Metro Times 03/01/23

NEWS & VIEWS

We received responses to freelancer Kahn Santori Davison’s cover story about Detroit rapper Snap Dogg.

Now this big �� s/o to @metrotimes —@_snapdogg_, Twitter

“Guys, guys, I got it! Not SNOOP Dog, but SNAP Dog. Yup. That’s the equation for me being nothing but a joke. I KNEW I had this.” —Joe M. Schubert, Facebook

Snap Dogg though? Could he have chosen maybe a different animal. It just sounds too much like ordering Snoop Dogg from Wish. Snap is okay. Just maybe most next to Dogg. It feels stolen then made generic.

That’s just my thoughts for the morning. Maybe I just haven’t had enough coffee yet. Maybe it’ll sound better once this coffee is flowing. —Kara Hadala, Facebook

Its sad when u been “in the game” a looongg time and your own hood still don’t know who the hell you are �� Ask Sadababy —O.G. JHenry, Facebook

Viral rap? I hope there’s a vaccine. —Lee Helms, Facebook

Y’all a bunch of haters I swear to God ���� —Swayla Laflair, Facebook

He’s been dope. —Nickolaus Bosse, Facebook

Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com.

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NEWS & VIEWS

DTE and Consumers Energy keep blaming the weather for Michigan’s power outages

FOR THE 93,000 or so Michigan households that have reportedly been without power going on five days as of Monday morning, utility companies

DTE Energy and Consumers Energy have a message: we see you, we hear you, and we will do nothing to prevent this from happening again, at least anytime soon.

If that seems overly negative, well, how else are we supposed to feel at this point?

More than 730,000 Michigan homes lost power during Wednesday’s massive ice storm, far more than any other Midwest state. Those impacted by the outages include Paw Paw firefighter Ethan Quillen, 28, who was electrocuted to death on Wednesday by a downed wire reportedly owned by Consumers Energy.

In a Thursday statement, DTE Energy blamed the outages on “the worst ice event that we have experienced in the past 50 years.”

“The combination of snow, freezing rain and wind has caused branches and trees to fall, pulling down DTE power lines,” the company said. “The heavy weight of ice buildup — comparable to that of a baby grand piano — has also caused power lines to fall, for a total of nearly 4,000 downed power lines.”

Of course, everyone in southeast Michigan knows that it takes far less

than a baby grand piano to take down our energy grid. In fact, around here, massive power outages have long felt like a feature, not a bug.

Recall that more than 850,000 customers in Michigan lost power in August 2021 due to wind storms. The same thing happened to some 800,000 households in July 2019. And in 2017, nearly 1 million households lost power in a March wind storm, which DTE Energy called the “largest weather event” in the company’s history.

For those keeping score, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a winter ice storm, or the spring wind, or the summer rain. Our power grid fails seemingly every time the wind blows, which, in Michigan, is a lot. At this point, the utility companies’ insistence that they are truly blindsided by these weather events is sounding about as credible as Tim Robinson’s man in a hot dog costume insisting he wasn’t the guy who crashed that hot dog-shaped car.

Research suggests that Michigan’s utility companies are uniquely awful. Recently, the watchdog group Citizens Utility Board of Michigan ranked the state’s utility companies among the least reliable in the nation. And in its most recent report, consumer website Choose Energy ranked DTE Energy dead last for reliability. Last year, responding to mounting public frustra-

tion with DTE and Consumers Energy, the Michigan Public Service Commission ordered an independent audit into the reliability of the companies’ Michigan infrastructure. The results of the study have yet to be made public.

Democrats, who now hold a trifecta of power in the state for the first time in 40 years, say they’re pissed.

“The length of this outage, in freezing temperatures, is completely unacceptable,” state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a Royal Oak Democrat, wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “The frequency of outages and lack of reliability is completely unacceptable. I hear you and I’m as frustrated and angry as you are.”

She added, “My focus right now is trying to ensure everyone gets through this safely. But please know I will do the work to hold DTE accountable and demand improvements. They must upgrade the grid to withstand the new normal.”

“Everyone understands the damage the storm did, but some parts of the state have long had reliability issues,” U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Holly Democrat, wrote on Twitter on Saturday. State House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash, a Hamtramck Democrat, called for committee hearings.

“There have been people left in the freezing cold,” Aiyash told The Detroit News on Sunday. “It is my hope that

my colleagues in Lansing will call DTE in for questioning and have committee hearings so they can answer to the public.”

Lawmakers had recent opportunities to take action on these issues, and passed them up. Last year, legislators introduced HB 6043, which would have set a formula for utility companies to reimburse customers and local governments for service interruptions, and HB 6045, which would provide compensation to customers who experience repeated outages. It’s notable that nearly all state lawmakers have taken a total of $1.26 million in campaign money from DTE Energy’s executives, lobbyists, and PACs. Attorney General Dana Nessel has called for more transparency regarding the corporations’ political spending, and on Monday, she called for the companies to automatically credit customers impacted by the outages.

“While this ice storm appears to have been one of the worst we have seen in many years, winter weather is an expected occurrence in Michigan. Residents deserve a grid they can rely on,” Nessel said in a statement. “Despite asking for record increases time and time again, our utilities have failed to adequately invest in their own infrastructure or prepare for these storm events, choosing instead to leave

SHUTTERSTOCK

ratepayers in the dark. Our current service quality standards are not sufficient, and it is incumbent on the utilities to right this wrong.”

To add insult to injury, Michiganders pay some of the nation’s highest rates for these subpar utilities, and over the last decade or so DTE Energy and Consumers have increased residents’ costs by 50% while costs for industrial customers remained flat — and the companies’ executives take in millions in compensation.

On Thursday, as tens of thousands of its customers were shivering cold in the dark, DTE Energy held its Q4 earning call, where it boasted operating earnings of $1.2 billion for the year, an increase over 2021. The company also said it invested more than $1 billion into updating its electric grid and trimming trees near power lines, which resulted in 21% fewer power interruptions since 2021, with the average outage duration time down more than 40%.

“It’s clear that as we invest in a grid, our customers benefit with improved performance and more reliable power,” CEO Gerardo Norcia said.

Well, no shit!

“DTE made $1.1 billion in profits last year. They are choosing their profits over your family,” U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Detroit Democrat, wrote on Twitter. “Enough is enough. We need public power in Michigan.”

About one-third of the nation’s power is generated by publicly owned utilities, as opposed to forprofit corporations like DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, and U.S. Department of Energy data shows public utility customers on average pay less each month and spend less time without power annually.

“If you have public control, then the utilities are accountable to voters and ratepayers instead of investors,” state representative Yousef Rahbi, an Ann Arbor-area Democrat, told Metro Times in 2019. “Right now, DTE and Consumers don’t care about customers — they care about profits and bottom lines.”

In progressive Ann Arbor, an organization called Ann Arbor for Public Power is investigating whether the city could buy out DTE Energy and assume control of its infrastructure. A feasibility report is expected to be completed in June.

Ann Arbor had the Hash Bash decades before Michigan voters legalized weed, so maybe they’re once again ahead of the curve here.

—Lee DeVito

Judge orders Starbucks to stop firing union supporters

A FEDERAL JUDGE issued an order banning Starbucks from firing workers who engage in union activity in a case stemming from a barista who was unlawfully terminated at an Ann Arbor store.

The judge ruled last week that Starbucks illegally fired Hannah Whitbeck for union organizing and must rehire her with back pay. The coffee giant was also ordered to hold a meeting with employees and management to notify them that the company broke the law and that workers have a right to support unionization.

In the order, U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith issued the first nationwide judicial mandate preventing the coffee giant from firing workers for engaging in union activity.

“The District Court’s ruling confirms that Starbucks continues to violate the law in egregious ways, thus requiring a nationwide cease and desist order,” Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board, said in a statement this week. “Specifically, in addition to ordering reinstatement of an unlawfully fired union supporter,

the judge appropriately ordered Starbucks to stop discharging and otherwise interfering with workers’ rights to organize at all its stores around the country.”

She added, “We will continue to vigorously pursue swift and full remedies for workers whose rights are violated.”

The injunction comes amid a wave of union activity at Starbucks. Workers at more than 275 Starbucks nationwide have voted to unionize in a little over a year. In Michigan, workers formed a union in 12 Starbuck stores. Earlier this month, “an overwhelming majority” of hourly workers at a Starbucks store in Allen Park signed union

authorization cards.

Workers United, the union organizing Starbucks stores, alleges Starbucks fired more than 200 workers in retaliation for supporting union activities.

Whitbeck was fired in April after becoming the leading union organizer at the store at Main and Liberty.

Starbucks countered that she was fired because she left work early, forcing another worker to manage the store alone for 20 to 30 minutes.

Goldsmith didn’t buy Starbucks’ explanation, saying there was reasonable cause to believe the company violated the National Labor Relations Act.

Slotkin launches campaign for U.S. Senate

THIRD-TERM U.S. REP.

Elissa Slotkin announced Monday that she’s officially running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Debbie Stabenow, who plans to retire at the end of 2024. Slotkin, who represents Ingham County and central Michigan, is the first major Democratic candidate to enter the race.

In a key battleground state, the Senate race is expected to be among the most high-profile elections next year as Democrats seek to maintain control of the upper chamber. Senate Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority.

“There are certain things that should be really simple — like living a middle class life in the state that invented the middle class; like making things in America, so that we’re in control of our own economic security; like protecting our children from the things that are truly harming them; and preserving our rights and our democracy so that our kids

can live their version of the American Dream,” the 46-year-old Holly Democrat said in a video. “This is why I’m running for the United States Senate. We need a new generation of leaders that thinks differently, works harder, and never forgets that we are public servants.”

Stabenow, 72, has held the Senate seat since 2001. In January, shortly after Stabenow announced her retirement, Slotkin said she was “seriously thinking about” running for Senate.

In one of the most expensive U.S. House races in the country in November 2022, Slotkin held onto her seat by beating state Sen. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, 51% to 47%. She was first elected in 2018 by narrowly defeating two-term incumbent Republican Mike Bishop in a district that voted for Donald Trump in 2016.

So far, two Republicans have announced their candidacies. They are Nikki Snyder, a Republican member

—Steve Neavling

of the state Board of Education, and Michael Hoover, a first-time political candidate and a small business owner born in rural Michigan.

Other potential Republican candidates are former U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, former GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon, and state Sen. Ruth Johnson, who previously served as Michigan secretary of state.

Slotkin is expected to face tough competition in the primary election.

Former U.S. Rep. Branda Lawrence — a Democrat who represented Detroit, Southfield, and other cities in Oakland and Wayne counties from 2015 to 2023 — told The Washington Post that she wants a “strong, African American to run,” and if one doesn’t run, she’ll consider running herself. Other potential Democratic contenders include Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell and Haley Stevens.

—Steve Neavling

NEWS & VIEWS

Speaking of legislators, Democrats in Lansing control both chambers of the state Legislature as well as the Governor’s office for the first time in four decades. Under Gretchen Whitmer’s leadership, might we soon see some common-sense gun safety laws?

Republicans have blocked such things for years with gerrymandered districts that allowed the voting minority in the Great Lakes State to rule over the majority.

That era peaked during the Time of Trump when right-wing bullies lugged guns into the state capitol not to protect their families and homes but rather to lurk over lawmakers and intimidate them.

At that same time, in the backwoods of the state, armed crackpots plotted to kidnap and kill the governor. With the blood puddles of Oxford high school and MSU still fresh in the public mind, what do Whitmer and her legislators hope to do?

Lapointe

What if Michigan strictly enforced the gun laws already on the books?

After every gun massacre — following the ritualistic cant of “thoughts-and-prayers” — we hear tough talk from right-wing politicians and “conservative” media oracles.

“We don’t need any new gun laws,” they always say. “Just simply enforce the laws already on the books.”

So when lunatic Anthony McRae murdered three students and maimed five more at Michigan State University in East Lansing on the night before Valentine’s Day, some propagandists blamed a “soft-on-crime” local prosecutor in Ingham County for letting the gunman plead guilty in 2019 to a firearms misdemeanor after first charging him with a felony.

