Metro Times 08/02/2023

NEWS & VIEWS

Last month’s news that this year’s Theatre Bizarre Halloween party was canceled due to a doublebooking at the Masonic Temple generated a lot of buzz.

So, I’ve never been, and while it looks crazy fun, probably never will.. Double booked? So they couldn’t have held that event on any of the other 364 days? What a bizarre explanation. —Bill Libbrecht, Facebook

Seriously, what could be bigger than Theater Bizarre? —Joe Minicilli, Facebook

Could they come hat in hand to the city council and maybe they would let them have it again in its original spot? —Bruce Channell, Facebook

Welp back to State Fair and Woodward it is. I’m sure the old house is still up and now with a wonderful view of the new Amazon fulfillment center. —John Channell, Facebook

All for two lame comedians lol —Michael Erin Stemmler, Facebook

Was so hoping their issues could be worked out �� —Pepper Benjamin, Facebook

Now where am I going to go to see the Fistotorium? �� —Pat Richard, Facebook

But you can see Hallowicked there instead Whoop Whoop ����—Kelly Miller, Facebook

Comments may be edited for length and clarity. Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com

Severe bus driver shortage plagues metro Detroit’s public transit, study finds

TENS OF THOUSANDS of metro Detroiters who rely on public buses are experiencing longer waiting times and canceled routes because of mismanagement and a crippling driver shortage, according to a new report.

Transportation Riders United found that SMART and DDOT buses are less frequent and more unpredictable and have fewer routes than before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving riders waiting for prolonged periods.

The employee shortage is so severe that bus routes are often canceled altogether when a driver calls in sick.

In the past three years, DDOT has reduced services by nearly a third, and SMART’s services have declined by almost 20%, the study found. Compared to regions of similar size, metro Detroit ranks second for the most significant reduction in services since the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, DDOT had six routes that ran at least every 15 minutes. Now, no buses run every 15 minutes, according to the report. In four of the city’s seven council districts, a majority of residents live more than a mile from routes that run at least every 20 minutes.

Commuters who rely on buses to

get to work, school, the doctor’s office, and the grocery store have been deeply impacted, sometimes losing their jobs or missing important appointments because of infrequent or canceled routes, the report found. School students, especially in Detroit, are increasingly arriving late to class.

“This crisis of essential transportation services has disrupted the lives of thousands of people and continues to act as a brake on the region’s economic recovery,” the study found. “Yet it has

drawn little attention from most elected officials and policymakers.”

On Thursday afternoon, dozens of bus riders and transit activists marched downtown to call on elected officials to address the issues with the bus system by providing more funding and better pay for drivers, who are quitting and not being replaced.

“Save our service,” they chanted.

Theresa Harris, who relies on DDOT to get to work every weekday, fears that the unreliable buses will cost her a job,

which she needs to provide for her two children.

“I started getting to the bus stop an hour early, and even then I’m sometimes late for work,” Jones says. “You never know when the bus is going to show up. It’s a shit show.”

In Detroit, 23% of households don’t have a car, forcing residents to rely on buses.

The most significant issue facing the bus systems is the “severe shortage” of bus drivers, according to the report.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, DDOT and SMART have struggled to hire and maintain bus drivers. In the first months of the pandemic, dozens of DDT bus drivers became infected with the coronavirus. One of them, 50-year-old Jason Hargrove, died from COVID-19 after he complained on social media that an older rider was coughing without covering her mouth.

His death made national news and “likely contributed to the decision of many operators to retire or seek work elsewhere,” the report states.

The local bus systems are struggling to hire an adequate number of drivers, largely because the pay is among the lowest in the country, according to the study. DDOT pay starts at $15 an hour, and SMART’s hourly rate is $19.11.

By comparison, the Ann Arbor region’s public transit system, TheRide, starts drivers at $28.65 an hour and has no employee shortage. The hourly starting rate is $28.99 in Chicago, $26.15 in Minneapolis, and $21.94 in Pittsburgh.

“It isn’t right that we have some city employees making over 200 grand, and our bus drivers who get thousands of people to where we need to go every day in this city make $15 an hour,” Joel Batterman, campaign manager for Transportation Riders United, said. “That’s not right, and that has to change. The drivers are worth more. The riders are worth more. We have to value our people in this city.”

—Steve Neavling

Old Chinatown building demolished

DESPITE A LAST-MINUTE effort to save a historically significant building in Detroit’s former Chinatown neighborhood, 3143 Cass Ave. was demolished over the weekend. In addition to serving as a hub for social, educational, recreational, and religious activities for Chinese Americans, the building was a community center for the American Citizens for Justice (ACJ), a group that formed in the wake of the death of Vincent Chin; Chin was a Chinese American who was killed in June 1982 by two autoworkers who allegedly blamed Asians for massive layoffs in the auto industry. At the demolition site, someone spray-painted the message “NEVER FORGET VINCENT CHIN.”

DeVito

Public transit activists march in downtown Detroit, calling on elected officials to improve the bus systems. STEVE NEAVLING

—Lee

STEVE NEAVLING

Michigan becomes 22nd state to ban LGBTQ+ conversion therapy

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR

GRETCHEN Whitmer has signed two bills that will protect LGBTQ+ youth by banning conversion therapy.

“Today, we are banning the horrific practice of conversion therapy in Michigan and ensuring this is a state where you can be who you are,” Whitmer said in a press release. “As a mom of a member of the community and a proud, lifelong ally, I am grateful that we are taking action to make Michigan a more welcoming, inclusive place. Let’s continue working together to ensure anyone can ‘make it’ in Michigan, expand fundamental freedoms, and fight back against any and all forms of discrimination.”

Conversion therapy attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression to align with cisgender norms. The practice often causes lifelong repercussions, such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Whitmer had previously blocked the use of federal and state funds for conversion therapy on minors in 2021 with an executive directive.

Michigan joins 21 other states in banning the practice, and three Michigan cities as well: Ferndale, Huntington Woods, and East Lansing.

Michigan Democrats celebrated the signing in a press release, saying, “Allowing the horrific practice of conversion therapy to remain legal in our state is simply unconscionable.”

“Today, Michigan Democrats have once again led the way, following through on yet another promise, Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said in the release. “This legislation takes necessary steps to protect vulnerable Michigan

Civil rights group opposes renaming Hart Plaza after MLK Jr.

A CIVIL RIGHTS group is urging Detroit City Council to vote against a bid to change the name of Hart Plaza along the waterfront in downtown.

The council plans to vote in September on a proposal to rename the waterfront park to “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza.”

