loud and it would shake the house,” the younger Qualls recalls.

It was only after his father died in 2015 and Qualls fixed the automobile up that he realized its significance. It turns out his old man was the driver of the legendary “Black Ghost,” a mysterious souped-up car that was said to appear during illegal street races in Detroit in the 1970s. After leaving its opponents in the dust, the Black Ghost would drive off into the night, only to resurface months later and do it all again.

The Black Ghost will make an appearance in Detroit this weekend at the 70th annual Autorama hot rod show — perhaps its last — before it heads off to Indianapolis in May, where it will hit the auction block.

It makes sense that the elder Qualls

would keep his identity a secret, since he was working as a Detroit police officer in traffic enforcement at the time and would lose his job if he was caught. But the car was identifiable thanks to its flair, including the red, black, and green pan-African flag decals on its fenders, a white “bumble bee” stripe on its tail, and its “Gator Grain” vinyl roof, among other features.

After Qualls got the car in working order and started taking it to car shows, it was recognized by old hot rodders at Detroit’s 2018 Autorama.

“A lot of people just thought it wasn’t a real car, that it didn’t really exist,” Qualls says. “I guess they were just as surprised as I was to learn that my dad was a street racer.”

Fortunately, Qualls’s father kept the receipts. According to the Hagerty Drivers Foundation, the car was believed to be just one of 23 HEMI fourspeed R/T SE Challengers sold in the model’s debut year and likely one-ofa-kind when it comes to its particular performance and trim options. Qualls’s

father, 27 when he bought the car, selected just about every custom option available.

A special forces combat trooper in Vietnam, the elder Qualls was awarded a Purple Heart for his service, which included completing 300 parachute jumps. He appears to have put his racing days behind him in the mid-’70s when he re-enlisted in the National Guard, apparently fulfilling his need for speed by encouraging his son to pursue competitive RC car racing. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, which went into remission before returning just before his death.

In 2014, Qualls says his dad invited him over for a beer. The two got to talking about the car, and took it out of the garage and cleaned it up together.

Qualls thinks his father knew he was going to die soon. “My dad was a very private guy, and he didn’t want his family to feel like he was a burden to them,” he says. “Looking back, it was like, yeah, he was trying to tell me something.”

Qualls is hopeful that whoever buys the car at auction will continue to preserve the Black Ghost’s legacy. “It’s at the point where I can’t really enjoy the car anymore, because it’s just too valuable,” Qualls says. He believes the car could fetch as high as seven figures at auction, which will help his family.

But the reappearance of the Black Ghost has had intangible ripple effects, too.

“People feel they can relate to it,” Qualls says. “There’s some people that even reached out to me and told me that I helped give them motivation to get their parents’ cars running again.”

The Black Ghost will be one of 800 custom vehicles at Autorama Detroit, which also include eight creations by the Motor City’s famous Alexander Brothers, the Rat Fink Reunion featuring five vehicles designed by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, lowriders, and more.

There will also be a preview of a new documentary by Emmy-winning filmmaker Keith Famie called Detroit, The City of Hot Rods and Muscle Cars, the Miss Autorama Retro Pin Up Girl Contest, and celebrity guests including rapper Flavor Flav, Henry Winkler, and Dave Kindig from Bitchin’ Rides

The first Detroit Autorama took place in 1953 at the University of Detroit Field House as a fundraiser for Michigan Hot Rod Association, moving to the former Michigan State Fairground and the Detroit Artillery Armory before landing at the former Cobo Center in 1961, now known as Huntington Place, where it has called home ever since.

The 70th annual Autorama will be held from Friday, Feb. 24-Sunday, Feb. 26 at Huntington Place, 1 Washington Blvd., Detroit; see autorama.com for the full schedule. Tickets are $23.

In the ’70s, a DPD cop was a secret street racer, known for his black Dodge Challenger.

COURTESY OF MECUM AUCTIONS

EMPLOYMENT

Software Engineer, Milford, MI, General Motors. Gather architecture & SW technical requirements from Architecture & Calibrations Team to analyze & formulate SW requirements for Software Defined Vehicle. Develop, test & document embedded serial data communication apps in Embedded C & C++ languages, in SAFe environment, for powertrain, propulsion, chassis, infotainment & telematics ECUs in ICE psgr vehicles & Battery Electric Vehicles. Supply common solutions across in house controllers incl. apps development, feature implementation, & SW updates for CAN, LIN, Partial Network, & Automotive Ethernet vehicle networking subsyss in compliance w/ AUTOSAR standards. Utilize automated test tools in test benches, & in vehicle to test & verify ECU functionality at Function, Controller & System levels. Perform embedded ECU testing on test bench & in vehicle, using dSPACE HIL, ETAS INCA, VSpy, Vector CANape/CANoe tools, & neoVI FIRE & Lauterbach HW. Master, Electrical, Software, Automotive Systems or Electronics Engineering.