They even suggested he got a break because he was Black. Felony conviction, the malicious spinners argued, might have prevented the killer from obtaining the hand-held murder machine he fired in his campus rampage that ended with his suicide.

This logic ignores the reality that even “conservative” prosecutors routinely cut plea deals for non-violent gun charges. Instead, the gun-defenders used MSU’s massacre to pistol-whip “the woke mob” and to “own the libs”

By Joe Lapointe

and to avoid any serious talk of gun safety reform.

But let’s take them at their word for the moment. Let’s tentatively agree with what they say they want. Let’s pretend they aren’t being disingenuous when sounding “tough on crime” while protecting the gun industry.

What if Michigan cracked down and strictly enforced the gun laws already on the books? Some things might be quite different.

For instance:

The Michigan football Wolverines — with their pistol-packing defensive captain — might not have won the Big Ten title last autumn while reaching the national semi-final.

Had Washtenaw County prosecutors demanded swift and harsh justice for senior Mazi Smith when he got popped in Ann Arbor on Oct. 7, he may have been behind bars or tied up in court or at least suspended by his coach, Jim Harbaugh, who kept it hush-hush all season.

Pulled over for speeding, Smith presented no drivers’ license. The story broke when the 337-pound tackle appeared in court on Dec. 1. Later that month, he pleaded guilty to a mis -

demeanor instead of the felony first charged.

And what about former Republican State Representative Lee Chatfield, busted in 2018 at the Pellston airport for packing heat in his carry-on?

Chatfield could have been prosecuted and convicted under the gun laws already on the books. Had he done time in the slammer — instead of merely being fined — Chatfield might not have become Speaker of the House. Had he not become Speaker, he might have avoided the temptations that led to the current investigations of him into allegations of dirty money, sex, and drugs.

Listen to the body-cam recording of the Emmet County deputy who handcuffed Chatfield’s wrists behind his back while Chatfield’s pistol rested on the desk.

The cop told Chatfield it is “probably going to be good news for you” because that county prosecutor most likely won’t prosecute.

“At some of our bigger airports — Grand Rapids, Detroit, Traverse City — you’d be going to jail, no question, even if it’s an accident,” the cop told Chatfield.

They want, at least, universal criminal background checks for all guns sold. They want to close the loophole that bans criminals from purchasing pistols while allowing them to buy high-powered rifles.

Good start. Red-flag laws also might help and so might mandatory locked storage and more thorough and lengthy background checks. And how about a Michigan constitutional amendment against guns, like the one in 2018 that legalized marijuana and the one in 2022 that protected abortion rights?

A gun-safety ballot proposal — even if it loses or gets struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court — might again bring out progressive voters who also boost Democratic candidates.

A coordinated multi-tiered approach to the righteous cause of gun safety reform might elevate Whitmer’s growing national profile. And it could change negative national perceptions of Michigan.

In the meantime, by all means, let’s simply enforce all the laws now on the books — and add a few new fees, too. Let’s register every gun and charge owners periodically to renew their licenses, the way we do with both cars and drivers.

Crack down on magazine size; you don’t need 100 shots from an AR-15 to hunt a deer. And add a special surtax for ammunition. Maybe five cents per bullet, or each “round,” as belligerent gunners insist we call their fatal projectiles.

Yes, let’s tax them to death, so to speak. Then send all their bloody, gun-tax money to a dedicated funeral fund so grieving families can bury the bodies of their dead kids.

“The Rock” at MSU has been transformed into a memorial to the victims of the Feb. 13 shooting at the school. GUETTARDA, WIKIMEDIA CREATIVE COMMONS

FEATURE

Creating space in the tattoo boy ’ s club

Lorri Thomas thrusts Black female tattoo artists

to

Lorri “Lady L” Thomas has been tattooing for nearly 20 years, and the last few years of her career have been centered around creating safe spaces for women who look like her.

In 2015, she created Ladies of Ink, a nationwide collective of Black female tattoo artists who challenge the status quo. Thomas’s goal was to have a space where Black women could not only connect with each other to help navigate the male-dominated industry, but to also make a comfortable space for female tattoo clients. After years of often being the only Black woman working in tattoo shops and one of few at conventions, Thomas wanted to try working in a female-empowered space.

“The biggest part in creating Ladies of Ink was to represent the underrepresented,” says Thomas. “To let people know that we’re out here and we’re just as good — if not better — and to provide a safe space for women to talk about what’s going on. Everybody doesn’t have people they can reach out and talk to about how things work. I’m mentoring some of these girls because they’re coming to me like ‘the person who is supposed to be showing me the ropes is fondling me,’ and they’re taking it as, ‘this is what I have to go through to get taught,’ and it’s not.”

Bree Sinclair is one of the artists who was there during the early formation of Ladies of Ink. She met Thomas through her mentor, known as Krissy the Butcher. At the time she was an apprentice, and says a lot of what she learned helped her to be the artist she is today.

“With Ladies of Ink, I do believe we were able to stick together and we all offer individual things that are very

the forefront with Ladies of Ink

By Alex Washington

unique,” she says. “It’s beautiful to see so many Black people that are women, tattooing in a fucking convention space where we’re not even welcome — and we take up so much, that they can’t help but to notice us.”

Before she was Lady L, she was a young mother figuring out life. The youngest of her siblings, Thomas says she was always a creative and imaginative person. While other kids were drawing stick figures, she says she was trying to draw the world around her.

Her parents put her in various art classes throughout childhood, and in high school Thomas studied visual arts at Detroit School of Arts. She enrolled in Detroit’s College of Creative Studies, but that didn’t last very long.

“It was depressing, I felt so overwhelmed and intimidated at CCS,” she says. “We had all of these people from different countries and backgrounds, and I came from a Detroit public school that didn’t have the tools we really needed to create things, we worked with what we had. I was intimidated because I didn’t know how to really work Photoshop. I had this typography class that was just terrible. I went to a high school that had three computers per person. These kids came with skills like jewelry-making and glassblowing and I was just like ‘What the hell?’”

Despite the frustration and intimidation of being in design school, Thomas never stopped sketching and creating. When she was 19, she got her first tattoo on her lower back. It was a design she sketched herself, but at the time she never thought twice about becoming a tattoo artist. It wasn’t until she went to a tattoo party on Detroit’s

Eastside that she began to see it as something a little more.

According to Thomas, the artist at the tattoo party could draw a little bit, but was really good at tracing lines. She sketched out the tattoo designs for her and her friend, and soon after sketched a few others at the party.

“As I was drawing my tattoo, other people came up to me like ‘Hey, can you draw mine?’ and the tattoo artists asked me if I thought tattooing was something I would be interested in learning,” Thomas says. “At the time I was working three jobs, my daughter just turned one, and the money he was making at the party was influencing me. He said he was going to teach me, but didn’t. He was trying to pursue me, and it was a dead situation after that. But I was interested in tattooing and started looking for an apprenticeship.”

A good apprenticeship was hard to find. Some wanted between $3,000$5,000 to teach her how to tattoo, and others just turned her down because she lacked experience. The search discouraged Thomas for a while, but it didn’t derail her. She lucked out after she began going to an artist to get work done on new tattoos. He couldn’t offer her a formal apprenticeship, but she used their sessions to learn as much as she could about tattooing.

“Every time I got a tattoo, he would teach me something, like how to set up the machine and things like that,” she says. “He ended up selling me some of his old tattoo supplies, and he told me you can practice on pig ears, grapefruit, some types of chicken, and oranges. I thought it was going to be so easy after I got that machine set up, but I had to

put it down. You can’t just draw and think because you know how to draw that you know how to tattoo. You have to learn the machine, and I definitely had to take my time.”

After getting used to the machine, Thomas began to do small tattoos out of her home. Eventually she began to make a buzz on the scene and ended up building a decent clientele. She began to rent a room in the back of a salon on Wayne State University’s campus, adding the university’s student to her roster.

The moment that changed everything was a free concert at university that featured rap-rock band Gym Class Heroes. While leaving the shop, Thomas had a chance conversation with the group’s frontman Travie McCoy, which led to her getting her first celebrity client — Tyga.

“Travie was telling me how he used to be a tattoo artist before he was in a band, and wanted to see my work,” she says. “He was like, ‘I think my cousin would probably get some tattoos from you,’ and went on his tour bus and grabs Tyga off the bus. He ended up looking at my portfolio and said I did pretty clean work. I ended up doing some work on his arm, some fillers, and I posted that picture online, and that’s really what put me on the map.”

While that picture helped Thomas get the attention of potential clients, it also got the attention of WSU, which didn’t like the fact Thomas was tattooing on campus and asked her to leave. Thomas returned to tattooing from her home, before finding another salon with space to rent. That was also short-lived as a competing tattoo parlor nearby reported Thomas once they got wind of her working in the hair shop. She ended up working at the same shop that reported her for a few years, until

Lorri “Lady L” Thomas launched Ladies of Ink to help women become tattoo artists.

SE7ENFIFTEEN

she couldn’t handle the conditions anymore.

“It was great until it wasn’t,” she says. “They didn’t really care about the art, they only cared about the money. It got to a point where we’re getting eviction notices. One day I came to the shop and the lights and gas were out, and there was a gas generator inside, and it just smelled like gas — I made that my last day. Jason Phillips, who owns the shop I work at now, had just finished painting a mural and took the money he made and bought a building, and was like ‘We’re out.’”

That was eight years ago and the beginning of Detroit Ink Spot, where Thomas still works today. Phillips says that Thomas is not only talented, but really cares about her clients.

“She’s a social butterfly, a real people person,” Phillips says. “She’s a very talented tattoo artist, who caters to her clients. She always tries to put her best foot forward and wants to be as professional as possible. She’s a real joy to have in the shop. She’s an advocate for equal rights for women in this industry, but still feels comfortable working with me and the other men in this shop. That means we’re doing something right here, and it’s great to have her.”

Although she says she’s been contacted to be on a popular reality TV series or two about tattoo artists, and even shot a pilot for a show of her own, reality TV in the way that we know it isn’t in the cards for Thomas. But the future for the 39-year-old artist looks promising and full of potential.

She plans to open a Black womanled Ladies of Ink shop sometime in the near future, scaling back the amount she works, and continuing to mentor newer tattoo artists.

“It’s not just about me, it’s about teaching people what you learned,” she says. “It wasn’t that easy for me, and now that I have the resources to do it, I’m doing it. I don’t charge for my apprenticeships, I tell people to show up and be prepared to do the work. I’m excited about that, I feel like I’m really living my purpose when it comes to that. I’ll always be grateful I found a craft where I can have a great income and live, support my children, and still make beautiful art.”

Lady L Tattoos is located at the Ink Spot, 19845 W. McNichols Rd., Detroit; 313-202-9737; ladyltattoos.com.

Boyko’ s back

A metro Detroit tattoo artist charged with sexual misconduct is tattooing under a different name and laughing about it

By Randiah Camille Green

Looking for a traditional tattoo in metro Detroit? Lee knows how to do it, but he may not be someone you’d want to get tattooed by.

“Lee” is actually Alex Boyko, a metro Detroit tattoo artist who was arrested on sexual misconduct charges in 2019. He’s now operating his own shop in Livonia at 28913 W. Seven Mile Rd. under the moniker Lee Knows How.

An LLC with the same name is registered to Boyko, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Lee is Boyko’s middle name.

Boyko has been charged with three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, and a jury trial is set to begin on Aug. 21.

In 2018, dozens of women who said they had been tattooed by Boyko took to social media to out his inappropriate behavior, which allegedly ranged from sending videos of himself masturbating to “forcing himself inside” a client. Anonymous screenshots with stories about Boyko were compiled on Tumblr and Facebook posts, most of which have since been deleted.

One woman who began collecting the screenshots and sharing them on social media told Jezebel “at least 200 women” had come forward detailing disgusting encounters with Boyko.

“He would very aggressively come on to me, stare at my body in really pointed ways, and grab my ass and touch me while I was getting work done,” one of the alleged victims told Jezebel in 2018. “One time he tried to put his hand down my pants and grab my vagina, all while I was on his bench. He tried to corner me in the bathroom, said that he wanted to have sex with me and have me suck his dick, and that I’d get a discount if I did it.”