The name change is a nod to the civil rights icon debuting a version of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at nearby Cobo Hall after his historic Walk to Freedom down Woodward Avenue on June 1963.

children from physical and psychological abuse by removing an archaic and outdated practice.”

In June, the state legislature largely voted along party lines to pass the bills — the Michigan Democrats’ press release names representatives Neil Friske, Steve Carra, Matt Maddock, Angela Rigas, Rachelle Smit, and Joseph Fox, all Freedom Caucus members, as opponents of the ban.

“I am proud that Democrats in the state legislature and Governor Whitmer continue to prove that bigotry has no place here,” Barnes concluded.

—Jenna Jones

Jack White auctions off Tesla after speaking out against Elon Musk

ONCE AN AVID Tesla fan, it seems that Jack White has changed his stripes.

The rock star’s label Third Man Records announced that White is auctioning off his green 2013 Tesla Model S, along with music memorabilia.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Clark Park Coalition in Southwest Detroit, where White grew up.

White has been a vocal supporter of Tesla’s electric vehicles over the years, saying he was one of the first Model S owners in Nashville, where he now lives, and calling it “the greatest automobile ever made,” according to Rolling Stone. He also called the company’s CEO Elon Musk “the Henry Ford of the 21st Century” and performed a free concert for workers at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. White even demonstrated a novel recording technique by using a radio transmitter to listen to tracks in his Model S and mix them in real time so they’re optimized for car stereos.

But Musk’s erratic behavior has alienated many of his supporters in recent months, including buying Twitter for $44 billion and using it to promote right-wing conspiracy theories and seemingly undercutting Tesla’s green goals by supporting climate change-denying Republicans like Ron DeSantis. White has criticized Musk several times recently, calling the self-described “free speech absolutist” hypocritical for his handling of controversial speech on Twitter and deactivating his account in protestwhen Musk said he would allow ex-President Donald Trump back on the social media platform after inciting the Jan. 6 riot.

“You did a lot of amazing things with Tesla, Elon, and you deserve a lot of compliments in that department (i personally supported the hell out of that venture), but you’ve gone too far and are now using your power to promote horrible, violence inducing liars, who are taking the country and the world backwards and endangering the democracy that made you rich

and successful in the first place,” White wrote on Instagram last year.

In another recent Instagram post, White called out people for even continuing to associate with Trump. “Anybody who ‘normalizes’ or treats this disgusting fascist, racist, con man, disgusting piece of shit Trump with any level of respect is ALSO disgusting in my book,” he wrote on Instagram. “That’s you Joe Rogan, you Mel Gibson, you Mark Wahlberg, you Guy Fieri.”

White has become a vocal supporter of liberal causes in recent years, endorsing Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign by performing a free concert at a rally at Detroit’s Cass Technical High School, his alma mater.

As far as cars, these days, it appears that White is more into the original Henry Ford. Earlier this year, he posted photos on Instagram of a custom redand-white 2023 Ford Bronco that he designed.

White’s publicists did not immediately

Since opening in 1975, the plaza has been named after the late U.S. Sen. Philip Hart, a white Democrat who was a leading advocate for the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and other anti-racism measures. Hart was once dubbed the “conscience of the Senate.”

The Detroit chapter of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization headed by Rev. Al Sharpton, is “diametrically opposed” to renaming the 14-acre plaza, said Sam Riddle, political director of the group.

“The very fact that there is even a proposal to remove Hart’s name from Hart Plaza is an indictment of the failure to teach history that is so vital to hold this nation together during times when even the ultimate American abomination — slavery — is minimized,” Riddle told the city council during a public comment period Tuesday. “There is no American city better than Detroit to have and maintain a Hart Plaza.”

Councilwoman Mary Waters introduced the resolution to rename the plaza.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of King’s speech, the city unveiled a statue of the civil right leader at a podium in June.

—Steve Neavling

respond to a request for comment. A message was also sent to White for comment on Instagram.

Additional memorabilia in Third Man’s “Garage Sale” auction includes some of White’s guitars and an iconic peppermint-striped drum set from his band the White Stripes, among other items.

The auction ended Sunday, with White’s Tesla fetching $34,000.

—Lee DeVito

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. PHOTO VIA EQUALITY MICHIGAN

This 16-year-old wins all cases as juvenile defense attorney

FOR 16-YEAR-OLD Detroiter Cayden Brown, social justice has always been at the forefront of his priorities. This is made apparent through the teenager’s work, which includes launching an online media platform to host open discussions on social issues, starting a nonprofit to serve underrepresented communities, and serving as a teen juvenile defense attorney.

Brown feels that law is the biggest way to create change, so when he heard about Oakland County Teen Court, he was eager to get involved. The program is aimed at keeping juveniles out of the court system, designed around the philosophy that a jury of one’s peers is more influential in dealing with behavioral problems than any other method. Teen Court uses teen attorneys and jurors who have learned about the court system to analyze cases.

“Adults don’t understand things the same way that we understand things, it’s a different time,” Brown says. “Being put in front of people who are a true jury of your peers is beneficial to make sure that you get the justice you deserve and are entitled.”

Teen Court defendants are firsttime offenders that have already been found guilty. Through the program, the juvenile’s record can be wiped clean.

“I actually analyze the cases, fight the cases, I do all of it by myself,” Brown says. “There are mentors there,

there’s a real judge, too. It’s just like a real court, but they allow the students to play all of those roles.”

Oakland County’s 52-1 District Court is one of the three participating courts piloting the program. Apart from granting young people like Brown a chance to get involved in their community, statistics have shown that places using Teen Court as a part of their youth crime prevention program consistently report that 90% or more of the defendants who

complete the sentence are never rearrested.

“All of the cases I was assigned, I was able to win each and every one, and that just shows how dedicated I am to the cause,” Brown says. “I’m inspiring kids who are my age to be able to do things that we’re often told we have to wait to do. I’m gonna make a change right now.”

Another way Brown has begun creating change is through The Trespass Project, an online hub designed to

Miss Gay Michigan America pageant returns after nearly 30 years

FOR THE FIRST time in nearly three decades, the Miss Gay Michigan America pageant is back.

Female impersonators from the Midwest and beyond will compete for more than $8,500 in prizes and a chance to proceed to the National Miss Gay America Pageant in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2024.

On Monday, organizers announced details of the Michigan chapter of the long-standing female-impersonation beauty competition, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12 at Saint Andrew’s Hall in Detroit.