12 mos exp as Engineer, gathering reqmts to analyze & formulate SW reqmts for module for psgr vehicle system or electrified powertrain, & developing or testing serial data communication apps, utilizing Agile or SAFE methodology, or related. Mail resume to Ref#352, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482C32-C66, Detroit, MI 48265.

EMPLOYMENT

EMBEDDED SOFTWARE PLATFORM ENGINEER-VEHICLE INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM (VIP), Milford, MI, General Motors. Implement & integrate infrastructures for Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) to introduce new software applications in conventional ICE passenger vehicles & Battery Electric Vehicles. Gather & analyze technical requirements & use cases for vehicle mechatronic features incl. ride height (suspension), interior vehicle lighting, wash/ wipe & mirror controls, Vehicle Video Viewing, & Trailering Video Viewing using IBM DOORS & IBM RTC tools. Design & develop psgr vehicle service layer APIs & provide technical details for mechatronic signal behavior. Develop interface in Android Protocol Buffers to generate C++, Java & Python scripts, to connect existing controllers incl. Body Control (BCM), Vehicle Interface Control (VICM), Center Stack (CSM), and Vehicle Leveling (VLM) Modules, & vehicle serial communications in mechatronic layer to new VIP. Identify & analyze mechatronic signals transmitted to virtual controller through Automotive Ethernet & Controller Area Network (CAN) bus by BCM, VICM, CSM, & VLM, to provide or take remote procedure call requests to allow users to control vehicle features. Master, Electrical or Mechatronics Engineering. 12 mos exp as Engineer, designing or developing vehicle, generator or machinery APIs, & validating mechatronic signals in apps developed in C++, communicating on CAN or Automotive Ethernet channels, or related. Mail resume to Ref#23211, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482C32-C66, Detroit, MI 48265.

EMPLOYMENT

Technical Program ManagerUltra Cruise (UC) Vehicle Controls, Milford, MI, General Motors. Plan & lead weekly cross-functional meetings w/ Vehicle Program; Design; Path Plng, Vehicle Localization & Feature Monitoring SW Dvlpmt (onsite & offshore); Testing, & Active Safety Teams to ensure timely embedded controls SW pltfrms planning, prioritization, dvlpmt & prgrm launches for UC Level 2 hands off autonomous driving. Set technical objectives & timelines to implement production intent lateral & longitudinal MPC for ACP4 platform, using Bitbucket, Jenkins, Jira, IBM RTC, & following MISRA CERT C standards, & GM SW dvlpmt processes using Agile methodologies w/ SAFe, for ICE psgr vehicles & BEVs. Create & maintain team work backlog in Atlassian Jira to ensure timely implementation & testing of syss & safety reqmts, & PoCs for Level 2 autonomous driving syss. Author, monitor & drive to completion, Jira artifacts & IBM RTC Change Requests to integrate production intent UC vehicle controls SW. Master, Electrical, Computer, Software, or Automotive Engrg, or related. 24 mos exp as Engineer or related, creating & maintaining work backlog in Atlassian Jira to ensure timely implementation & testing of syss & safety reqmts for Level 2 autonomous driving sys, or related. Mail resume to Ref#2967, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482-C32-C66, Detroit, MI 48265.

Thurs 02/23

Happy Birthday, HECTOR GARCIA!

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Old Miami tees & hoodies available for purchase!

CULTURE

Artist of the week

Author Kelsey Ronan explores the complexities of grief in ‘Drown the House’

By Randiah Camille Green

You could say Kelsey Ronan’s relationship with her hometown of Flint is complicated. It’s the place where she grew up. Where her mother struggled with chronic asthma that worsened during the height of the ongoing water crisis. Where her crumbling childhood home holds challenging memories.

It’s also a city that she cares about deeply — a place where joy, community, and love live. In her debut novel Chevy in the Hole Ronan explores this tumultuous relationship through the eyes of an interracial couple battling with generational trauma and poverty.

Her latest published effort is a short story called “Drown the House” featured in an anthology titled Room Object. This object comes from Room Project, a quaint co-working space in Detroit’s New Center neighborhood for women, nonbinary, and trans writers and artists that centers BIPOC and LGBTQ+ voices.