Despite the sheer number of stories that have been circulated about Boyko, the charges stem from one incident, which allegedly occurred around April or March of 2015 at Red Anchor Tattoo in Plymouth.

In court transcripts from a prelimi-

nary examination, the victim recounts Boyko allegedly fondling her breasts after having her remove her shirt and bra to trace the area for a sternum tattoo.

She had come in after shop hours.

“I asked him what he was doing and he said something like he was goofing off,” the woman said. “And then he reached out and he pinched my left nipple.”

The woman stated she didn’t report the incident to the police until 2019 because she just wanted to push it out of her mind. Boyko and the woman had a mutual friend who lived in the same apartment building as her and she “didn’t want the confrontation.”

However, as the woman testified in the preliminary examination, around 2017 allegations about Boyko began circulating online. At that time, the woman tweeted, “This is so fucked up. I’m just so grateful for all the times I’ve been alone with him. He never tried

anything.”

The woman explained in court that she made the tweet because she didn’t want anybody to know about her encounter with Boyko.

“I wasn’t really sure that it was just me or not at this time,” she testified. “I wasn’t really sure whether it was a big deal to just me or if I was, you know, if I was feeling more sensitive than I should have.”

But in 2019, after her friends posted about similar encounters with Boyko, the woman decided to press charges.

“I felt stupid and I felt upset that this had happened to my friends as well and none of us knew,” she said.

Red Anchor Tattoo is no longer in business, and the former owner did not respond to our request for comment.

Boyko has pleaded not guilty on all counts.

We left several messages with the

Alex Boyko’s mugshot. PLYMOUTH POLICE DEPT.

office of Boyko’s attorney Vassal Johnson that went unanswered. Boyko, however, responded to our interview request with the following statement:

“The last metro times article about me sucked lol not only was it parroting another shitty journalistic report, it was out dated, filled with misinformation, biased and straight up written poorly. Instead of trying to get views and shares using my name and a shitty click bait headline, maybe write an article about false police reports, a man intentionally weaponizing the controversy of rape, and about how falsifying reports undoubtedly hurts real victims. I have absolutely no interest in speaking to a journalist looking to get press using some almost 6 year old social media cancel culture bullshit. You’re welcome.”

Metro Times published one previous story about Boyko in 2019 following his arrest. (Boyko never contacted Metro Times with any corrections to the article.)

Boyko also appeared to make light of the allegations on Instagram. One image posted to his Instagram Stories in January shows a woman being tattooed by a man who is reaching around her waist from behind accompanied by the text, “All women need a handler to be tattooed by me. Sorry.”

As part of his bond, Boyko is not to perform tattoos on female clients without adult supervision.

In another post, he seemingly pokes fun at social media accounts alerting people to “call the police” and “google him” before getting tattooed by him.

Boyko sued three Detroit-area tattoo artists for defamation in 2018 after they shared stories from women accusing him of sexual harassment on social media. The case was dismissed, which Boyko successfully appealed — only for the case to be dismissed again by the same judge in 2021.

Metro Times reached out to one of those artists, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of being sued again.

“What I really care about is that survivors are healing and that the public as well as artists are aware of what is acceptable behavior in a professional body art studio,” they said via email. “It’s most important to me that young people understand that tattoo artists don’t have the right to touch you in a sexually suggestive or overtly sexual way. We have to touch our clients in order to tattoo them and place a stencil. Sometimes we have to photograph someone so we can draw an adornment for the area

of the body they want us to tattoo. But no artist should be making sexual comments or advances of any kind towards clients.”

After the incident at Red Anchor that led to the charges against him, Boyko worked at Sun House tattoo shop in Detroit in 2016. Sun House has since closed but a former employee says Boyko was fired after someone complained about him.

The employee agreed to discuss Boyko’s employment on the condition that his full name not be used.

“It was one of the other guys’ clients saying that they didn’t want to book an appointment if he was there,” Matt L., who says he worked at Sun House with Boyko, tells Metro Times Matt says there was no shop manager at Sun House and that he and his colleagues took Boyko on a trial basis.

“I’ve known him from a distance since we were in high school,” Matt says. “He kind of had a bad reputation in the metal and hardcore music scene but I didn’t know too much about him and then he contacted me to have a new place to work. Because I did have some previous knowledge of him being flirtatious… we had a policy, me and the other guys… we said that if anybody ever came to us and said they didn’t want to get tattooed while Alex is there, then we would fire him.”

When asked to clarify what he means by Boyko being “flirtatious,” he says, “after he would tattoo [a woman], he might, like, contact them on Instagram or something like that.”

Though Matt says he now regrets letting Boyko work at Sun House, he initially gave him the spot because he “felt bad for him.”

“I guess I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt because knowing him before tattooing, he was not well-liked and I guess that’s kind of a foolish thing for me not to just go along with that feeling,” he says. “He wasn’t a person that you could walk into another tattoo shop with and they would want to say hi to him. He was just sort of like, public enemy number one for tattooers.”

When asked why Boyko’s case has taken so long to go to trial, Wayne County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and communications director Maria Miller offered the following response:

“Why has this taken so long? This case is a misdemeanor. [Boyko] is a defendant on bond. Due to COVID-19 many cases are backed up. The serious felony cases where defendants are incarcerated take precedence.”

The house that black built Witch House Tattoo is Ferndale ’s spookiest, secret tattoo studio

By Lee DeVito

The way they describe it, Ferndale’s new Witch House Tattoo is bigger than husband-and-wife owners Pamela and Kevin McLeod. It’s almost as if some dark, mysterious force is behind it.

The two have had an extraordinary run of good fortune — or perhaps otherworldly intervention — in transforming the old house on Livernois Avenue into a new tattoo studio, which opened to the public in October. (Naturally.) The painted-black home is located right next to the brightly hued Ferndale Project brewery, creating an amusing juxtaposition that recalls Wednesday Addams

and Enid from the hit Netflix show.

“Basically, the structure was perfect, the floor plan was perfect,” Pamela tells Metro Times. “It’s just that we had to restore her to the form she was always meant to be, with this gothic vibe.”

As the couple tells it, it was Pamela who initially spotted the old house, which is a bit of an outlier on the otherwise industrial-residential strip of Livernois. There was no for sale or for lease sign posted, but on a lark Pamela decided to search real estate listings on the internet. To her surprise, the property was listed by the owner of the Ferndale Project building.

Kevin McLeod standing outside Witch House Tattoo. Naturally, the studio opened to the public in October. COURTESY PHOTO

“We struck up a conversation and too many things just aligned,” she says. “It was just really one of those meant-tobe things.”

“We tried to walk away from this several times,” Kevin adds. “It just kept calling us.”

The two moved in last July, and set to work restoring the black beauty. That included ordering wallpaper from Germany and Latvia, and collecting antiques from in and around Michigan.

“We had a joke that the house was collecting all of her things back,” Pamela says.

“And once we collect the final item, a vortex will open and a witch will be born,” Kevin says.

Kevin is a tattoo artist and owner and operator of Ferndale’s nearby Detroit Grand Tattoo Company at Nine Mile and Woodward. While he prides the Detroit Grand Tattoo Company artists for their diverse styles, he says he wanted to open a second studio to focus on his personal preference, which

is dark: black and monochrome designs with pops of color. He sees the two studios as sisters, and will refer customers between the two depending on the job.

“I can tattoo in many different styles, but it doesn’t really satisfy the soul,” he says. “I wanted to just do my one thing.”

Aside from managing the business, Pamela helped design the interior. A part of the first floor is dedicated to retail space where she sells oils, candles, incense, and teas.

She describes Witch House Tattoo as “an immersive experience” with an emphasis on hospitality.

“My client the other night called it a ‘goth spa,’” Kevin says. The two plan to host occult-themed events like tarot card readings and tea rituals.

Continuing with the theme of fate, the two have created a novelty Magic 8 Ball, the old fortune-telling toy with a custom die inside that has 20 different suggestions for tattoo ideas.

“I’ve had two people do the Magic 8 Ball for their first tattoo, which is really

wild to me,” Kevin says. He is also considering launching a deal dubbed “The Mark of the Beast” where Kevin will do a full-day session for, say, $666 — with the only stipulation being he gets to draw whatever he wants. (All prices will be “angel numbers,” or repeating numbers significant to numerology, he says, though he’s still ironing out details.)

So far, Kevin is the only artist operating in the space, but he hopes to invite guest artists to work alongside him.

“We’re holding out for somebody that just agrees with our philosophy,” Pamela says.

For now, the studio has operated largely by word-of-mouth. A sign is being built, but it will be emblazoned with Witch House Tattoo’s mysterious logo. Kevin says he doesn’t want to advertise the studio too heavily because it’s appointment only and doesn’t keep regular hours.

For anyone curious enough to approach the front porch, they can use their smartphone to scan a printed QR

code, those modern-day runes, to pull up the Witch House Tattoo website.

Kevin and Pamela say that despite its low profile, the business is already attracting lovers of the dark and macabre.

“Oh my god, they’re our favorite people,” Pamela says of Witch House Tattoo’s clientele.

“I go home, and I’m just like, filled with joy,” Kevin says.

“It means a lot to get such great feedback from the community,” Pamela says. “It’s just so reaffirming to all of the work that it took, and the risk.”

Pamela invokes the line from the 1989 ghost movie Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.”

“It’s so true,” Kevin says. “Like, people dressed all in black have been coming in and they’re like, ‘I have been waiting for a place like this to exist.’ ... We’re finding our tribe.”

Witch House Tattoo is located at 561 Livernois Ave., Ferndale; witchhousetattooferndale.com.

Tattoo & Piercing Parlors

A directory of metro Detroit body art services

Tattoo Studios

13th Hour Tattoos: 27453 Gratiot Ave.

9 Lives Tattoos & Piercings: 309 W.

Nine Mile Rd.

All In Tattoo Co.: 1709 Rochester Rd.

American Pride Tattoo Clarkston: 5920 Sashabaw Rd.

American Pride Tattoo Oxford: 340 N. Lapeer Rd.

American Pride Tattoo Rochester Hills: 1284 Walton Blvd.

American Pride Tattoo Southfield: 19729 W. 12 Mile Rd.

American Pride Tattoo Waterford: 5154 Highland Rd.

Brite Idea Tattoo: 30 N. Huron St.

Clock Tower Tattoos: 26065 Gratiot Ave.

Dark Horse Tattoo Co. LLC.: 7237 E. Nine Mile Rd.

Dark Sky Tattoo: 646 E. Nine Mile Rd.

Dbre’ Ink Tattoo: 5800 Twelve Mile Rd.

Depot Town Tattoo: 33 E. Cross St.

The Detroit Grand Tattoo Company: 22747 Woodward Ave.

Detroit Ink Spot: 19845 W. McNichols Rd.

Dharma Tattoo Collective: 3325 Hilton Rd.

Electric Park Tattoo: 1350 Adelaide St.

Elite Ink Tattoo Studios: 8602 North Telegraph Rd.

Elite Ink Tattoo Studios: 25543 Van Dyke Ave.

Elite Ink Tattoo Studios: 32750 Mound Rd.

Empire Tattoo Studio: 25765 W. Seven Mile Rd.

Eternal Tattoos: 27590 Plymouth Rd.

Eternal Tattoos: 20724 Ecorse Rd.

Eternal Tattoos: 1004 W. 14 Mile Rd.

Eternal Tattoos: 24834 Gratiot Ave.

Four Corners Tattoo Studio: 1894 E. Nine Mile Rd.

futurelazertiger: 23446 Woodward Ave.

Gallery Tattoo: 15728 W. Seven Mile Rd.

The Garrison Tattoo: 23223 9 Mack Dr.

Grand Blvd Tattoo Co: 2898 W. Grand Blvd.

Gypsy Soul Tattoos: 37522 Ann Arbor Tr.

Harlequin Tattoo: 10021 Joseph Campau Ave.

Heart Synergy Studios: 16332 Middlebelt Rd.

Iconic Tattoo & Body Piercing: 3401 Cass Ave.