“It was our desire to protect the art form, and hopefully mint a new leadership platform within the Michigan LGBTQ+ community,” new owners of Miss Gay Michigan America (and husbands) Robert and Scott Beaton said in a statement. “To mark the competition’s official return to a Michigan

stage, we’re literally rolling out the red carpet and have invited pageant royalty to make special appearances at the event, including the reigning Miss Gay America 2023 Tatiyanna Voche.” Contestants will compete in four categories, including interview, evening gown, on-stage questions, and talent. The competitors are Ana Crusis (Indianapolis, Indiana), Arione Decardeza (Dayton, Ohio), Gabriella Straton Galore (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Olympia La’Paige (Syracuse, New York), Indya Luv (Mount Clemens, Michigan), Betty J. Madison (Jackson, Michigan), Katrina Alexis Monae’ (Detroit, Michigan), Lavender LaRue (Grand Rapids, Michigan), and Sapphire Shade (Lansing, Michigan).

General admission tickets are $35 and VIP tickets are $100, which included a red carpet arrival starting at 5 p.m. Featured guests include Miss Gay

America 1982 Jennifer Foxx, the first and only Miss Gay America from Michigan.

“I am delighted that the Miss Gay America Pageantry System will continue its inclusion of all 50 states by once again re-introducing our fine state of Michigan to the fold,” Foxx said in a statement. “Logistically, it will provide yet another opportunity for fans of the art form and prospective participants to engage and pursue their own individual journey to capturing the crown of Miss Gay America in Little Rock, Arkansas.

I am honored to be included in this group of luminaries in our industry and look forward to its continuing growth.”

The Miss Gay America pageant was established in 1972, based on the Miss America contests. More information is available at missgaymichiganamerica. com.

—Lee DeVito

encourage open discussions on topics central to understanding diversity. The platform aims to serve as a safe space for dialogue, education, and awareness, fostering understanding and empathy among individuals from diverse backgrounds.

The name “Trespass” was chosen to underscore the significance of those of diverse backgrounds crossing into spaces where they may not initially be welcome, Brown says.

Through the project, Brown has recently established a registered nonprofit organization with the primary mission to ensure that all communities have equal opportunities to thrive in all areas of life including education, community involvement, economic empowerment, and access to essential resources.

After high school, Brown says he wants to continue his social justice strides and plans to go to law school to become a civil rights attorney.

Regardless of what he ends up doing, he says, “making change is the number one goal.”

—Layla McMurtrie

Beyoncé donates $100K to Detroit School for Digital Technology BEYONCÉ PERFORMED

IN Detroit for the first time since 2018 for a concert at Ford Field last Wednesday, and not only did she put on a good show, but she also donated $100,000 to the Detroit School for Digital Technology.

The superstar’s BeyGOOD program is a public charity foundation with a mission of economic equity, focusing on aiding underserved communities through scholarships, internship advocacy, and other resources.

On June 26, the movement took to Instagram to announce their visit to the Southwest Detroit school and the donation of RENAISSANCE Scholarship funds to support students with financial needs.

The Detroit School for Digital Technology, which first opened its doors in 2011 as Astute Artistry, offers programs including digital marketing, business information, and medical assistance. Their goal is to provide an affordable, handson learning experience that makes students feel more comfortable and less overwhelmed.

—Layla McMurtrie

Cayden Brown.

COURTESY PHOTO

NEWS & VIEWS

Lapointe

Returning to a theater vs. streaming entertainment at home

By Joe Lapointe

One of many hilarious moments in the new Barbie movie shows the iconic plastic doll and her doll boyfriend, Ken, turning into real humans as they cross over from “Barbie Land” and into the “Real World.”

There, they are confronted by male construction workers and their sexist taunts. But the confident doll-woman puts the hard hats in their place.

“I do not have a vagina,” Barbie announces. “And he does not have a penis.”

Inside the MJR digital theater at Partridge Creek in suburban Detroit last week, part of the audience behind me reacted with sudden cackles and extended giggles.

I had noticed them entering the afternoon matinee, a group of girls, ages probably from 8 through 14, many of them dressed at least in part in pink, as were some of their chaperones, who may have been their mothers, their grandmothers, or their aunts.

Perhaps some of the laughing kids weren’t even aware of all the functions of the genitalia mentioned by Barbie, played by Margo Robbie. That didn’t matter. Even at the potty-joke level, some humor crosses multiple demographics.

And the comedy in Barbie works on several levels for many audience subsets.

Because of that, viewing of this controversial PG-13 film should be limited only to people who are men, women, boys, girls, gay, straight, liberals, conservatives, white, Black, brown, red, and yellow, and also to those who really like the color pink.

Along with Oppenheimer — an overhyped film that is interesting but not as good — Barbie marks the Summer of 2023 as a “Barbenheimer” moment coinciding with a confluence of cultural undercurrents.

For one thing, these two movies arrived during the first summer since 2019 in which it feels reasonably safe from the COVID-19 pandemic for people of all ages to return to indoor movie theaters among unmasked strangers. This helps build buzz.

Secondly, these movies came dur-

ing a summer of show-business labor unrest, with two Hollywood unions (actors and writers) striking simultaneously for the first time in 60 years. At the London premier of Oppenheimer, its actors walked out in support of the strikers.

Third, both Barbie and Oppenheimer challenge their audiences to think seriously and critically about important issues like toxic masculinity and weapons that might destroy life on Earth. Barbie is a serious comedy, a satire. Oppenheimer is just deadly serious.

Hey, whatever happened to the traditional summer popcorn movies? Where is Batman when you need him?

The humor in Barbie is wry, sly, sometimes over-the-top, genderbending and hit-or-miss. If you don’t like one gag, stick around, another is on the way.

Bits of Barbie are animated like a kids’ cartoon. Some scenes suggest The Truman Show, The Wizard of Oz, and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. It opens with a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a Stanley Kubrick film from 1968.

Some of the in-jokes, double-entendres, and glib references fly by so fast it will take several viewings to comprehend them all. That alone could make Barbie a cult classic.

Furthermore, right-wing politicians and preachers are condemning Barbie for its ironic support of feminism and its LGBTQ+ attitude toward sexual stereotypes. In that these folks can’t take a joke, you know there is something good here.

While Barbie’s politics appear on its screen and soundtrack, the politics surrounding Oppenheimer surfaced in public at the premier when its actors walked out in support of the strikes. Christopher Nolan, director of Oppenheimer, said on NBC’s Today show, “It was a bittersweet moment.”

Like the United Auto Workers and other unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America hope to catch up to the economic disruptions from the pandemic, when people sat at home and paid for streaming entertainment on big, clear, screens.