Room Object was a Knight Arts Challenge Detroit winner in 2019 but the book was stalled due to the pandemic

and eventually published near the end of 2022. The work within its pages runs the gamut from poetry to fiction and everything in between from metro Detroit-area writers like La Shaun Phoenix Moore, Cherise Morris, MARS Marshall, Franny Choi, Lia Greenwell, Leila Abdelrazaq, and more.

While Chevy in the Hole is no doubt, colored by Ronan’s experience growing up in Flint, “Drown the House” is a personal tale about her family dynamics as she grapples with feelings about her absent father when he dies.

There are moments of anger, fleeting memories, and quips from Ronan’s sister Bunnie like this one: “You wouldn’t be who you are without your father Bunnie reads it to me, then affirms, ‘That’s true. We’d be happier and more successful.”

In a way, it feels like a companion to Chevy in the Hole that gives glimpses into the specific ways the writer’s life influenced the novel. The family home in disrepair that her mother desperately clings to mirrors Chevy in the Hole

main character Monae’s. A collection of cassette tapes with recordings of old radio shows like CBS Radio Mystery Theatre that Ronan and her partner find is reminiscent of a valuable record collection discovered by one of the novel’s characters.

“Drown the House” had me chuckling, on the verge of tears, and speechless in moments where I had to pause and digest the entangled spirals of grief and sadness.

Ronan’s writing is effortlessly poetic. Lines like “when Dad dies, he tells us himself” entice the reader with intrigue and a twinge of fear, while others like “Sometimes I’m tired of having the things I don’t even want snatched from me” make your heart sink.

Ronan has recently taken on programming and administrative duties at Room Project. Full disclosure, I’m also a Room member and frequently see her in the space, watering the plants, replenishing tea in the kitchen, and working on what I really hope is a new novel. Here, she appears as a wise elder

who is always there to support other writers’ dreams with an exuberant spirit. “Drown the House” offers a more vulnerable version of Ronan as she lets us in on her close relationship with her sister and the trials her family has lived through.

And we’re right there with her when she talks about wanting to scream into a hole in the ground. Sometimes life is so absurd, screaming feels like the only sensible way to release your emotions before they eat you up.

Where to find her work: Ronan, who now lives in Grosse Pointe Park, has been published in The Kenyon Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Lit Hub, among others. A reading and release party for Room Object is slated for Friday, Feb. 17 at Room starting at 7 p.m. For more info about Room Project and Room Object, see roomproject.org.

Got someone in mind you think deserves the spotlight? Hit us up at arts@metrotimes.com.

Kelsey Ronan (left) has contributed to Room Object, an anothology from the co-working space Room Project.

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

In two new films, vacationers meet differing strains of peril

By George Elkind

We’re in something of a boomtime for vacation-centric films, and two new ones remain in rotation on local screens. The first, Infinity Pool, comes from Brandon Cronenberg (son of the better-known David) and was released in January; the second, Knock at the Cabin from M. Night Shyamalan and adapted from a book by Paul Tremblay, is only just out. Taking approaches which treat their central partnerships — their variously structured family units — as either sacred or profane but under threat in any case, the two exemplify divergent approaches to contemporary horror.

In today’s context, Infinity Pool may seem more familiar. Spotlighting a well-heeled couple vacationing on an isolated resort in scenic Li Tolqa, the imagined country serves as a crucial backdrop for the film. With Caribbeanlevel disjunctions prevalent between the class of people invited to spend time and money there and the shared resources of the broader (seemingly agrarian) local populace, the film both foregrounds and assails the immunizing levels of privilege enjoyed by its central cast.

Shortly after arriving, novelist James Foster (a typically wooden, recessive, and well-groomed Alexander Skarsgård) and his wealthy benefactress of a wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman in a limited, often indignant role) are ambushed by Gabi (Mia Goth), a visiting actress who announces herself as a one of James’s fans. Before long, they’re invited to dinner alongside Gabi’s lascivious husband Alban (Jalil Lespert) and then to a remote beach for a picnic the next day. This latter invitation is a violation of the resort compound’s principles of razorwired sequestration, and after getting into trouble while outside the Fosters are confronted with the specter of consequences — after a fashion.

Entitled tourists causing trouble is an old standard for anywhere that hosts resort-based economies (the film was shot largely in Croatia), and Li Tolqa, which

seems to be post-Soviet and central European, boasts traditions which account for it. Through fabulist means I won’t quite spoil, they’ve engineered a process which enables both well-heeled travelers cavorting out of line and traditionalist locals in favor of harsh punishments to have their respective cakes: a process which, on the surface, appears to create a sense of lasting political harmony if not particularly warm feeling.