Independent Ink Tattoo Studio: 33476 Van Dyke Ave.

Ironclad Tattoo Co.: 3871 Rochester Rd.

Litos Body Art: 2900 S. State St.

Lost & Found Tattoo Co.: 1828 E. Michigan Ave.

Lucky Monkey Tattoo Parlour: 3024 Packard St.

Mended Art Derma Salon: 966 Ford Ave.

Metal Moon Tattoo: 11486 E. 10 Mile Rd.

Michigan Avenue Tattoo & Piercing: 133 W. Michigan Ave.

Motown Tattoo Company: 15146

Gratiot Ave.

Motown Tattoo Company: 11500

Morang Ave.

Motown Tattoo Company: 639

Beaubien St.

Name Brand Tattoo: 205 N. Main St.

Prime Tattoo & Beauty: 25047 Grand River Ave.

Red Arrow Tattoo Collective: 2945

Coolidge Hwy.

Red Oaks Tattoo Company: 24932 John R Rd.

Royal Oak Tattoo: 820 S. Washington Ave.

Signature Tattoo: 230 W. Nine Mile Rd.

Spiral Tattoo: 325 Braun Ct.

Studio Seven Tattoos: 20848 Hall Rd.

Tatted Up: 312 Perrin St.

Tattoo X: 8527 Old 13 Mile Rd.

Three Bird Tattoo: 1687 Plymouth Rd.

Union 3 Tattoo: 1442 Michigan Ave.

Witch House Tattoo: 561 Livernois Ave.

Wonderland Tattoo Studio: 23531

Little Mack Ave.

Piercing

13th Hour Tattoos: 27453 Gratiot Ave.

All In Tattoo Co.: 1709 Rochester Rd.

Clock Tower Tattoos: 26065 Gratiot Ave.

Dbre’ Ink Tattoo: 5800 Twelve Mile Rd.

DV8 Body Art: 1531 Union Lake Rd.

Elite Ink Tattoo Studios: 25543 Van Dyke Ave.

Elite Ink Tattoo Studios: 32750 Mound Rd.

Elite Ink Tattoo Studios: 8602 North Telegraph Rd.

Gallery Tattoo: 15728 W. Seven Mile Rd.

Gamma Piercing: 613 E. Liberty St.

Heart Synergy Studios: 16332 Middlebelt Rd.

Iconic Tattoo & Body Piercing: 3401 Cass Ave.

Ideal Body Piercing: 211 E. Liberty St.

Independent Ink Tattoo Studio: 33476 Van Dyke Ave.

Ironclad Tattoo Co.: 3871 Rochester Rd.

Lost & Found Tattoo Co.: 1828 E. Michigan Ave.

Lucky Monkey Tattoo Parlour: 3024 Packard St.

Metal Moon Tattoo: 11486 E. 10 Mile Rd.

Michigan Avenue Tattoo & Piercing: 133 W. Michigan Ave.

Prime Tattoo & Beauty: 25047 Grand River Ave.

Royal Oak Tattoo: 820 S. Washington Ave.

Tatted Up: 312 Perrin St.

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.

MUSIC

Wednesday, March 1

Badflower: Asking For A Friend

6 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $29.50.

Cory Wong feat Victor Wooten and special guests Trousdale 7 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $27.50+.

Early Moods, Temple of the Fuzz Witch 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $15.

Thursday, March 2

Live/Concert

Chris Tomlin 7 p.m.; Northridge Church, 49555 N. Territorial Rd., Plymouth;

CM Detroit Presents: Dreamers Circus 8 p.m.; Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts, 12 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $30.

Fit For A King: The Hell We Create Tour 6 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.

John Berry 8-10 p.m.; 20 Front Street, 20 Front St., Lake Orion; $40.

The Louie Lee Show Presents: Louie Lee, Redd, Kaylyn Pace hosted by Rob Stone 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $25-$40.

The Wood Brothers 7 p.m.; Garden Bowl, 4120 Woodward, Detroit; $29.50.

The Wood Brothers with Michaela Anne 7 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $29.50.

Chromeo DJ Set 9 p.m.; Big Pink, 6440 Wight St., Detroit; $20.

Friday, March 3

Armada Lodge, Ogemaw County, Versus Versus, Blind Season, Forge The Sun 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $10.

Bayside 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $27.

Blanket, The Doozers, Vinyl 9, Alex Marzejon 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $12.

Dennis Coffey 8 p.m.-12:30 am; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge

Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Elle King 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25-$75.

Emily Scott Robinson + Alisa Amador + Violet Bell 8 p.m.; 20 Front Street, 20 Front St., Lake Orion; $28.

Fall Back In Love Comedy & Music Jam 8 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $30-$300. glimmers, Last Night Saved My Life 6 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $15.

Hollywood Casino Greektown

Present Johnny Gill & Ralph

Tresvant 8 p.m.; The Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave., Detroit; $60.50-$99.50.

INDIGENOUS Featuring MATO

NANJI 7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15-$150.

Motor City WerkOut Pre PartyJerry’s Tone & The Kids Under the Carpet - Phish Tribute 8 p.m.-2 a.m.; Tangent Gallery & Hastings Street Ballroom, 715 E. Milwaukee Ave., Detroit; $10.

The Seatbelts at Corktown Festival 9-11 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $20.

Shadow Show, The Stools 9 p.m.; Spread Art, 5141 Rosa Parks Blvd., Detroit; $10.

Wine, Women & Song XXI: Coming of Age! 7:30 p.m.; Kerrytown Concert House, 415 North Fourth Avenue, Ann Arbor; $29-$80.

Marble Bar x Texture Weekender 9 p.m.; Marble Bar, 1501 Holden St., Detroit.

Saturday, March 4

Live/Concert

Wine, Women & Song XXI: Coming of Age! 7:30 p.m.; Kerrytown Concert House, 415 North Fourth Avenue, Ann Arbor; $29-$80.

Apollo5 in Concert 7 p.m.; Christ Church-Detroit, 960 E. Jefferson, Detroit; $30 in advance/$35 at the door.

Blackthorn 7:30-10 p.m.; The Hawk - Farmington Hills Community Center, 29995 Twelve Mile Road, Farmington Hills; $20 in advance / $25 at door.

Blue October 8 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; CHEST FEVER 7 p.m.-midnight; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; 25.00.

D.R.U.G.S. 6 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S.

March 1-7, 2023 | metrotimes.com

Motor City Tattoo Expo hits Detroit

THIS WEEK’S TATTOO issue was inspired by the 27th annual Motor City Tattoo Expo presented by Eternal Ink, which heads to Detroit’s Renaissance Center Friday, March 3 through Sunday, March 5. One of the biggest conventions in the country, the expo will see more than 300 tattoo artists and dozens of vendors,

Saginaw, Pontiac; $22. THE MOTOR CITY WERKOUTThe Werks, Ekoostik Hookah, Hyryder, Danny Groove, Peanut Williams, Spaceship Earth, Innervines & Stuttastep 7 p.m.-2 a.m.; Harpos, 14238 Harper Ave, Detroit; $25.

PAKT feat Percy Jones, Alex Skolnick, Kenny Grohowski & Tim Motzer 7 p.m.; downstairs at Joy Manor, 28997 Joy Road, Westland; $25. Rotting Christ, Carach Angren, UADA, Gaerea 6:30 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $25. Shallow Truths, PlainView, Our Vices, Lake Mosaic, In Our Wake 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $10.

The Shoes, The Laminators + DJ Crate Digga 8 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; FREE.

SUBDOCTA: BASS SCIENCE

TOUR 9:30 p.m.; Elektricity Nightclub, 15 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $15.

SUBSTANCE810, MICKEY DIAMOND, JAMIL HONESTY, DANGO FORLAINE, BIG TRIP, MVCK NYCE SPECIAL GUEST: JAY ROYALE LIVE @ THE OLD MIAMI

9 p.m.; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; $5.

THE LAST WALTZ - A Tribute to THE BAND by CHEST FEVER 7 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $25.

The Mega 80s 8 p.m.; Magic Bag,

along with seminars and contests. Day passes start at $30 while weekend passes go for $70, with no cover for kids under 12.

—Lee DeVito

400 Renaissance Dr., Detroit; see themotorcitytattooexpo.com for more information.

22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20. Wine, Women & Song XXI: Coming of Age! 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Kerrytown Concert House, 415 North Fourth Avenue, Ann Arbor; $29-$80.

Yeat 2023 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $39.50-$69.50. Zomboy 8 p.m.; Russell Industrial Complex-Exhibition Center, 1600 Clay Street, Detroit; $40.

DJ/Dance

ISSA PARTY PRESENTS: Whodat / Tammy Lakkis / Andrea Ghita B2B ABOUDI ISSA March 4, 9 p.m.; Spot Lite, 2905 Beaufait St., Detroit; $15+. Marble Bar x Texture Weekender 9 p.m.; Marble Bar, 1501 Holden St., Detroit.

Sunday, March 5

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

The Beatles Under Cover: A Cinematic Celebration of Wonderful, Weird and Hilarious Beatles Cover Songs 7-10 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15.

International Anime Music Festival 6:30 p.m.; Detroit Masonic Temple Library, 500 Temple St, Detroit.

Morgan Wade 7 p.m.; El Club, 4114 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit.

Music for the Soul: A Benefit Concert for Accent Pontiac 4 p.m.; Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts, 12 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $30. Riz La Vie 7 p.m.; Blind Pig, 208 S.

MIKE PFEIFFER

First St., Ann Arbor; $15.

Sunday Jam Sessions Hosted by Sky Covington & Friends 8 p.m.-midnight; Woodbridge Pub, 5169 Trumbull St., Detroit; Donation.

Symphony in Brass 3-5 p.m.; Royal Oak First United Methodist Church, 320 W. Seventh Street, Royal Oak;

Monday, March 6

DAY OF THE DUDE | THE BIG LEBOWSKI 25th Anniversary

| THE BEGGARS, LIVE 8 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Vulvodynia, To The Grave, Viscera, Osiah, BOund IN Fear 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $20.

Tuesday, March 7

Kelsea Ballerini - Heartfirst Tour 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $45+.

Mod Sun 6:30 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.

THEATER

Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts Annie Jr. $15. Friday March 3, 7 p.m. and Saturday March 4, 7 p.m.

Fox Theatre Paw Patrol Live: Heroes

Unite. $20-$135. Friday March 3, 6 p.m., Saturday, March 4, 10 a.m., 2 & 6 p.m., and Sunday, March 5, 10 a.m. & 2 p.m.

The Music Box Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Friday March 3, 10:45 a.m. and Saturday March 4, 8 p.m.

The Music Hall Lightwire Theatre. The Ugly Duckling. $15-$25 Sunday, March 5, 3 p.m.

Rosedale Community Players

Here We Go: Two Point OH! $16 Saturday March 4, 7-9 p.m.

The Back Office Studio Staged

Reading of Lee’s Grand Tiki, a new play by Greg Pizzino. $5 suggested donation. Friday, March 3, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Saturday, March 4, 7:30-9:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 5, 2-4 p.m.

Blues In The Night Wednesday, March 1, 2 & 8 p.m., Thursday, March 2, 8 p.m., Friday March 3, 8 p.m., Saturday, March 4, 6 p.m.,and Sunday, March 5, 2 & 6:30 p.m.; Meadow Brook Theatre, 207 Wilson Hall, Rochester; $43.

Jesus Christ Superstar (Touring)

Wednesday, March 1, 8 p.m., Thursday March 2, 8 p.m., Friday March 3, 8 p.m., Saturday March 4, 2 & 8 p.m. and Sunday March 5, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd, Detroit; $41.