Among the issues are higher pay,

better residual payments, and limits on the use of artificial intelligence to create films.

“The business models have been rewritten by the companies we work for,” Nolan said. “And it’s time to rewrite the deals.”

His Oppenheimer is an important historical biography with many memorable moments about J. Robert Oppenheimer, a physicist who helped create the atomic bomb in 1945 in World War II. He is portrayed, well, by Cillian Murphy.

However, at three hours, Oppenheimer as a whole falls short of the sum of its pleasing parts. Perhaps the best scene is of the first bomb test, “Trinity.”

There is a countdown. There is a big, red button. Gradually, sight and sound gimmicks build the tension and enhance the dramatic impact. From the theater chair next to me, I heard a woman stifle a sob.

But after this climax comes another hour of story about how poorly Oppenheimer was treated by politicians not convinced of his loyalty. After the pinnacle moment of the Big Bang, it’s an awfully long epilogue.

His demise is presented more effectively in the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, upon which this film is based. It fleshes out Oppenheimer’s youth and family background to try to explain his peculiar intelligence.

Some of Oppenheimer is filmed in black-and-white, adding another layer of gray to the picture’s mood. Among a stellar cast, Matt Damon steals a couple scenes as a gruff general ostensibly supervising Oppenheimer.

But their witty banter sometimes descends into snappy patter, as if Ben Hecht polished the script.

Other characters issue ominous

proclamations like, “Genius is no guarantee of wisdom”; and “A prophet can’t be wrong. Not once”; and “Nobody knows what you believe. Do you?”; and “Only history will judge us”; and “Is there a chance that when we push that button, we destroy the world?”

The screen frequently shows Oppenheimer smoking, his lit cigarette burning like a fuse on a bomb — or on his career. Or, perhaps, he’s just blowing smoke. In addition, we see a jumbled timeline of flashback sequences that worked much better long ago in Citizen Kane

There is also an IMAX version of Oppenheimer, which might further overdo the already overdone special effects. Unintentionally funny are three scenes in which the physicist Albert Einstein suddenly appears as if he is Shoeless Joe strolling out from the cornfields.

As for the Senior Citizen experience of returning to a crowded movie theater in the “Barbenheimer” summer of ’23, I saw both films on weekdays in a building with 14 screens. Large, leather reclining chairs offered lots of legroom.

At the theater bar (new to me) in the early afternoon, I could have purchased a “Long Island Ice Tea Premium” for $16.25 or a Bloody Mary for only $12.25. Instead, I paid just $6.25 for a large Diet Pepsi at the popcorn stand.

I put it in the generous cup holder on my comfy chair and elevated the electronic leg rest. (I’d used such things before the pandemic.) But I also accidentally touched the switch that turned on the three-level seat heater (who knew?) in the middle of summer.

It took a minute to turn it off. No jokes here, please, about a critic on the hot seat or any tasteless wisecracks about how one movie is “da bomb” while the other is “a bomb.” Or about how some Boomers just don’t know which button to push.

Barbie wins over Oppenheimer, but both are worth a look.

LEE DEVITO

Off to the New owners give old Milan Dragway

text By Lee DeVito, photos by Joe Maroon

Shouting over the

roar of engines, Harold Bullock is his element.

“I’ve been a racer at heart my whole life,” he says. “The only reason I get up in the morning is to burn fuel.”

Along with business partner Perry Merlo, Bullock is the co-owner of Milan Dragway, the only official drag strip in the greater Detroit area. It’s also the only National Hot Rod Associationsanctioned track in Michigan, follow-

ing the closure of the Detroit Dragway in Brownstown Township, which existed from 1959 to 1996. “If you’re my age, you remember Detroit Dragway at Sibley and Dix,” Merlo says. “‘Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!’” The former track is now an industrial site.

Up until recently, the fate of Milan Dragway was also uncertain. First opened in 1964, it changed hands in 1989 but had fallen on hard times in

recent years. In 2021, it closed after its owners missed a loan payment to Les Gold (of reality TV show Hardcore Pawn fame), and went into receivership and put up for sale.

That’s when Bullock, who had been visiting the track since he was a child and started racing there as a teen in the ’80s, had a wild idea. Bullock had a heavy equipment repair company and worked as a contractor for Perry’s

construction company, from which he had recently retired. He called up Perry under the guise of construction consultation.

“He says, ‘Come and look at this track,’” Merlo recalls. “At that point, I realized that he had more motive than that. He was looking for investors.”

The two teamed up and made an offer, and the deal closed in December 2021, reportedly close to $3 million.

races Dragway a boost

“You should never make business decisions out of passion,” Bullock admits. “Maybe we paid a little too much. But this place is priceless.”

Located at 10860 Plank Rd., Milan Twp., the sprawling 136-acre site reopened in 2022, drawing gearheads and spectators. Aside from repaving the track, Perry and Bullock have made other renovations, updating bathrooms and installing air conditioning and a

bar in an old lounge area. “The ladies can come in here now and have a White Claw and relax,” Bullock says. “If the girls are happy, you get to stay longer.”

Depending on the day, the facilities are open to anyone from the public to come and drive for an entrance fee, including “Test and Tune” Wednesdays. All vehicles are inspected for proper safety equipment, and an ambulance and fire truck are also on hand. Drivers

must sign a waiver.

Of course, there is a degree of danger. According to Merlo, there are typically a few accidents each month. On June 10, a 78-year-old man was killed when a Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Funny Car driven by his grandson suddenly accelerated in reverse, which the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said appeared to be the result of a vehicle malfunction. (The crash is being investigated by the

office as well as the National Hot Rod Association. When asked for comment, Milan Dragway ownership expressed condolences to the family.)

The hope is that a sanctioned facility will help keep drivers off the streets of Detroit, as police have cracked down on illegal racing in recent years. At Milan Dragway, there’s also a wide area where drivers come to show off and perform stunts. “Depends on what ethnic

Top (center): Business partners Perry Merlo and Harold Bullock acquired the old Milan Dragway in 2021. They say it's a labor of love. They're joined in the endeavor by their supportive wives, Pam and Liz.

background you are,” Merlo says. “Black people call it ‘sliding.’ White people call it ‘drifting.’ Mexicans call it ‘burnouts.’”

The Milan Dragway also draws street racers to its highly competitive “grudge races,” where tens of thousands of dollars in prize money is doled out each month. “These races are decided two or three places past the decimal,” Bullock says. “They’re separated by one hundredth of a second.”