While there’s a plain truth to Infinity Pool’s central conceit, which makes a far-flung locale a mere playpen for the wealthy traveler, there’s little wisdom in it. The film pointedly upends traditional narrative structure, too, replacing the threat of physical peril so common to horror with a different sort of trouble: a kind of hollowing, albeit empowering, variety of moral rot and psychological alteration. But there’s little space for modulation in this conceit, especially with Skarsgård as a lead. Offering little but strained posture and a seeming obedience to direction, he offers scant emotional expression here on screen.

To Gabi and company, perennial visitors all, the island’s dynamics are old but welcome and more freeing news, allowing for them to invite and, after a time, seduce James into a (to them) familiar way of being they take in gleeful stride. For Goth as Gabi, an interest in James proves both personal and determined; as such, Gabi’s invitations accrue a steadily heightening erotic charge. Taking the evolving position of a kind of younger, taunting mentor, Cronenberg’s scenario hands her all the film’s best stuff, allowing her to easily make the best case for watching. While others (like Cronenberg, or Skarsgård) treat the film’s landscape as a space of serious-minded satire and stiff political comment, they drain it of expression by doing so — which makes Goth’s gleeful ecstasies all the more a joy. Verging on camp in a way that recalls Harmony Korine’s own satire of entitlement Spring Breakers, her com-

mitment both transcends and accentuates the film’s fine rote style, making it just barely worth the time.

Considerably less chilly in its affect but quite contemporary nonetheless, Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin is about all the things he’s long held dear. Privileging the family and its bonds above too much else, he casts a home invasion thriller (akin in many ways to his Signs, or more recently Jordan Peele’s Us) as not just threatening to their solidity but, while seemingly contained, potentially apocalyptic in scope. Opening on Wen (Kristen Cui), the adoptive daughter of Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge) catching grasshoppers on vacation, she’s soon met by hulking, gentle, and well-mannered Leonard (Dave Bautista). Leonard, after earnestly introducing himself, warns her that he’ll soon ask to enter their rented vacation home — not alone or for something casual, but to pursue the subject of a serious matter, accompanied by several peers.

This request — by a troupe of strangers wielding strangely homemade weapons — is understandably never granted, prompting the group to force their way into the house. After politely cleaning up the ensuing mess and subduing Wen and her parents, they present a grim proposition: the small family must agree to sacrifice — and themselves kill — one of their own three members in order to prevent global disasters of apocalyptic scale. Basing this ultimatum on, amid other interactions, a spate of shared visions and improbable coincidences, they struggle over many hours to convince their captives of the truth of what they’ve seen.

Pitting skepticism against a certain kind of faith (a frequent preoccupation for Shyamalan) as well as the intimate, richly sentimental bonds of family against those with a broader community, the film sees them strained still further by the two fathers’ sexual identity. Shyamalan treats this with surprising grace,

breaking from the uncannily well-mannered intensity of the hostage scenes to explore key moments in the couple’s past — and the understandable ways in which, being marginalized (even as two white men), Andrew and Eric might be skeptical of these strangers’ dubious claims. Even beyond the violence of the task demanded of them, the family has better reason than most to be somewhat protectionist, trusting few people outside themselves.

Rooting the film — except for interspersed newscasts, a hoot of an infomercial, and the aforementioned flashbacks — within the rural Pennsylvania cabin, Shyamalan displays his signature skill at staging, blocking, and composing a staggering variety of kinds of shots. Moving between intense closeups with a razorfine plane of focus (making for a sense of markedly subjective, POV-rooted engagement) and broad, sometimes roughhewn, even blurry frames, Knock always finds energy in Shyamalan’s willingness to pursue visual experiments as he elaborates the film’s tensions from within its confined conceit and space. Whether engaging with Bautista’s empathetic, firm, but oddly tender delivery or the family’s shared defense of one another, Knock contains the most touching, emotionally credible work Shyamalan’s brought to screen for quite some time.

With a key cast of seven, each swiftly characterized (more naturalistically, I would say, than is his tendency), there’s a sense that everyone not only gets their due — but is treated, even during moments of violence, quite humanely. Benefitting from a prevailing lack of narrative sprawl and a well-honed sense of focus, it’s only, quite surprisingly, in the film’s late moments that it seems to run out of places to go: at a point where one might more naturally expect its field of possibilities to open up. For the most part, though, Knock remains a taut, humane, and angular work — and one better than the place it lands.