Local buzz

By Broccoli and Joe Zimmer

Chromeo brings the funk: Newcomer venue Big Pink (6640 Wight St., Detroit) has found the sweet spot for throwing shows with eclectic local lineups that bring a wide range of audiences together. The building is well-designed, the crowd is always ready to party, and their musical guests consistently bring the heat. The buzz from their grand opening late last year seems to still be going strong, and this Thursday, March 2 they’re hosting a DJ set from Canadian electro-funk duo Chromeo with support from local standouts Qurl and Ro Low for one of their most anticipated shows to date. Expect a high-energy performance that blends the worlds of dance music, rock, synth-pop, disco, funk, and more, and be sure to take a selfie with their TV wall because that’s just the thing to do. Tickets available at Mean.Red —Broccoli

Show on the road: Retro psychedelic-tinged trio Shadow Show is returning to the touring world in a big way, booting-n-scooting their way

down to Texas for this year’sSXSW festival in mid-March. You can help send the band off at Spread Art (5141 Rosa Parks Blvd., Detroit), where they are sharing the bill this Friday, March 3, with our other faves the Stools. Shadow Show has become locally known for its tight garage rock songs – an intentional throwback to the ’60s era of psychedelic pop and fuzzy guitar solos. The band also dresses the part, usually pulling out ultra-stylish and authentic vintage looks to add to the overall vibe. The show starts at 9 p.m., $10 tix available at the door.

—Joe Zimmer

ISSA Party returns: Every once in a while, there are shows that happen at Spot Lite (2905 Beaufait St., Detroit) that you can’t believe you haven’t heard more about. It might be because the venue’s loyal fanbase keep returning without the need for promotional overkill, or it might be that social media algorithms fail to bring all the great shows happening in Detroit to light, but either way, that’s kinda what this column is for! ISSA Party is returning to Spot Lite this Saturday, March 4, and the lineup is a lowkey banger. Legendary Detroit mainstay Whodat will

be joined by Tammy Lakkis on the decks, plus we’ll get a special back to back set from Andrea Ghita and Aboudi Issa. This show is not one to miss, so grab your tickets in advance via Resident Advisor

—Broccoli

Keeping things weird: Jo Rad Silver and Eddie Logix have been holding it down in Detroit live electronic scene for quite some time. In describing their monthly residency Technically, Yeah at UFO Factory (2110 Trumbull St., Detroit), the duo’s description reads: “We encourage performance of and experimentation with Live Electronic Music driven by commitment to technology, community, movement, and sound.” If any of that sounds good to you, head on down to Corktown on Thursday, March 9 to catch live electronic sets from Gusto and Jesse Clayton, as well as some vinyl-based jams straight from the crates of Logix and Silver themselves. More information is available from Resident Advisor; be sure to bring $10 cash for the door.

—Broccoli

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

Shadow Show. MCKENZIE PEARCE

MUSIC

told Westwood it would not pay her for tickets sold for the postponed Feb. 22 event until after the March 22 event — and went ahead and changed the date on the event to March 22 without contacting her.

“If that’s their protocol, fine, but that’s just not cool, especially when I can’t get a hold of them ever,” she says.

In an email, the company acknowledged that it changed the date on the event page as a result of the message Westwood sent to her fans.

The company says it made the change to protect ticket-buyers. As a policy, it only pays once an event is successfully completed.

“As a standard and best practice, the event webpage was updated by Brown Paper Ticket event support staff so all current and future ticket holders know when the event is actually happening,” the company says. “It is essential that ticket buyers have access to the updated and accurate event information on the event webpage.”

Beware of using Brown Paper Tickets

The ticketing service left Detroit performer waiting for weeks for her money, like many others

By Lee DeVito

Jennifer Westwood is an independent Detroit-area performer and promoter who plays roots rock music with her band Jennifer Westwood and the Handsome Devils. For years, she has used the online ticketing system Brown Paper Tickets to sell tickets for her events, which she books at a variety of small, local venues.

But now, she says she won’t be using the service anymore.

“I hate to do that because I’m not wanting to trash a business and say don’t use it,” she says. “I’ve used them with no problem for years, but unfortunately, I can’t say that anymore.”

Westwood had been waiting for weeks for the $1,785 she says Brown Paper Tickets owed her for her “Detroit Sounds” event held Jan. 27 at Aretha’s Jazz Cafe in Detroit, a venue that she loves. She hoped it would be the first in a quarterly showcase of Motor City artists.

“That was like my little dream project,” she says.

But issues with Brown Paper Tickets have postponed the next installment of the series, she says. Westwood tells Metro Times that nearly a month after the event, she had still not been paid.

In the past, it was understood that Brown Paper Tickets would pay within 10 days of an event.

As the days and then weeks ticked by, Westwood decided to contact Brown Paper Tickets’ customer support by email and phone. She says she only got an automated reply saying that the company was experiencing technical difficulties due to COVID-19.

“We all know that that’s bullshit,” the soft-spoken musician says, adding that she was reluctant to make a fuss about the incident.

“I just give people a little breadth to take care of their business,” she says.

“You know, there’s always behind-thescenes issues we don’t know about, and I’ve never been given reason to believe I wouldn’t get paid.” Westwood says she began to wonder if it would take a class-action lawsuit to get her money.

After Metro Times contacted Brown Paper Tickets for comment on Thursday, the company sent Westwood an email saying it had initiated payment.

In a statement, the company blamed the delays on “our ongoing recovery efforts from COVID-19.” It also noted that the company is in the process of being acquired by events.com, with the goal

of refunding all outstanding payments. A Google search reveals Westwood’s experience is far from unique, with artists and promoters across the country complaining about delayed payments from Brown Paper Tickets.

“As one of the industry’s only independent event ticketing companies, BPT was hit especially hard by the pandemic,” the company said in a statement, adding, “As a result of Events.com’s support in advance of the acquisition and its future support, BPT will continue to process all remaining refunds and payments to customers impacted by delayed payments due to the global pandemic.”

Westwood says she was previously considering looking for a new ticketing service, but had already booked an acoustic “Detroit Sound: Unplugged” event scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Ferndale’s Valentine Distilling tasting room and was using Brown Paper Tickets for sales. But with Wednesday’s massive ice storm, Westwood decided to postpone the event, sending ticketholders a message through Brown Paper Tickets letting them know that the date was rescheduled for March 22.

To add insult to injury, the company

Westwood says after she gets her payments for the Detroit Sound and Detroit Sound: Unplugged events, she will no longer be using Brown Paper Tickets.

“No, not at all. Not after this,” she says. “As soon as I get paid, that’s it. I’m done with them.”

Westwood says she knows how important it is to pay musicians promptly, and paid for all Detroit Sound talent out of her own pocket. The delayed payment from Brown Paper Tickets left her in the hole, postponing a planned studio session to record an upcoming record. And now, the next installment of Detroit Sound likely won’t happen until the fall, she says.

“We have such slim margins as entertainers,” she says. Her experience with Brown Paper Tickets was especially disappointing, she adds, because by all accounts the Detroit Sound event was a success.

“I’m still getting messages about how great the show was, and asking when we’re going to do the next one,” she says. “Which is what breaks my heart because it did go so well. And here I am a month later, I haven’t received my ticket revenue. That creates a hardship for me to even think about doing it again. Of course, I can use another ticket processor in the future. But right now, I’m out this money.”

Westwood says she started booking and promoting her own events because she wanted to treat other artists the way she would want to be treated.

“I’m serious about what I do,” she says. “Do I always do everything by the book? No. But I get it done.”

She adds, “I know I can’t change the world. I just want to sweep up my own little corner.”

Jennifer Westwood performs at Aretha’s Jazz Cafe. She says it took Brown Paper Tickets nearly a month to pay her for the event. JANE CASSISI

EMPLOYMENT

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Fri 03/03

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Tues 03/07 B.Y.O.R. BRING YOUR OWN RECORDS (WEEKLY)

Open Decks @9pm/NO COVER IG: @byor_tuesdays_old_miami

Coming Up:

03/10 ZOESETTE & THE GROOVE/ MERCURY SALAD

03/11 3148S/THE BROTHERS CORTEZ/ GHOST GARDEN

03/17 ST. PATTY’S DAY SHOW! BLATSY’S BACKROAD/THE ZOTZ/ NUKE & THE LIVING DEAD

03/18 BANGERZ & JAMZ (MONTHLY)

03/24 CINECYDE/THE HOURLIES/ SEARCH & DESTROY

03/25 ASKELPLIUS (SMILEY’S B-DAY SHOW)

03/26 NAIN ROUGE PARADE PARTY W/BANGERZ & JAMZ

03/31 MATT BASTERDSON/ PHIL PROFITT & HIS FAST FORTUNES

04/01 PARKHOUSE NIGHT

04/06 TIGERS OPENING DAY

JELLO SHOTS always $1

Old Miami tees & hoodies available for purchase!

All aboard the sushi train

It’s not going to be the best sushi you ever ate, though it may be the cheapest. I don’t know whether it’s the low prices or the gimmick that draws them, but early in the new year there was no shortage of customers at Kura Revolving Sushi Bar; a plurality were Asian or Asian American.

The revolving bar is the opposite of an omakase experience (literally “I leave it up to you”), where the chef, who’s right in front of you, decides what to serve course after course and, if you’re lucky, shares his insights with you as he hand-prepares each piece. The idea of no-frills, mass production sushi that glides past diners on a conveyor belt was invented by Yoshiaki Shiraishi in 1958 in Osaka. He cut down on servers and slashed prices, and by the year 2000 Japan could claim more than 2,400 mobile-sushi restaurants.

The Troy place (and there’s a second Kura in Novi) is part of a national U.S. chain that’s a subsidiary of a larger Japanese company. Broth, vinegar, and preservative-free wasabi are all sourced from Japan.

First-time Kura customers are initiated by the staff: as the belt winds through the restaurant, you’re seated at a regular booth, where you can see through the belt to fellow diners on the other side. A human asks if you want wasabi and ginger, and if so, a

By Jane Slaughter

robot brings them, while playing an electronic tune.

If you’re hungry, you can grab the first sushi (or nigiri) that toddles by. Each pair of pieces sits on a green and white plate inside a moving plastic clamshell-type box — be quick! There’s a technique to opening the box with one hand. A sign is next to each dish to tell you what it is, though many clamshells are empty, as the kitchen staff labors to keep up with demand. Shiraishi’s speed was 3.15 inches per second, which, he found, was slow enough to keep the plates from flying off the belt and the fish from drying out in the wind. At Kura, the lower or main belt’s speed is 3.54 inches per second. Perhaps the speed helps keep turnover brisk.

When you’ve eaten each serving, drop the plate into a table-side slot; they’ll be counted in the back and multiplied by $3.55 for your bill.

If you want your dish to spend less time wending through the restaurant, you can also order through a table-side touch-screen. The kitchen will send the result directly to you through the express belt. We used the touch screen for sushi on our second visit and found the quality somewhat higher, though that could have been due to different days of the week as well.

On our first visit, all the dishes tended to blur together into one flavor,

whether it was salmon or tuna, scallop or shrimp, sushi or nigiri. It’s a decent, familiar, sushi flavor but not as fresh as you might hope. Hokkaido scallops, for example, were soft and not noticeably scallopy. I did like an egg yolk that was incorporated into salmon yukhoe along with ginger, green onion, sesame and barbecue sauce. A shrimp avocado roll was dotted with bits of sharp mayo. Crowd-pleasing avocado appears in many, many dishes. There’s also a missable “umami oil seared beef.”

On our second visit we fared better with a spicy tuna crunchy hand roll — a cone of sesame-flecked soy paper filled with tuna and avocado and various crunchy sprinkles. A nigiri of spicy garlic popcorn shrimp delivered plenty of fried crust goodness topped with lots of spicy garlic chips. A caterpillar roll offered more avocado, eel, and eel sauce, plus cucumber for a refreshing contrast. A “real crab” roll was too wet.

Ordering from the soup menu met with fair results, with both soups heavy on the scallions. Prices were a bit high for relatively small servings, at least compared to the bargain sushi. I always love udon, and these fat noodles were eminently slurpable, but the tempura on the shrimp soon lost any crispness in the tangy broth. A tonkotsu ramen soup was not bad and included a cold hard-boiled egg.

A second attempt at ordering from

Kura Revolving Sushi Bar

736 W. Big Beaver, Troy 947-218-0707

kurasushi.com

Sushi and nigiri $3.55, soups $9.50-$10.50

the menu, ten jyu, produced tempura of shrimp, shishito peppers, and unrecognizable chicken in a box, over rice. I wouldn’t order it a second time.