Merlo and Bullock say they’re at Milan Dragway seven days a week, joined by their supportive wives Pam and Liz. They say they’re continuing to overhaul the old facilities, and plan to add more events and races, especially with the track’s 60th anniversary next year.

“We’ve had our share of roadblocks,” Merlo admits. “But it’s just the greatest place. I mean, I can’t even express to

you how much we absolutely love this place.”

Metro Times photographer Joe Maroon recently visited the dragway for the “Night of Fire,” where pyromaniac drivers of tricked-out vehicles make a show of blasting massive, crowd-pleasing fireballs. Here’s everything he saw.

More information is available at milandragway.com.

EMPLOYMENT

Senior Battery Execution Engineer, Lake Orion, MI, General Motors. Plan, execute, commission, debug, launch Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems (RESS) assembly areas for Orion Assembly Plant & other vehicle assembly plants to produce RESS for Battery Electric Vehicle & Battery Electric Truck. Plan, design, execute, debug, commission, & launch vehicle assembly plant battery assembly, Body in White (BIW), & General Assembly (GA) eqpt incl. assembly fixtures, cell processing units, Supertrak conveyor syss, stacking dials, 7-axis robots, compression presses, welding fixtures, laser welding & trimming eqpt, dispense syss, handoff, checking, & holding fixtures, end of line testers, FANUC robots, Automated Guided Vehicles, lift assists end effectors, internal dunnage, push carts, & point of use racks, from process definition, fixture design, eqpt installation through Start of Regular Production at Orion Assembly Plant in Lake Orion, MI. Follow Statement of Requirements, Bill of Material, Bill of Equipment, Bill of Process, & Bill of Operation, & ensure qlty, ergonomics, & safety reqmts are met. Bachelor, Mechanical, Automot Engrg, or related. 60 mos exp as Engineer, Project Manager, or related, project mgmt incl. delivery of designs; performing or managing team in BIW or GA process definition & fixture design, or related. Email resume to recruitingreply1@ gm.com (Ref#3106-92B).

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, Aug. 2

Giant Rooks 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $22.

The Young Dubliners with special guests 7 pm; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $25.

Rumprollers 7 p.m.; Cadieux Cafe, 4300 Cadieux Rd., Detroit; $5.

The Flaming Lips 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $35-$99.50.

Wednesday Night Jazz Series 7:30 pm; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $15-$65.

Thursday, Aug. 3

Blackberry Smoke 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $35-$47.

Queens of the Stone Age 7 p.m.; Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; $39.50-$79.50.

The Whitney Garden Party: Olivia Dear 5 p.m.; The Whitney, 4421 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $5 individual or $15 VIP reserved tables for parties of 2, 4, or 6.

Friday, Aug. 4

CRAZY BABIES - OZZY REBOURNE

wsg Motörbreath Metallica Tribute 8 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $18-$28.

Claude VonStroke 9 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $30-$40.

Hail the Sun - The Divine Inner Tension Tour 6 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.

John E. Lawrence Summer Jazz Concert Series: Gerald Albright 7-9 p.m.; Ford Lake Park, 7200 Huron River Dr., Ypsilanti; no cover.

Kickstand Productions Presents: The Crane Wives w/ Olivia Dear 7 pm; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $15.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats wsg Thee Sacred Souls 8 p.m.; Meadow Brook Amphitheatre, 3554 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills; $35-$75.

Patio Nights: Canja de Boa 6 pm; Flint Institute of Arts, 1120 E. Kearsley St.,

Flint; no cover.

Shop, Rock N’ Stroll Downtown Port Huron 6-10 p.m.; Downtown Port Huron, Huron Avenue, Port Huron; no cover.

Tiffadelic, The Velvet Snakes and Soot 9 pm-1 am; New Dodge Lounge, 8850 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck; $10 pre sale $15 door.

Saturday, Aug. 5

26th Annual Jazz on the River with Stanley Clarke, Alexander Zonjic, Lin Rountree, and Penny Wells 10 am; Elizabeth Park, 3873 W. Jefferson Ave., Trenton; no cover.

Autophysiopsychic Millennium

Performance 6:30-8 pm; Cranbrook Art Museum, 39221 N. Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills; RSVP encouraged. Curtis Taylor Quartet Ft. Marcus Elliot 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.; The Blue LLama Jazz Club, 314 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; $35–85.

D-Nice Club Quarantine Live with Deborah Cox, Donell Jones, Lloyd, Lil Mo, Kenny Burns, CL Smooth, K’Jon, Spice Adams and special guest KEM 8 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $44.50-$125.

DANCING QUEEN: AN ABBA SALUTE 8 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $18-$28.

Grateful Dead Super Band at Tangent Gallery 8 p.m.; Tangent Gallery & Hastings Street Ballroom, 715 E. Milwaukee Ave., Detroit; $10 at door.

Hollywood Casino Greektown

Present Keb’ Mo’ 8 p.m.; The Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave., Detroit; $30-$65. Incubus 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $49.50-$134.50.

LawLapalooza IV 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20. Mt. Joy 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $40-$85.

ReTOOLED (TOOL Tribute Band)

- LIVE w/ DJ Tony Drake, Open Bowling & Pinball 9 p.m.-midnight; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

See You Next Tuesday, Bandit, Chapeng, Decultivate 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.

Smokey Robinson 7 p.m.; Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $59.50-$150.

The Drums wsg Cold Hart 7 pm;

| metrotimes.com

Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.

Turnaround Bar BBQ & Music Festival 2-10 p.m.; Turnaround Bar, 14619 Kercheval Ave., Detroit; $30.

Walker Hayes: Duck Buck Tour 6:30 p.m.; Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; $35-$55.

Sunday, Aug. 6

26th Annual Jazz on the River with Peter White, Jeff Lorber and Everette Harp, Larry Lee and The Back in the Day Band, and Angela Davis 10 am; Elizabeth Park, 3873 W. Jefferson Ave., Trenton; no cover.

¡Gran Jaripeo en Pontiac! 3 p.m.; Downtown Pontiac, Woodward Ave., Pontiac; $60-$300.

Che Durena 7:30 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $30-$40.

I Want My 80’s Tour with Rick Springfield 7:30 p.m.; Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; $29.50-$99.50.

Sky Covington’s Sunday Night Jam Sessions every Sunday with band Club Crescendo 8 pm-midnight; Woodbridge Pub, 5169 Trumbull St., Detroit; donation.

The Whispers 7:30 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $49-$62.

Monday, Aug. 7

The National 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $50.50-$100.50.