Dave Bautista, left, in Knock at the Cabin by M. Night Shyamalan. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

EMPLOYMENT

Advanced Controls EngineerbevHEAT, Milford, MI, General Motors. Gather & analyze prepare architecture & SW technical reqmts using IBM Rational Rhapsody & MDK tools, & from Architecture & Calibrations Team, & formulate new embedded SW reqmts. Engineer, design, & develop bevHEAT integrated Ultium Energy Recovery sys embedded ECU in Vehicle Integration Control Module, & related features incl. Calculate Refrigerant State, Arbitration System State, Coordinated Coolant Configuration, BTestPred, & Battery Temperature Control, in Battery Electric Vehicle, in C programming language, MATLAB, Simulink, Stateflow modeling tools, GT-Power Cosim, & Embedded Coder auto generator, following MISRA CERT C standards, compliant w/ AUTOSAR standards, to boost BEV range, charging speed, & motor acceleration. Formulate & create optimal control algorithms & physics-based state observers (incl. estimation of refrigerant mass flow, FEAF for future BEV cabin comfort & propulsion heating & cooling control syss, using MATLAB, Simulate & Stateflow tools, to capture energy from Rechargeable Energy Storage System, power electronics, & Electric Drive Unit. Master, Mechanical or Automotive Engineering, or related. 12 mos exp as Engineer, engrg or developing SW to acquire data from BEV embedded ECUs, using MATLAB & ETAS INCA tools, to improve effectiveness of BEV propulsion heating & cooling & range testing, or related. Mail resume to Ref#24769, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482-C32- C66, Detroit, MI 48265.

EMPLOYMENT

LEAD SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

ENGINEER, Milford, MI, General Motors. Plan, validate, &verify SW readiness, SW robustness, vehicle safety &reliability, &feature calibration readiness of embedded ECU modules &40+ features in Viewing &Visibility domain. Integrate &verify on test bench &in-vehicle 40+ conventional ICE psgr vehicle &Battery Electric Vehicle SW features incl. Automatic High Beam, Choreography, Interior Lighting, Interior Illumination, Welcome Lighting, &Exit Lighting in embedded ECUs modules incl. Body Control Module, Exterior Lighting Module , Virtual Cockpit Unit, Video Processing Module, ADAS Compute Platform, &Front Camera Module, using VSpy, DPS, Vector CANalyzer tools, , &neoVI FIRE2 HW, &multimeter. Verify specified operation of BEV features on embedded ECU module interfaces incl. CAN bus, LIN bus, &Automotive Ethernet using VSpy tool &neoVI FIRE2. Lead &set technical objectives of team to develop Feature Integration Plans w/ comprehensive checklists by collaborating w/ syss engrg, validation, feature/module owners for coordinated feature testing &to avoid gaps in feature implementation. Bachelor, Mechanical, Electrical, Automotive, or Aerospace Engineering, or related. 60 mos exp as Engineer, integrating &verifying on test bench &in-vehicle psngr vehicle SW features, using VSpy &Vector CANalyzer tools, &neoVI FIRE2 HW, or related. Mail resume to Ref#30060-87, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482-C32-C66, Detroit, MI 48265.

CULTURE

Savage Love

Pegged As Bi

By Dan Savage

Q

:

My boyfriend of six months wants to try pegging and I’m down. But he wants “the whole experience,” which means sucking the dildo too. That raises a red flag for me. I know how this sounds before I even ask, so please forgive me if this question is insensitive. But does his desire to suck on the dildo indicate gay or bi tendencies? He says he’s not attracted to men, but he will sometimes make remarks about a “good looking guy” he saw. He also told me he had a threesome in his early 20s with a married couple and that the husband sucked him off. He says he hasn’t done anything like that since — and he’s had tons of sex and done a lot of freaky stuff. Is this a kink? Would this leave him wanting the real thing? He wants to get married and all that. Should I be concerned?

—Wondering About Sexual Proclivities

: A I’m gonna crawl out on a limb here and assume your boyfriend has demonstrated — to your satisfaction — that he enjoys straight sex. Or opposite-sex sex, I should say, since not everyone who has “straight” sex is straight. Bisexuals have “straight” sex all the time; sometimes even gays and lesbians have “straight” sex, and not always under the duress of the closet. Just as some straights are heteroflexible, some gays and lesbians are homoflexible.

Anyway, I’m gonna assume your boyfriend has demonstrated — again, to your satisfaction — that he enjoys having opposite-sex with you, WASP. He likes to kiss you, he likes your tits, he eats your pussy, and he fucks you senseless. And I feel confident in making this assumption because if he was only going through the motions when he was having sex with you, if the “straight” sex you were having together was bad or infrequent or both, you surely would’ve mentioned that fact.