Kura serves both Japanese beer and sake.

There are no reservations; instead you sign up for a waitlist on its app, and are notified how long the wait will be. It doesn’t always function perfectly: I was told the wait would be 135 minutes (which fit my schedule fine) but then received a text saying I needed to show my face immediately or lose my turn — with still an hour to go. No harm done — the friendly server seated me when I got there, though there were others in the waiting area. He had no explanation or advice.

Time Out Tokyo writes, about a revolving belt restaurant there, “The flavours aren’t quite as dazzling as the futuristic presentation, but when you’re paying a rock-bottom ¥110 for each item on the menu, it’s hard to complain.” Makes sense.

At high-tech chain Kura Sushi, plates of food are delivered via conveyor belts.

KIM KYUNG-HOON/ REUTERS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Chowhound

Praise for Novi’s China Café

By Robert Stempkowski

Welcome to Chowhound, your prandial information portal to what’s trending in Detroit food culture. Consider this your new feed for restaurant announcements, au courant culinary conversation, and assorted tasty news nibbles from our local dining front. And, hey, if you’ve something to share on those subjects, reach out to me, “Mr. C,” at eat@metrotimes.com. Here we go:

Second Dynasty: Having returned for several visits now, I have to say: Novi’s China Café (24299 Novi Rd.) takes me back to the early ’90s. Living in Scottsdale, Arizona at the time, I read a review of a new restaurant concept recently opened in my neighborhood. The critic panned the place, scoffing at its future prospects, saying aficionados of Asian fare would never buy the concept, which he judged as an over-Americanized compromise of true Chinese cuisine culture.

That restaurant was the original P.F. Chang’s. Oops. To this day, that man’s major miss serves as my cautionary reminder to never stake my reputation on a bet as to how any restaurateur’s vision will be received by the dining public.

Having said that, I’m letting a little ride on some effusive praise for China Café, and ironically, for much the same reason my former Phoenix colleague decided to dislike Chang’s. The Eastmeets-West dynamic here really works for me. I appreciate the proprietary pedigree (Asian American business, family-owned and operated), the bustling Euro-bistro vibe, and love the slickly assertive service staff — always nattily-attired — who keep the indemand tables turning.

Then there’s the food. While offerings of “old school” fried rice, fairly classic lo mein options, Crab Rangoon, and such provide predictable pleasures for the purist crowds, Café’s kitchen can take us cruising a little further from the heart of the Yangtze into stirring renditions of Pad Thai and Hawaiianinfluenced fare as well. A card-carrying carnivore, I’ve somehow gotten stuck in the restaurant’s sizable Tofu section (try both the spicy basil and firecracker

versions). Who knows? Maybe their rice-less cauliflower “fried rice” can shock my protein-saturated system next. Soups glistening with the clear craft of consommé art are slurp-worthy (a cultural compliment), and a precious little portion of their coconut-pineapple ice cream makes for a perfectly affordable ending ($4) to my meal, every time.

I’m no Nostradumbass. Stopping short of sticking my neck out and predicting the second coming of Chang’s dynastic Asian dining success for this little Jade Empire gem in Novi, what I will say is that I’ll buy stock in the IPO if it ever comes to that.

Consider those first-class jerk characters we all hated in the movie Titanic: Whatever you do or don’t believe about COVID-19, who’ll argue that these pandemic years haven’t proven a disaster to the restaurant industry? In one meteoric, viral strike, food costs went cataclysmic, a workforce disappeared like the dinosaurs, and countless business closures continue to amount to an extinction event for a corner of commerce everyone inhabits as consumers. We’ve all seen the signs at this point: “Please be patient. We have limited staff to serve you.” But does the message sink in? Are we sympathetic? One wonders. My news feeds tell me stories of restaurants struggling with stressed-out workers, managers, and owners finding themselves overmatched by impatient, entitled or otherwise challenging customers. And my conscience assures me I haven’t always been my best self while waiting to sit down, order, eat, or pay my tab, on more occasions than I care to admit here. And this admission comes from a guy who’s waited enough tables, tended enough bars, and cooked in enough crazy-busy commercial kitchens to know better.

Perchance you don’t know or remember what it’s like to strap on an apron and serve food for a living, rest assured: it’s no picnic. Try cooking a hundredplus orders of eggs some morning, from soft-scrambled and sunny side up to over medium and poached. Maybe invite a mix of six or seven groups of

people to your place for dinner: one or two couples (with and without kids), grandma and grandpa, your vegan friend with the friend who has food allergies, your neighbors who don’t like anything spicy, your fussy Aunt Edna, and that know-it-all from work that you just can’t stand, then wait on them. Oh, and have a few problem drinkers over, too, ‘cause that’s always fun. If you still don’t get the picture, just imagine the predicament so many restaurateurs find themselves in these days; with bills and payrolls to pay, fridges and freezers full of food they’ve received on credit, and then being forced to let money go unspent by customer demand they can’t keep up with for lack of kitchen and/or dining room crew. Imagine just not having the hands-on-deck to grab the money folks happily fork over every day to get their grub on. We only see the open booth in the unmanned section as somewhere we should be allowed to sit immediately, the skeleton crew service as unacceptably slow, and the restaurant struggling mightily to stay afloat as simply a sinking ship we’d sooner abandon than stay and help bail-out.

That’s when and how we become no better than those snooty Titanic passengers; seeing ourselves as merely inconvenienced by some others’ misfortunes, failing to seriously consider — or care about — what’s really going down around us.

Show-stopper: Like the song says, “People are crazy.” And some you meet where folks eat prove a prime example. Consider the customer I waited on some 30 years ago in a fancy, French bistro in Phoenix. Heir to an iconic American meat packing empire, he sat for lunch one day in my section and ordered a big, expensive bottle of Bor-

deaux first-thing. After it was opened, I was requested to take the cork to the kitchen and have it ground. I did so fully expecting to be questioned as to why. Instead, the cook I approached just took the cork from my hand without me having to explain, saying, “Wait here. I need my cleaver for this.”

Returning to the table with my little monkey dish of chopped tree underbark, I assumed this was just something wine snobs do. I was still a relative fine dining rookie in those days, so it was all new to me. Expecting the guy would either thumb through or sniff the crumble to find whatever he was looking for, he waited, instead, until his Frisée salad arrived, then sprinkled some on top before asking me for a few turns of crushed black pepper.

I chewed on the strangeness of the experience the rest of my shift without saying a word, for fear I’d expose myself as a wine service amateur ignorant of the fact that the best wine corks can also serve as croutons or bacon bits substitutes. It was only as I was leaving for the day that I learned the truth of the matter, which went on to prove itself even more profoundly over the course of my restaurant career.

“So, Chef told me you waited on Soand-So today,” my manager said to me with a wry smile during my check-out. “The guy eats cork. Can you imagine? He’s even crazier than he is rich, and that’s saying something.”

That was the first and last time I ever saw someone eat cork. Still, that tale doesn’t crack the top twenty wild stories I could share about life in bars and restaurants. You live, you learn everywhere, true enough. But if you do enough time in the food and beverage business, you get quite a taste of just how out there our appetites for indulgence can be. Stay tuned.

Novi’s China Café. LEE DEVITO

WEED

Cannabisinfused Fresh Water Music Festival announced

MICHIGAN HAS A new cannabisand-music festival set for this June.

Sponsored by Fresh Water Cannabis Co., the one-day festival is planned for Saturday, June 3 at the company’s Baldwin property, dubbed “The Back 20.”

Initial artists announced include Ann Arbor jazz-fusion band Chirp and Detroit-area country music singer-songwriter Audrey Ray, with more to be announced.

Amenities include cannabis vendors, an artists market, food trucks, a beer tent, “puff-n-paint” sessions, tiedying, cornhole, a “dab bar,” hot-air balloons, and more.

While every music festival is technically a “cannabis music festival,” as a licensed event the Fresh Water Music Festival will have sanctioned consumption lounges. A VIP tier is also planned.

The company says all profits from the beer tent and raffle will go to the foundation’s charitable funds.

More information is available at freshwatermusicfestival.com. Tickets start at $25 for general admission and $125 for the VIP experience, with prices going up after April 20. Admission is limited to guests age 21 and older.

—Lee DeVito

Arts, Beats & Eats gets green light for weed

ROYAL OAK CITY city commissioners have unanimously approved a proposal to allow adult-use cannabis sales at this year’s Arts, Beats & Eats.

Yes, we know people have been smoking in their cars before Arts, Beats & Eats since the fest’s founding in 1997, but this means we’ll finally get the chance to smoke weed legally onsite.

Organizers of the Labor Day weekend festival and cannabis sponsor House of Dank still have to get temporary licenses

from the Liquor Control Commission and Cannabis Regulatory Agency for it to be official official.

The plan is to add a House of Dank tent that will offer pre-rolls, edibles, and cannabis vape cartridges for sale, and a consumption lounge with private security.

The tent would be located in the alley between South Center Street and Washington Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Street. It would be surrounded

Regulators warn customers of Fwaygo Extracts products

THE CANNABIS REGULATORY Agency (CRA) alerted consumers to be aware of Fwaygo Extracts products that may pose a public health risk.

According to a Marijuana Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Space Rocks by Fwaygo Extracts may have been produced with untested cannabis. The affected product would have been manufactured between Nov. 10-17, 2022.

On Sept. 16, 2022, two packages of Space Rocks vape cartridges failed safety compliance testing for Bifenthrin, a chemical banned from use in the regulated cannabis market.

The agency launched an investigation into TAS Asset Holdings in Lansing where the Fwaygo Extract products were processed. Prior to reaching the TAS facility, the Space

Rocks cartridges had passed full safety compliance testing with no Bifenthrin detected.

During the investigation, the CRA uncovered video surveillance footage showing the product used to make the vape cartridges was not the same product recorded by the statewide monitoring system Metrc that had passed previous testing.

CRA staff also noted the TAS facility had “many areas that were dirty and cluttered and had leaking containers of various process stages of marijuana waste” and an unapproved, unlicensed warehouse.

Inside the unlicensed warehouse, investigators observed untagged flower, distillates, concentrates, THCa powder, and barrels of an unknown substance. They also found jars of

by a fence to obstruct view from street level.

House of Dank has been the festival cannabis sponsor since 2021, but it has not allowed consumption on the premises. Last year, it featured an Astroturfed lounge with prizes, merch, games like cornhole, and DJs from Detroit’s Movement Music Festival. The company also had reps on hand to direct attendees to its dispensaries to purchase cannabis products.

Last year, city commissioners struck down the proposal over concerns about cannabis consumption at an event where alcohol is also sold, and children being exposed to weed.

Police Chief Michael Moore, who was previously one of the weed proposal’s biggest opponents, presented an extensive plan at a City Commissioner meeting by festival organizer Jon Witz, who will utilize fans and air purifiers to mitigate odor concerns.

A kids’ zone that would have been next to the proposed cannabis tent has been removed.

Moore told city commissioners the police department is now “neutral” on the issue.

Royal Oak Mayor Michael Fournier said at the meeting this is a trial run for this year’s festival only.

“I’ll support it for the sake of experimentation,” he said. “If it’s executed properly and well and it doesn’t detract from the festival, I think it could be something to stay. If it does detract from the festival, meaning it becomes the main focal point and all of that, I’ll probably have a change of heart next year.”

Arts, Beats & Eats is slated for Sept. 1-4.

—Randiah Camille Green

untested distillate and cannabis concentrate locked in a safe.

According to the bulletin, a TAS representative admitted Space Rocks is made with the untagged THCa powder. The surveillance footage also shows TAS employees bringing in additional untested cannabis products from their personal vehicles.

Subsequently, the CRA has suspended the medical and adult-use processor licenses of TAS Asseting Holdings. In total, the CRA alleges 23 regulatory violations against each of the company’s processor licenses.

The agency advises pot consumers who have experienced adverse reactions after using Space Rocks products to report their symptoms and product use to their healthcare providers and to the CRA directly via email at CRA-Enforcement@michigan.gov or by phone at 517-284-8599.