Tuesday, Aug. 8

Danny Kroha 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Alpino, 1426 Bagley St., Detroit; $10.

Havok & Toxic Holocaust 6 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25. Scum, Lex The Hex Master 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.

DJ/Dance

B.Y.O.R Bring Your Own Records Night 9 p.m.-midnight; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; no cover.

THEATER

Performance

Andy Arts The Cowboy is a Tombstone

A new play by experimental performance duo Thank You So Much For Coming, and the culmination of a three year

iterative investigation of cowboys, the American frontier, and the history of life on Earth. $10-50. Thursday, Aug. 3, 8-9:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 4, 8-9:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5, 8-9:30 p.m., and Tuesday, Aug. 8, 8-9:30 p.m.

Musical

Warren Civic Theatre Children of Eden. Friday, Aug. 4, 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5, 2 & 7 p.m., and Sunday Aug. 6, 2 p.m.; Warren Community Center, 5460 Arden, Warren; $6-18; warrencivic.org/ tickets.

COMEDY

Improv

Go Comedy! Improv Theater AllStar Showdown The All-Star Showdown is a highly interactive improvised game show. With suggestions from the audience, our two teams will battle for your laughs. The Showdown is like “Whose Line is it Anyway,” featuring a series of short improv games, challenges, and more. $20. Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m.

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle

Dad Jokes Comedy Tour. This show will feature five male comics specializing in “Dad Humor.” Sure to be a hit with mainstream crowds,this show will have a predominantly PG-tone. Lineup to include: Andy Beningo, Josh Adams, Nick Leydorf, Mic Larry, and Andrew Yang. $20. Wednesday, Aug. 2, 7:30-9 p.m. Planet Ant Theatre Ants In The Hall present “Dungeons & Improvisations.”

Calling all D&D fans! Your Ants In The Hall are leveling up their game with a LIVE action improv comedy production! Join us for a wild campaign guided by our talented cast Dungeon Masters, and you get to be a part of it too! Partly scripted, mostly improvised, and totally different every week! Thursday Nights at 8 p.m. at Planet Ant Detroit.

Podcast: Live podcast

The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant Detroit Double Header - We Watch Wrestling & Monday Night Beers Podcasts! Ten years in the making. The We Watch Wrestling Podcast is finally coming to Detroit and they’re bringing back up! We Watch Wrestling featuring Michigan’s own Vince Averill and Matt McCarthy (Comedy Central, WWE, College Humor) are coming SummerSlam weekend. They will be joined by the Monday Night Beers podcast featuring two more Michigan boys Jesse Popp (Conan) and Mike Burns (Dad Boner) along with everybody’s favorite Gnarly Zack Maurin. $15 advance, $20 door. Friday, Aug. 4, 8-10 p.m.

Stand-up

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Dave Landau with Derek Richards and Al April. $25. Thursday, Aug. 3, 7:30-9 p.m., Friday Aug. 4, 7:15-8:45 p.m. & 9:45-11:15 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 5, 7-8:30 & 9:30-11 p.m.

FILM

Screening

Michigan Theater Grave of the Fireflies. Thursday, Aug. 3, 7:30 p.m..; Saturday Aug. 5, 3:30 p.m.

New Center Park National Lampoon’s Vacation. No cover. Friday ,Aug. 4, 8-11 p.m.

ARTS

Artist talk

Meredith Morrison on “Dreamwork” Solo Exhibition Learn about her inspiration, techniques and various processes she uses in her beadworking practice to slowly create what she refers to as “meditation cloths.“ Her latest series of work focuses on the meditation and process to slowly build her meditation cloths. The use of transparent beads references the loss of information within memory landscape, as they simultaneously crystallize the information reflected upon. Thursday, Aug. 3, 6-8 p.m.; Playground Detroit, 2845 Gratiot Ave., Detroit; no cover.

Performance art

25900 Greenfield Rd Life Skills Village Talent Show Prepare to share your exceptional performances that will captivate our senses and leave us in awe! Your passion and dedication will be on full display, captivating the audience and inspiring us all! So, come and share your incredible performers as you unleash your talents and make the stage come alive! Performances Takes Place From 12pm - 2pm at Life Skills Village in Oak Park Admission is free Grab your friends and family to come and cheer you on!

FREE Sunday Aug. 6, 12-2 pm.

Art exhibition opening

Color & Ink Studio Amanda Koss: “Conversations With Myself” A solo exhibition of abstract impressionist paintings by artist Amanda Koss. With a bold and innovative approach to art, Amanda captivates viewers through dynamic and emotionally charged creations. The show opens on August 4 and runs through September 22. The public is invited to attend a Reception and Artist Talk on Saturday, Aug. 12 from 2-4 p.m. It’s free, and guests will have the opportunity to meet the artist in person and listen to a talk about the artwork. Light refreshments will be offered.

Critics’ picks

Queens of the Stone Age

MUSIC: Rock titans Queens of the Stone Age will be joined by Detroit hardcore band the Armed for its upcoming North American tour, which kicks off at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre on Thursday. Formed in Detroit in 2009, the Armed has gained buzz in recent years for its heavy sound and penchant for mystery; it is cagey about who its members are, and has featured actors in promotional photos. Longtime QotSA guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen contributed guitar to the band’s critically acclaimed 2021 record Ultrapop, and California-based QotSA has another Detroit connection in Dean Fertita, who joined the band as a touring keyboardist and guitarist in 2007 and appeared on its last two albums. Fertita also played in Jack White’s bands the Dead Weather and the Raconteurs, and joined QotSA frontman Josh Homme on Iggy Pop’s 2016 album Post Pop Depression

Electronic rock duo Phantogram is also on the bill.

—Lee DeVito

Starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3 at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill; 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; 313presents. com. Tickets are $39.50-$79.50.

Royal Oak Pride

LGBTQ+: Following its 2022 comeback, Royal Oak Pride returns to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community with performances, vendors, food, and more downtown fun. RuPaul’s Drag Race stars will headline each night, with Brooke Lynn Hytes on Friday and Alyssa Edwards on Saturday,

bringing their unique personalities. Other talent performing will include national singer-songwriter VINCINT, 7-foot clown Puddles Pity Party, and Detroit’s Barbara Payton, longtime backing vocalist for Bob Seger. Additional live entertainment will include live DJ music and karaoke on two smaller stages. Royal Oak Pride is for all ages and will offer familyfriendly activities including a bounce house, face painting, and Drag Queen storytelling. Carnival-style and local international food trucks will also be present at the event, along with vendors from local artists to LGBTQ+-owned businesses and nonprofit organizations. Royal Oak Pride returned in 2022 after a 20-year absence, drawing a turnout of some 20,000. —Layla

McMurtrie

From from 5-11 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 4 and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug.5 in downtown Royal Oak. Advanced admission tickets can be purchased for $5 a day at royaloakpride.com; no cover for Royal Oak residents before 5 p.m.