So, since the sex you’re having with your newish boyfriend is good and frequent (and trending freaky), WASP, we can safely strike “gay” from your very short list of concerns. And while some would regard the distinction you’re attempting to make between your boyfriend wanting you to fuck his ass and your boyfriend wanting you to fuck his face as meaningless — most will regard him wanting to have his ass fucked as just as gay or even gayer than him wanting to have his face fucked — there

is a difference. A guy can wanna have his ass fucked for the pure physical pleasure of being penetrated, e.g., the stimulation of all those nerve endings, the amazing feeling of being opened up, the pounding of his prostate gland, and the dildo is simply a means to those ends. But sucking on a strap-on dildo… that’s more of a psychological thrill. You won’t feel anything, and your boyfriend doesn’t have a prostate gland on his soft palate.

But even if he’s getting off on the idea of sucking dick… that’s not proof he’s gay or bi. Some women have dicks, as we’ve learned over the last two decades and change, and your boyfriend could be fantasizing about sucking a woman’s dick and there’s nothing gay or bi about a cis man sucking a trans woman’s dick. (Right? Right.) Or your boyfriend could be into the idea of forced bi. Or your boyfriend could be turned on by the transgression against what straight sex is supposed/assumed to be, e.g., males penetrate, females are penetrated.

Zooming out for a second…

At the start of a new relationship people will sometimes hint at their non-normative sexual interests, or desires. A guy might share a little about his past — like having had a threesome with a married couple and getting sucked off by the dude — because he wants to assess his new partner’s reaction before sharing the rest. A guy into bondage might tell a new partner he once “let someone” tie him up when he actually begged that person to tie him up; a woman into spanking might tell a new partner about some spanking porn clip that somehow popped up in her Twitter feed when she actually went looking for it. Your boyfriend could be bisexual, WASP, and told you some married guy sucked his dick when actually he went looking for a guy — married or not — to suck his dick.

So, let’s game out your worst-case scenario: Your boyfriend is bisexual. Would that really be so bad, WASP? If you’re going to obsess about the downsides of marrying a bisexual guy — he’s going to want to fuck a guy once in a while — you should at least pause to consider the upsides. For instance, you won’t have to be on the receiving end of penetration every time you say yes to sex, WASP, because you’ll get to do the penetrating every once in a while. And the occasional MMF threesome… well, that seems like the best-case scenario to me, WASP, but I’m a little like your boyfriend: here for the freaky stuff.

: Q I’m a 38-year-old mother of two youngish kids in a 10-year hetero relationship that I am destroying. I cheated with a girl at my job at the end of last year and now I have feelings for her. I’ve ended the

affair several times, but each time we start back up again. I’ve always known that I’m bisexual but never really explored that side of myself. I don’t know if I never explored this side of myself out of fear, internalized homophobia, or that the right girl never presented herself. Now I need to choose. Do I stay with my long-term partner, a man I love dearly, and tamp down this side of myself? Or do I break up with him and explore my sexuality? If we didn’t have kids, I would choose the latter. We have talked about opening up the relationship but he is way too hurt for that to be an option anymore. I know I majorly fucked up. I betrayed his trust and snuck around with this girl. Am I just a horrible person who needs to get her shit together and somehow patch things up with my partner? Or is exploring my sexuality something that I should prioritize over stability and long-term love?

—Confused As Fuck

: A If you were childless — or childfree — you would leave. But you aren’t childfree, CAF, and you owe it to your kids to at least try to make things work with your long-term partner.

That said, CAF, you aren’t obligated to stay in a relationship you can’t make work. If your actions have irrevocably destroyed your partner’s ability to trust you, and if you can’t come to some sort of accommodation moving forward that allows you to be the person you are (an accommodation that could take many different forms), ending it may ultimately be in the best interests of your kids. Because a bitter, loveless, high-conflict relationship will not only make you and your partner miserable, but it will also make your kids miserable.

If your relationship never recovers from the blows you’ve inflicted on it — if you can’t get past this — then you’ll have to end it. But at this point you simply don’t know whether or how this relationship can be salvaged. So, give it a chance, do the work, and see where you are in a year. If leaving was ultimately the right thing to do, it’ll still be the right thing to do a year from now. If leaving was the wrong thing to do, you won’t be able to undo it a year from now.