—Randiah Camille Green

Ann Arbor jazz-fusion band Chirp is one of the initial artists announced for the new Fresh Water Music Festival. AUSTIN R. GRINNELL

CULTURE

Artist of the week

Taurus Burns embraces his zebra stripes

By Randiah Camille Green

This feature highlights a different local artist each week. Got someone in mind you think deserves the spotlight? Hit us up at arts@metrotimes.com.

For Taurus Burns, growing up biracial meant some things were, unfortunately, black and white.

The Detroit-based painter’s mother is white and his father is Black.

“Once I went home with a white friend after school to play and his grandmother made me leave the moment she came home because she didn’t want any Black kids in her house,” Burns tells Metro Times. “This kind of thing happened again several years later with another friend in a completely different state. As a kid, those experiences were painful because I was just this innocent kid and they seemed repulsed by me.”

Now, the College of Creative Studies graduate says there is no gray area when it comes to racism — you’re either racist or anti-racist.

There is some room for gray, however, in his primarily black-and-white oil paintings. His latest exhibit Created Equal at Ferndale’s M Contemporary Art addresses the impact of systemic racism and his “lifelong introspections” on race and society.

“Beyond race, I gravitated toward painting in black and white because the absence of color seemed to better reflect a depressive condition,” he says. “I read somewhere that looking at the world in black and white is the hallmark of depression. It probably sounds dark but I want that feeling to come through in the work. I want people to feel unsettled and disquieted.”

We wouldn’t describe his work as unsettling, but the colorless canvases do carry a feeling of heaviness. It’s like the kind of depression you’d get after being forced to stay in a dungeon devoid of sunlight — one that’s clearly marked by the artist’s internal and external conflict.

“Before I was born, my grandfather disowned my mom for marrying my Dad because he’s Black,” he says. “This taught me that racism trumps family,

and it wasn’t until much later that I realized the damage to my self-esteem. For a long time, I was bitter about it. Now I can only imagine the social pressure for a middle-class white man to conform in a conservative, rural, predominantly white community in the United States in the 1950s and ’60s and I realize it’s not about my grandpa. We were all born into this system. We didn’t create it but we have to take responsibility for fixing it.”

Zebra stripes are a recurring motif throughout the exhibit. In one piece, “The Birth of Zebra Mane,” a half-white and half-black panther rips apart its skin to reveal a zebra pattern underneath. “Two Worlds, One Cup” shows white and black liquid being swirled together in a young man’s head.

“When I was young I got called a zebra by Black kids a few times,” Burns says. “It wasn’t really upsetting, but it made me feel like they didn’t see me as one of them. That feeling has stuck with me throughout my life, the feeling of not being enough, or being too much, of one race or the other.”

Now “zebra” is a label Burns embraces, saying “it’s a poetic, beautiful way of symbolizing mixed-race identity and I’ve found myself looking for ways to incorporate zebra stripes into my paintings.”

Another piece, “Before Black Lives Mattered,” depicts a black panther arm wrestling with a KKK member with an assault rifle at his side.

“When the protests were happening around the country following the murder of George Floyd, I thought about how my daughter and stepson were the same age I was when the Rodney King video came out,” he says about the painting. “Nearly thirty years later and my kids are entering adulthood in a country that continues to enable, if not encourage, this behavior.”

While lacking color, his paintings are not an invitation to be colorblind, he says.

“The concept (of being colorblind) came about during the ’60s when wellintentioned whites took the aspirational goal of the Civil Rights movement

— that Americans would one day judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin — as a directive,” he says. “The problem is that instead of making people blind to race, color blindness makes them blind to racism. As a result, any lack of progress or success in the Black community is blamed on personal shortcomings or moral failings rather than considering the race-based systemic advantages. The work of dismantling structural racism cannot be accomplished unless more white people get with the program.”

Burns was born in Kalamazoo but moved around as a young boy because his dad was in the army. He moved back to Michigan at the age of 12 after stints in Kentucky, Germany, Virginia, and Noth Carolina, and came to Detroit to attend CCS in 1998.

He’s been in the city ever since. Reflecting back on his upbringing, Burns says his family often lived in either majority-white or majoritybBlack neighborhoods, which felt odd to someone growing up in a multiracial family.

He says his early experiences with racism influenced his art, but the 2016 death of Philando Castile by a cop in

the Minneapolis area was a breaking point for him.

“Something in me broke after seeing that video,” he says. “Suddenly all bets were off, and any limits I had been placing on my work about what was acceptable in art quickly began to break away. In 2018 I had a solo show called ‘Troublemaker’ and the entire exhibit was about me facing down the widespread unconscious bias of Black men as dangerous.”

He adds, “I read a quote recently that went ‘interracial cooperation has always been a threat to white supremacy.’ I think about the fact that it was illegal for my parents to marry just six years before I was born due to anti-miscegenation laws — laws that were still on the books in Alabama in the year 2000. You can say that all that is history but here we are almost a quarter of the way through the 21st century and we can’t come together on race. In a very straightforward way, by mixing black and white I feel that I’m bringing the two races together in my paintings.”

Where to see his work: Created Equal is up at M Contemporary Art through March 18.

Taurus Burns. CJ BENNIGER

CULTURE

An unsinkable classic

Intimate and personal in a manner belying its scale, James Cameron’s work on Titanic holds up as well as ever, making its new 25th anniversary re-release an opportunity well worth prioritizing. Fully self-aware as a work of high melodrama, the film opens with a disarming sort of confessional frame. Cameron deploys Bill Paxton (potent as ever) as his maximally earnest stand-in, playing a research scientist investigating the ship’s wreckage for reasons of obsession as much as enterprise (specifically, chasing after the Heart of the Ocean), reflecting nakedly upon his own fixations and aspirations without disregarding his own craft’s financial side. (For evidence of this enduring fixation, just try the documentary Cameron released six years after: Ghosts of the Abyss, in which he explores the wreckage of the Titanic firsthand.) A form of quasi-direct address opening the film, the film’s frame narrative plays from the outset with a kind of promise: an assurance that he’ll speak, even through fiction, plain and from the heart.

But amid the decaying ruins of the ruptured vessel, there’s an air of stale haunting without a bite accompanying the perception, making the long, historically distanced dead little more than a statistic: the ship but a rotting antique inviting historical projections. In restoring the vessel in a lavish feat of historical re-enactment, then, there’s more at stake for Cameron than rewinding the clock; the film’s not just

By George Elkin

a matter of adding life and flesh to old bones, as a certain strain of mannered docufiction might so often be.

Structuring the film as much as history or romance (surely some part of the rationale in an anniversary re-release circa Valentine’s Day) is a biting critique of class I’d remembered but only so well. Beneath its more gentle, blunt, and sometimes limited verbal satire of upper-class pretensions (Cameron, dialogically speaking, isn’t quite Jane Austen) lies a fiercer attention to inequity, and the deep lies and structures that render people unequal to one another. While quite a white movie racially speaking (one imagines it might be less so now), the film’s lack there leaves it with a sense of unfettered authority, confidence, and focus that comes with a full and firsthand knowledge of its terrain (Cameron having been, by this point, both very rich and very poor.) While lacking in considerations we’d call intersectional now, Titanic takes aim squarely at divisions erected along class lines, presenting them as a web of linked fictions dividing passengers and crew alike from one another.

This is plainer nowhere, of course, than in the film’s central romance — which mourns the instrumentalization of marriage and courtship in the interest of money and presentation, both at the steep expense of chemistry and love. With Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater battling for her freedom against the prim forces of her confining

mother (a fine, credible Frances Fisher) and an oppressive brute of a fiancé (ever-sneering Billy Zane), the introduction of Leo DiCaprio as a boyish rapscallion, Jack, makes it clear she has quite a bit to lose. But these familiar, tangled dynamics make up but one constellation in a broader sea of stars that paints class as all-encompassing, routinely a matter of life and death.

From the bright glow of Rose’s dress amid the haze of the engine room to the many scenes of the film’s key pair darting from floor to deck to floor, what freedom exists is found in this: a transgression of the ship’s (and thus society’s) demarcated lines of class. Able to partake in a tony meal one moment and dance drunk in a storeroom the next, it’s not just youth that liberates the film’s leads but a disregard for our class society’s cruel, divisive nonsense.

It’s easy to take a film like this for granted, to experience it as a set of clichés even as it helped set them up (though Cameron’s extraordinary bullishness, taken alongside his confidence and sense of grandeur make him a hard man to copy well). In rewatching, moments which might have been dulled by remembrance after some six or seven years felt startlingly sharp; so much of what the film accomplishes (as with Cameron’s latest Avatar film) seems near-impossible to pull off. The scene where Jack supports Rose climbing up the ship’s bow is enlivened by their physical chemistry and the way they seem to clutch at one another;

Titanic

Rated: PG-13

Run-time: 195 minutes

their verbal banter over his portfolio of drawings is likewise buoyed by the way that, even in what’s unlikely to be an early take, Rose seems so genuinely disarmed. Key to this — somehow, I think — is the fact DiCaprio’s performance is so eagerly striving, verging on the ungainly. (There’s something disorienting, too, about the way he, even at 21 when they started two years of shooting, looks a bit too young for the role.) In this sense of wily resourcefulness, Cameron finds another avatar (lowercase this time), a figure armed with the bold, brash luck of a decent gambler — able to bluff or elbow his way to a win.

But Cameron, a refined and solid stylist — a visionary, even — doesn’t need to bluff. Sure of what he’s doing as he must be of who he is, he’s an artist fully in control, often in ways that seem mysterious. What Rose’s present-day narration, delivered from the standpoint of her life as an elderly widow visiting the research vessel, gives the film remains — outside of certain flickers near the film’s start and finish — hard for me to make a claim about, save for the fact it provides some freedom in Titanic’s structure. But barring its naked presence as a kind of “device,” albeit one enriched by Gloria Stuart’s warm and careful performance, I’m inclined to think that Cameron would have found some other workaround to take the movie anywhere he wanted. Laying out the ship with studied precision only to lay waste to the whole thing later, he’s a director whose sense of control seems often to be in almost perverse opposition to any sense of traditional refinement.

Even with Cameron being at once an earnest populist and a surefire egomaniac, it’s hard to believe now — when most works are given over either to selfseriousness or to the limpest strains of glib irony — that anyone could make a movie this vast and eccentric, and still so deftly balanced in the time we live in now. There’s Cameron’s singularity as a director, sure, that makes this kind of thing so rare. But then there’s the forceful whims, too, of the industry’s idle rich — who block most films worth making. If the film’s class allegory were just a little truer, they’d be stuck waiting for — as the elder Rose describes quite late — an absolution that will never come. Given how few fictions lend this and so many other kinds of comfort, we’d best cherish the ones we’ve got.

James Cameron’s high-melodrama classic holds up as well as ever 25 years later. 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

CULTURE

Savage Love Charades

By Dan Savage

: Q I found out by accident that my husband is emotionally cheating on me with his ex. I know you are critical of the concept of emotional cheating, but I’m talking about long love letters explaining that he wishes he would have married her, how she is the best person in the world, how he will always love her, etc. He sends her gifts behind my back and communicates with her frequently and hides it from me. I broke down when I found out and confronted him, and he was apologetic at first. But he quickly started to accuse me of “just being jealous.” He continues to lie and hide. I can’t bring it up because he just gets angry, and I’ve resigned to participate in the charade that is my marriage. I’ve told him that I don’t have a problem with him being friends with her so long as he treats her like other friends. That would mean, for example, no longer professing his undying love for her. But he continues to do so, and I’ve come to realize that this will never change. She will always be his romantic fantasy, while I’m the idiot who’s more practical for everyday use. My self-esteem was crap before we met, after being abused by my kids’ alcoholic father, and I felt rehabilitated when my husband asked me to marry him. I felt chosen. Then I found out that I was being played for a fool. But I stayed with him, thus proving even more to the world how little I’m worth. Anyway, I don’t think I should leave. I want to preserve what is mostly a functioning family unit and not disrupt my kids’ lives again. But any advice on how I can live with myself for the decades to come before I’m finally allowed to just roll over and die?