Smokey Robinson

MUSIC: On Nov. 19, 1988, Smokey Robinson performed at the Fox Theatre’s grand reopening. It was familiar territory for the Motown legend, who played at the venerable downtown venue with his group the Miracles in the 1960s. Nearly 35 years after his performance at the grand reopening, Robinson will return to the Fox for his first hometown concert since he played the Detroit River Days festival in 2019. The tour comes in the wake of Gasms, the singer-songwriter’s first studio album of new material since Time Flies When You’re Having Fun was released in 2009. Born and raised in Detroit, Robinson is now 83 years old and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Singer

Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. Robinson is known for encouraging Berry Gordy to create Motown Records, which made both of them stars. The Miracles’ “Shop Around” became Motown’s first million-selling hit; Robinson also penned Miracles hits “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Ooo Baby Baby,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” “Going to a Go-Go,” “More Love,” “Tears of a Clown” (co-written with Stevie Wonder), and “I Second That Emotion.” —Steve

Neavling

Starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5 at the Fox Theatre; 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit; foxtheatredetroit.net. Tickets are $59+.

Hospitality Included Fest

FOOD: Detroit’s dining scene is off the chain, and Hospitality Included Fest brings some of the city’s best eats together. The food festival returns for its third annual installment on Sunday at Chroma with 32 metro Detroit restaurants, pop-ups, and bars, plus music and art. (It’s like a lowkey Arts, Beats & Eats minus Joan Jett, that’s actually in the city.) Some of the food vendors are Pakistani pop-up Khana (who are frontrunners on Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race), Petty Cash, Midnight Temple, Ladder 4 Wine Bar, Marrow, Basan, Shell Shock’d Tacos, Bunny Bunny, and a whole lot more. Featured artists include Tony Rave, Phil Simpson, India Solomon, Sheefy McFly, and Escada Gordon, plus music by Ro Spit, Courtt Denise, and Cris Keyz. See the full lineup on the festival’s Instagram page. —Randiah

Camille Green

From 2-9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6 at Chroma; 2937 E. Grand Blvd.; instagram. com/hosp.included.

Smokey Robinson returns to the Fox Theatre on Saturday. SHUTTERSTOCK

Wed 8/02 PATIO BAR OPEN @5pm Espolòn PROMO!

Thurs 8/03

Happy BIRTHDAY, RAY DELOOF!

Fri 8/04

FLOPHOUSE WRESTLING & GRINDER FEAT. DARREN MCCARTY (REDWINGS) NO F*CKS GIVENBIGGEST PARTY IN WRESTLING

TICKETS $25, 5-9P 18+ / 9-2A 21+

HEADLINER: GRINDER @ 11PM RED BULL, PBR, & LONG DRINK PROMOS!

Sat 8/05

PARKHOUSE NIGHT (MONTHLY/SOUL/FUNK/TECH)

Doors@9p/$5cover

Happy BIRTHDAY, JAY JURMA!

Mon 8/07 FREE POOL ALL DAY

Tues 8/08 B. Y. O. R. Bring Your Own Records (weekly)

Open Decks@9PM NO COVER IG: @byor_tuesdays_old_miami

Coming Up: 8/11 Hero Jr/Electric Huldra/ Angel Of Mars

8/12 Hag/Graboids

8/17 DUDE/Gleasons Drift/Boomcat

8/18 Pug Fest: 9+bands(indoor&patio)

8/19 BANGERZ & JAMZ (monthly)

8/26 PATRICK DEEGAN Record Release

8/27 Patio Tea Party -

DJ’s & Drink Promos!

8/31 WDET Comedy Series

(details atwdet.org/events)

WE ARE SEARCHING FOR A PERMANENT GENERAL MANAGER

Contact us: theoldmiamibarjobs@gmail.com

MUSIC

Got a Detroit music tip? Send it it music@metrotimes.com.

Get dark and dirty: One of the longest running goth nights in Detroit is getting an extra pump of juice this weekend. SKNDLSS will be playing at Blood Rave on Friday, Aug. 4 at Detroit’s Leland City Club, which will also include sets from Auntie Chanel, Cherriel, and Lo Dazz. Goth Night mainstays Jay Misanthropia and Parallax will be holding down the front room as well, so expect a great mix of vibes at a party that will fulfill all of your darkest earthly desires. The dress code is “VAMP CHIC / BLADE / MATRIX RELOADED / SCI FI CU*T,” so get your best black outfit ready and prepare for a night of sweaty, sexy dancing and euphoric release in a room that is best suited for exactly that type of party. Tickets are available on Resident Advisor, and as always, we recommend getting them in advance.

—Broccoli

ADULT. headlines stacked hometown show: Since they started 25 years ago, Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller — the duo better known as ADULT. — have become prolific for their blazing live shows and consistent output of records. I would hope they need no introduction, but if you’re unfamiliar, then I know where you should be this Saturday, Aug. 5. ADULT. is headlining a stacked lineup at Marble Bar for a night of dark industrial sonic

22 August 2-8, 2023 | metrotimes.com

Local Buzz

By Broccoli and Joe Zimmer

explorations. DJs Todd Osborn (aka Sound Murderer) and AK are sure to pull the dark techno out of their proverbial record bags for this one, with Charles Trees and Duck Trash providing support as well. The noise punks Decliner are also sharing the bill, who cite ADULT. as a major inspiration for their own music. This show is the latest installment in a new event series called Interference, organized by Nick Dagher and Young Muscle (who will round out the evening as resident DJs). You can hit up the event on Resident Advisor for advance tickets, and follow along with @interferencedetroit on Instagram for future events. —Joe

The City Lines release party: The idea of a metro Detroit music scene is an interesting concept; while Detroit proper remains the obvious bread and butter, many musical acts end up making their name in smaller suburban cities before dipping their toes in the ever-intimidating downtown market. The City Lines are no stranger to this phenomenon, having visited Detroit several times in the past while building a presence in their home base of Ann Arbor. The band recently did a video premiere with Jeff Milo via WDET, and they are playing a show to celebrate the release of their album Analog Memories this Saturday, Aug. 5 at Lager House with support from Twin Deer, Blind Liars, and Olivia Schotthoefer. For fans of Gin Blossoms,