P.S. Bisexual People? Please get out there and suck some dick and/or eat some pussy before you make a monogamous commitment to an opposite-sex partner or a same-sex partner, for that matter, although I get fewer letters from bisexuals in same-sex relationships who’ve recently “explored” their bisexuality (with disastrous consequences) or begged their samesex partners for permission to “explore” their bisexuality (and been threatened with disastrous consequences). Yeah, yeah: bisexual people can honor monogamous commitments. But as you may have noticed — as anyone who’s been paying attention should have noticed by now — monogamy isn’t easy for anyone. And while

it’s considered bi-phobic to suggest that monogamy might be a little bit harder for bisexual people, most of the people making that argument to me are bisexuals who made monogamous commitments before fully exploring their sexualities. LGBTQ people never tire of pointing out how a particular thing might be harder for gay men and a different particular thing might be harder for lesbians and another particular thing might be a whole lot harder for trans people and a long list of other things might a bazillion times harder for asexuals, demisexuals, sapiosexuals, omnisexuals, etc., etc., etc. And yet it’s somehow taboo to suggest that monogamy — which, again, is pretty damn hard for everyone — might be just a tiny bit harder for bisexuals.

: Q I’m a bisexual woman who once had an affair with a married man. (Let’s call him “AP.”) The affair ended a decade ago. I was in an abusive marriage at the time and AP showed me what a loving, caring relationship was like. He was, and still is, happily married except for sexual dissatisfaction. His wife has an extremely low sex drive and is a prude. (She calls sex “icky.”) AP, on the other hand, has a high libido and is very adventurous. He loves anal, threesomes, etc., and has had experiences with men when he was younger. He loves his wife and kids, and I love him, so when we were discovered, I removed myself from the situation. I left the abuser, did a LOT of work on myself, and found an awesome, open-minded, sexy bisexual new husband. Would I be an asshole if I sent an indecent proposal to AP and his wife? Everything out in the open this time. A one-time invitation to meet in a neutral place where the four of us could get to know each other. And then, if everyone is comfortable, we can have some naughty adult play time that would include all the stuff she doesn’t enjoy (anal, same-sex play, oral, etc.). Is this a shitty thing to do? I’ve come to a point that I realize a healthy relationship is based on far more than monogamy, and if my husband really wanted to engage in something I had no interest in, I’d give him my blessing. But that’s me. I hate the idea of AP living out the rest of his life unfulfilled. My husband is fully on board.

—Decent Proposal

P.S. For what it’s worth, AP bears some resemblance to a Muppet!

: A Do not do this.

P.S. A woman who doesn’t wanna do anal, oral, or same-sex play is highly unlikely to wanna watch her husband do any of those things in front of her — particularly with a former affair partner.

P.S. Muppet-faced men are the bestfaced men!

Send your burning questions to mailbox@ savage.love. Podcasts, columns, merch, and more at Savage.Love!

CULTURE Free Will Astrology

ARIES: March 21 – April 19

Philosopher John O’Donohue wrote a prayer not so much to God as to Life. It’s perfect for your needs right now. He said, “May my mind come alive today to the invisible geography that invites me to new frontiers, to break the dead shell of yesterdays, to risk being disturbed and changed.” I think you will generate an interesting onrush of healing, Aries, if you break the dead shell of yesterdays and risk being disturbed and changed. The new frontier is calling to you. To respond with alacrity, you must shed some baggage.

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

Rightwing religious influencers are rambling amuck in the United States. In recent months, their repressive pressures have forced over 1,600 books to be banned in 138 school districts in 38 states. The forbidden books include some about heroes Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, and Rosa Parks. With this appalling trend as a motivational force, I encourage you Tauruses to take inventory of any tendencies you might have to censor the information you expose yourself to. According to my reading of the

astrological omens, now is an excellent time to pry open your mind to consider ideas and facts you have shut out. Be eager to get educated and inspired by stimuli outside your usual scope.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

I think we can all agree that it’s really fun to fall in love. Those times when we feel a thrilling infatuation welling up within us are among the most pleasurable of all human experiences. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do it over and over again as the years go by? Just keep getting bowled over by fresh immersions in swooning adoration? Maybe we could drum up two or three bouts of mad love explosions every year. But alas, giving in to such a temptation might make it hard to build intimacy and trust with a committed, long-term partner. Here’s a possible alternative: Instead of getting smitten with an endless series of new paramours, we could get swept away by novel teachings, revelatory meditations, lovable animals, sublime art or music, amazing landscapes or sanctuaries, and exhilarating adventures. I hope you will be doing that in the coming weeks, Gemini.