—Can’t Hack Another Really Aggravating Divorce Experience

: A I’m not so much critical of the concept of emotional cheating, CHARADE, as I am critical of concept creep where emotional cheating is concerned.

Basically, I think it’s foolish to tell people cheating is absolutely unforgiveable and then turn around and tell people that absolutely fucking everything — from looking at porn to sending an ex a brief happy birthday

message via text — counts as cheating. So, while I don’t think a husband who has a work friend of the opposite sex or sometimes confides in someone about his marriage is guilty of having an emotional affair (all examples drawn from articles about emotional cheating), a husband who sends love letters to an ex… and tells that ex she’s the love of his life… that asshole is definitely having an emotional affair.

If I were you, CHARADE, I would leave that asshole. Your husband’s behavior exposes a streak of emotional cruelty so devoid of empathy that it’s hard to imagine it not manifesting in other ways, CHARADE, and you may not be able to live with (or want to expose your kids to) to his shit over the long-term. But if you do decide to stay for the sake of your kids — which is something people do and something people insist no one should ever do — then you’ll need to radically adjust your expectations. You’ll have to accept your marriage for what it is now, i.e., a strictly limited partnership about raising kids, and then find a way to be at peace with that… which is a much heavier lift.

Passionately felt romantic love is a wonderful and often fleeting thing, CHARADE, and no one wants to discover that the person who said they loved them passionately — and promised to keep loving them passionately — is now (or always was) passionately in love with someone else. But a deep sense of security can grow between two people in a committed, long-term, companionate, low-conflict relationship, and that particular kind of intimacy can be its own consolation. Or its own consolation prize. Now, that kind of intimacy is harder to achieve when one person in a relationship is a selfish and callous asshole… like the one you married. But we go to marriage counseling with the husband we’ve got, CHARADE, not the husband we might like or want to have.

If you can get past your hurt and your anger which, again, is going to be a very, very heavy lift — you aren’t required to participate in a charade. Your marriage is what it is, and you don’t have to pretend it’s something else. But if you can’t get past the hurt and anger, CHARADE, or if your husband finds new ways to make you miserable, don’t stay for your kids. (Have you ever spoken to an adult whose parents stayed in a high-conflict marriage for them? Most wish their parents had gotten a divorce.)

No more charades. Your goal is

mutual respect, shared responsibilities, separate bedrooms, and all the personal happiness you can achieve for yourself in this marriage. The latter personal happiness — may seem like the heaviest lift of all. To get there, CHARADE, do whatever it takes to untangle your sense self-worth and self-esteem from feeling “chosen” by some man. Choose yourself. So, your husband has a pen-pal and he’s keeping her. What do you want? A dick-pal? Get one. Do you wanna spend more time with your girlfriends? Let them know. Do you wanna go back to school and get a degree or some professional training that would make it easier for you to leave your asshole husband after your kids are grown or sooner if you decide staying was a mistake? Do it You can choose yourself every single day, CHARADE, without neglecting your kids or being an asshole to your spouse about it. If you do decide to stay, do your kids the favor of letting them see their mother flourish.

: Q I recently came out to my husband as asexual. I’m a 56-year-old female. He is 57. We have been in a monogamous relationship for 35 years. We both come from culturally traditional families. We married young and raised two boys who are now adults. Our oldest son came out to us as bisexual five years ago when he fell in love with a man. This was a catalyst for me to look into the nature of my sexuality. My husband’s response to my asexuality was, “Of course you are — we aren’t having sex anymore.” Before I came out to him, he urged me over and over to look into remedies for my situation so we could have intercourse. Menopause has made intercourse unbearably physically painful for me and he is not open to other forms of sexual intimacy. He doesn’t understand asexuality. After all, for many years we did have sex. I felt that it was part of my duty as a wife. In hindsight, I believe I was more interested in having children than having sex. I have a lot of guilt that I somehow “duped” him into a relationship. This was not my intention. Asexuality was not part of my vocabulary any more than bisexuality was. I have suffered for

years with depression, thinking there was something wrong with me for not being interested in sex.

We love each other and we want to stay together. I know he has sexual needs that need to be satisfied. I have urged him to find other outlets. I’ve told him that I’m open to an open relationship. He said that he is afraid that if he had sex with anyone else that he would fall in love with them. He doesn’t want to do that because he loves only me. He still thinks there is some remedy and that I could find that would make it possible for us to still have sex. What do you advise?

—Asexual Characteristic Explains Dilemma

: A Your letter — your question, your predicament, your marriage — demonstrates why the awareness-raising conversations we’ve been having about asexuality over the last decade-andchange are so important. If “asexual” had been a part of the conversation forty years ago, ACED, you wouldn’t have spent thirty-five years wondering what was wrong with you. With “asexual” part of the conversation now, people who are asexual are likelier to know who they are, know there’s nothing wrong with them, and know they’re free to make different choices — more informed ones. Likewise, allosexuals who date out asexuals are free to make informed choices of their own. (Allosexual is the opposite of asexual… and, yes, you could call allosexuals plain ol’ sexuals, but confusing new terms that have to be unpacked in parentheticals > simple and clear language that doesn’t have to unpacked in a parenthetical.)

But what do you do now, ACED? Nothing. You know who you are after all these years, you’ve explained who you are to your husband, and your husband has your permission to seek sex elsewhere, if he so chooses. If he needs to feel a deep emotional connection in order to experience sexual attraction if your husband just realized he’s demisexual (sigh) — he can seek out women who are… I don’t know… unhappily married to emotionally obtuse men they don’t wanna leave for the sake of their kids and might be seeking some dick and affection elsewhere. Romantic love isn’t a zero-sum game — loving someone else doesn’t mean your husband has to love you any less, or any differently, than he does right now.

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

CULTURE Free Will Astrology

ARIES: March 21 – April 19

In 1993, I began work on my memoirish novel The Televisionary Oracle. It took me seven years to finish. The early part of the process was tough. I generated a lot of material I didn’t like. Then one day, I discovered an approach that liberated me: I wrote about aspects of my character and behavior that needed improvement. Suddenly everything clicked, and my fruitless adventure transformed into a fluidic joy. Soon I was writing about other themes and experiences. But dealing with self-correction was a key catalyst. Are there any such qualities in yourself you might benefit from tackling, Aries? If so, I recommend you try my approach.

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

Two Taurus readers complained that my horoscopes contain too much poetry and flair to be useful. In response, I’m offering you a prosaic message. It’s all true, though in a way that’s more like a typical horoscope. (I wonder if this approach will spur your emotional intelligence and your soul’s lust for life, which are crucial areas of growth for you these days.) Anyway, here’s the oracle: Take a risk and extend

feelers to interesting people outside your usual sphere. But don’t let your social adventures distract you from your ambitions, which also need your wise attention. Your complex task: Mix work and play; synergize business and pleasure.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

Astrologer Jessica Shepherd advises us to sidle up to the Infinite Source of Life and say, “Show me what you’ve got.” When we do, we often get lucky. That’s because the Infinite Source of Life delights in bringing us captivating paradoxes. Yes and no may both be true in enchanting ways. Independence and interdependence can interweave to provide us with brisk teachings. If we dare to experiment with organized wildness and aggressive receptivity, our awareness will expand, and our heart will open. What about it, Gemini? Are you interested in the charming power that comes from engaging with cosmic contradictions? Now’s a favorable time to do so. Go ahead and say, “Show me what you’ve got” to the Infinite Source of Life.

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

“Only a lunatic would dance when sober,” declared the ancient Roman philosopher Cicero. As a musician who loves to dance, I reject that limiting idea — especially for you. In the upcoming weeks, I hope you will do a lot of dancing-while-sober. Singing-while-sober, too. Maybe some crying-for-joy-while-sober, as well as freewheeling-your-way-through-unpredictable-conversations-while-sober and cavorting-and-reveling-while-sober. My point is that there is no need for you to be intoxicated as you engage in revelry. Even further: It will be better for your soul’s long-term health if you are lucid and clearheaded as you celebrate this liberating phase of extra joy and pleasure.

LEO: July 23 – August 22

Poet Mary Oliver wondered whether the soul is solid and unbreakable, like an iron bar. Or is it tender and fragile, like a moth in an owl’s beak? She fantasized that maybe it’s shaped like an iceberg or a hummingbird’s eye. I am poetically inclined to imagine the soul as a silver diadem bedecked with emeralds, roses, and live butterflies. What about you, Leo? How do you experience your soul? The coming weeks will be a ripe time to home in on this treasured part of you. Feel it, consult with it, feed it. Ask it to surprise you!

GREETING

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

According to the color consultant company Pantone, Viva Magenta is 2023’s color of the year. According to

JAMES NOELLERT

me, Viva Magenta is the lucky hue and power pigment for you Virgos during the next ten months. Designer Amber Guyton says that Viva Magenta “is a rich shade of red that is both daring and warm.” She adds that its “purple undertone gives it a warmth that sets it apart from mere red and makes it more versatile.” For your purposes, Virgo, Viva Magenta is earthy and exciting; nurturing and inspiring; soothing yet arousing. The coming weeks will be a good time to get the hang of incorporating its spirit into your life.

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

If you are not working to forge a gritty solution, you may be reinforcing a cozy predicament. If you’re not expanding your imagination to conjure up fresh perspectives, you could be contributing to some ignorance or repression. If you’re not pushing to expose dodgy secrets and secret agendas, you might be supporting the whitewash. Know what I’m saying, Libra? Here’s a further twist. If you’re not peeved about the times you have wielded your anger unproductively, you may not use it brilliantly in the near future. And I really hope you will use it brilliantly.

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21: Storyteller Martin Shaw believes that logic and factual information are not enough to sustain us. To nourish our depths, we need the mysterious stories provided by myths and fairy tales. He also says that conventional hero sagas starring big, strong, violent men are outmoded. Going forward, we require wily, lyrical tales imbued with the spirit of the Greek word metis, meaning “divine cunning in service to wisdom.” That’s what I wish for you now, Scorpio. I hope you will tap into it abundantly. As you do, your creative struggles will lead to personal liberations. For inspiration, read myths and fairy tales.

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21 Many astrologers don’t give enough encouragement to you Sagittarians on the subject of home. I will compensate for that. I believe it’s a perfect time to prioritize your feelings of belonging and your sense of security. I urge you to focus energy on creating serenity and stability for yourself.

By Rob Brezsny

Honor the buildings and lands you rely on. Give extra appreciation to the people you regard as your family and tribe. Offer blessings to the community that supports you.

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

If you are like 95 percent of the population, you weren’t given all the love and care you needed as a child. You may have made adaptations to partly compensate for this lack, but you are still running a deficit. That’s the bad news, Capricorn. The good news is that the coming weeks will be a favorable time to overcome at least some of the hurt and sadness caused by your original deprivation. Life will offer you experiences that make you feel more at home in the world and at peace with your destiny and in love with your body. Please help life help you! Make yourself receptive to kindness and charity and generosity.

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

The philosopher Aldous Huxley was ambitious and driven. Author of almost 50 books, he was a passionate pacifist and explorer of consciousness. He was a visionary who expressed both dystopian and utopian perspectives. Later in his life, though, his views softened. “Do not burn yourselves out,” he advised readers. “Be as I am: a part-time crusader, a halfhearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it.” Now I’m offering you Huxley’s counsel, Aquarius. As much as I love your zealous idealism and majestic quests, I hope that in the coming weeks, you will recharge yourself with creature comforts.

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

Piscean author and activist W. E. B. Dubois advised us to always be willing to give up what we are. Why? Because that’s how we transform into a deeper and stronger version of ourselves. I think you would benefit from using his strategy. My reading of the astrological omens tells me that you are primed to add through subtraction, to gain power by shedding what has become outworn and irrelevant. Suggested step one: Identify dispiriting self-images you can jettison. Step two: Visualize a familiar burden you could live without. Step three: Drop an activity that bores you. Step four: Stop doing something that wastes your time.

Homework: What’s something you’d be wise to let go of? What’s something to hold on to tighter?

Happy March, my spring starved amigos!! Oberon comes out the 20th.(there’s nothing we can do to rush that) And remember, the true sons and daughters of the Emerald Isle, never need a ‘Practice Day’.

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