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

The scientific method is an excellent approach for understanding reality. It’s not the only one, and should not be used to the exclusion of other ways of knowing. But even if you’re allergic to physics or never step into a chemistry lab, you are wise to use the scientific method in your daily life. The coming weeks will be an especially good time to enjoy its benefits. What would that mean, practically speaking? Set aside your subjective opinions and habitual responses. Instead, simply gather evidence. Treasure actual facts. Try to be as objective as you can in evaluating everything that happens. Be highly attuned to your feelings, but also be aware that they may not provide all facets of the truth.

LEO: July 23 – August 22

Hey kids, I’m N.O. bound with Sarah. The sitter’s in charge while I’m gone. The number we can be reached at is next to the phone. You can stay up until 2am. but then it’s off to bed.

Is there anything in your psychological makeup that would help you do some detective work? How are your skills as a researcher? Are you willing to be cagey and strategic as you investigate what’s going on behind the scenes? If so, I invite you to carry out any or all of these four tasks in the coming weeks: 1. Try to become aware of shrouded half-truths. 2. Be alert for shadowy stuff lurking in bright, shiny environments. 3. Uncover secret agendas and unacknowledged evidence. 4. Explore stories and situations that no one else seems curious about.

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

The country of Nepal, which has strong Virgo qualities, is divided into

JAMES NOELLERT

seven provinces. One is simply called “Province No.1,” while the others are Sudurpashchim, Karnali, Gandaki, Lumbini, Bagmati, and Janakpur. I advise Nepal to give Province No. 1 a decent name very soon. I also recommend that you Virgos extend a similar outreach to some of the unnamed beauty in your sphere. Have fun with it. Give names to your phone, your computer, your bed, your hairdryer, and your lamps, as well as your favorite trees, houseplants, and clouds. You may find that the gift of naming helps make the world a more welcoming place with which you have a more intimate relationship. And that would be an artful response to current cosmic rhythms.

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

Are you aimless, impassive, and stuck, floundering as you try to preserve and maintain? Or are you fiercely and joyfully in quest of vigorous and dynamic success? What you do in the coming weeks will determine which of these two forks in your destiny will be your path for the rest of 2023. I’ll be rooting for the second option. Here is a tip to help you be strong and bold. Learn the distinctions between your own soulful definition of success and the superficial, irrelevant, meaningless definitions of success that our culture celebrates. Then swear an oath to love, honor, and serve your soulful definition.

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21: The next four weeks will be a time of germination, metaphorically analogous to the beginning of a pregnancy. The attitudes and feelings that predominate during this time will put a strong imprint on the seeds that will mature into full ripeness by late 2023. What do you want to give birth to in 40 weeks or so, Scorpio? Choose wisely! And make sure that in this early, impressionable part of the process, you provide your growing creations with positive, nurturing influences.

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

I recommend you set up Designated Arguing Summits (DAT). These will be short periods when you and your allies get disputes out in the open. Disagreements must be confined to

By Rob Brezsny

these intervals. You are not allowed to squabble at any other time. Why do I make this recommendation? I believe that many positive accomplishments are possible for you in the coming weeks, and it would be counterproductive to expend more than the minimal necessary amount on sparring. Your glorious assignment: Be emotionally available and eager to embrace the budding opportunities.

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

Actor Judi Dench won an Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth in the film Shakespeare in Love — even though she was onscreen for just eight minutes. Beatrice Straight got an Oscar for her role in the movie Network, though she appeared for less than six minutes. I expect a similar phenomenon in your world, Capricorn. A seemingly small pivot will lead to a vivid turning point. A modest seed will sprout into a prismatic bloom. A cameo performance will generate long-term ripples. Be alert for the signs.

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

Most of us are constantly skirmishing with time, doing our best to coax it or compel it to give us more slack. But lately, you Aquarians have slipped into a more intense conflict. And from what I’ve been able to determine, time is kicking your ass. What can you do to relieve the pressure? Maybe you could edit your priority list — eliminate two mildly interesting pursuits to make more room for a fascinating one. You might also consider reading a book to help you with time management and organizational strategies, like these: 1. Getting Things Done by David Allen. 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. 3. 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse.

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

“What is originality?” asked philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Here’s how he answered: “to see something that has no name as yet, and hence cannot be mentioned though it stares us all in the face.” Got that, Pisces? I hope so, because your fun assignments in the coming days include the following: 1. to make a shimmering dream coalesce into a concrete reality; 2. to cause a figment of the imagination to materialize into a useful accessory; 3. to coax an unborn truth to sprout into a galvanizing insight.

Homework: What’s something you would love to do but were told never to do by someone you loved?

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