Replacements, and the like, this show serves as a great opportunity to catch a few southeast Michigan bands that you might not have the chance to see otherwise. Tickets are available on the Lager House website —Broccoli

Two Canadian cult favorites: Freak Heat Waves have been steadily garnering a cult following over the last decade, and their latest album Mondo Tempo blends the duo’s post-punk, dub, ambient and techno influences into an immersive world of MIDI smoothness. The LP nestles in nicely amongst the other releases on Vancouver’s Mood Hut label — think coastal chill-out music, but from the slightly more overcast Pacific Northwest. The band will roll through UFO Factory next Friday, Aug. 11, with tourmate Cindy Lee, who is a singular performer in their own right. Finding initial success as the frontperson of art-rock band Women, Patrick Flegel began performing in drag as Cindy Lee over a decade ago and eventually began releasing solo music using the same persona. Self-described as “confrontation pop,” Cindy Lee went on to release some of the most heralded experimental lo-fi albums in recent years. You won’t find a more eclectic bill in the city, including support from local experimental soundmakers Dick Texas and DJ Lazercat. Tickets available at the door, or also via Eventbrite for a slightly cheaper price. —Joe

PATIO BAR OPEN FRI-SUN ALL SEASON! COME GET A SLUSHIE TO BEAT THE HEAT!

Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus, aka ADULT.

COURTESY PHOTO

FOOD

Sicily’s Pizzeria &

Pizza is just better on sourdough

Like me, you may have been skeptical of pizzaiolos who claim that pizza is all about the crust. But once you try sourdough pizza you will be convinced, and you may never want to go back.

Ali Beydoun has been slinging pizza at Sicily’s since 1999 but only began making sourdough crust, and now calzones and subs and breadsticks, six years ago. It is the lightest, airiest, holey-est, best-tasting pizza crust you’ll find, nothing in common with the thin slabs of cardboard we mostly put up with. Earlier this year, readers voted Sicily’s “best pizzeria” in an Hour Detroit brackets competition.

After tasting sourdough crust at a pizza show, Beydoun never looked back. He estimates that this style of pizza is no more than 1% of the market. I predict it will grow, once eaters catch on.

The pizzaiolos at Sicily’s begin each morning with starter made from an unbleached, low-protein flour, King Arthur. It’s mixed, proofed for a bit, and shaped into flat mounds, a process that takes about six hours. Those datelabeled mounds, one per pie, then sit in the cooler for three days, fermenting.

Subs

3554 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit 313-554-0755

sicilysdetroit.com

Pizza $8-$15, calzones $10-$11, salads $10-$19, bread $8-$13

nine ingredients, while still managing to come across pretty simply, as just garlicky. Likewise the tangy East Coast White Pie, on a base of olive oil and garlic with more fresh garlic, ricotta, Parmesan, and both mozzarellas.

By Jane Slaughter

It’s “the time and the temperature,” Beydoun says, the fermentation, that produces the very slightly sour flavor we love, but also the lightness and crunch.

“People are used to a strong, heavy pizza dough, to support the heavy toppings,” Beydoun said, “especially in the Midwest. We’re the home state of Domino’s.” In contrast, he goes for unfussiness on top: “Our motto is simplicity brings out the flavor.”

That’s what produced the Tomato Pie, minimalism itself, with no cheese: a Detroit-style square pan pizza with plenty of bread on the bottom, that basically tastes of the sourdough and crushed tomatoes, freshness itself. It adds olive oil, oregano, Parmesan, and chiles for some bite, but it’s basically those two great flavors, light as a spring evening. As in the best Detroit-style pizzas, the crisp edges that rise above the topping are exquisitely wispy.

Likewise, the Benchmark Margherita feels simple, though it incorporates both fresh and aged mozzarella plus olive oil, Parmesan, and basil leaves. Sicily’s uses a whole lot of fresh mozzarella, expensive as that ingredient is.

And the breadsticks! They’re hardly sticks. “This bread could be the star

of the table,” Beydoun believes. The traditional Sicily Bread, tender and chewy — this is not a cracker — which comes with the salads, is dressed with just butter, garlic, and Parmesan. You can get it with mozzarella, too, or pepperoni and mozzarella, or even three cheeses. I’m sure they’re all good if you don’t mind violating your host’s sensibilities.

Make no mistake: Beydoun will pile on the ingredients for those who want a loaded pizza, and some sound as if doomed to weigh down the fragile crusts: 5 Cheese Wisconsin Delight, BBQ Chicken with cheddar, the Meatball Special with house-ground veal meatballs and beef pepperoni. (The whole restaurant is halal, and you can ask for gluten-free.)

I particularly liked the Bad Hunter, which contains no meat (turns out this hunter is a better gatherer) and is a little sweet: a garlic white sauce is topped with mozzarella, marinated artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, red onions, and sun-dried tomatoes. The Angry Bird has lots of chicken along with jalapeños — “sort of a sandwich on a pizza,” Beydoun says. The Garlic Lover has an ultra-thin crust and no fewer than

Hour voters were assessing pizza, but Sicily’s also shines on calzones. The traditional calzone includes both aged and fresh mozzarella, ricotta and pecorino, creating friendly strings of gooeyness, cut with the astringency of basil leaves. I loved it, and perhaps the steak calzone even more, dolled up with mushrooms, red onion, jalapeños, and plenty of mozzarella, then sprinkled with Parmesan. Simplicity this is not. You get a dipping sauce with each calzone, which may seem like too much, and I can’t recommend the “Italian,” which is like bottled Italian salad dressing. But say an enthusiastic yes to the marinara, which is simple, bright, fresh. The Greek calzone includes lots of olives. The pepperoni calzone is more ordinary but the marinara perks it up.

Sicily’s transformed a year ago when Beydoun made the move from just delivery and carry-out to a dine-in restaurant. He added a large room decorated with a brick wall of old-fashioned framed mirrors, eight stained glass panels, and a massive chandelier; long tables accommodate families, especially on Sunday nights. Take-out is still huge but he’d like you to sit and enjoy. “Once a pizza goes into the box it starts dying,” he says. “In the pizza business we call it ‘the coffin.’”

I didn’t try Sicily’s pasta or wings because what are the odds that they would be good too? I did order against type one night and try a Southern Chicken Sub combo with, yes, barbecued chicken and ranch. The sesame seed bun was crusty and the fries were exquisitely tender, but I still do not understand or agree with America’s favorite flavor.

Beverages are from the fridge, including San Pellegrino and a mild Bundaberg ginger beer.

Beydoun, who says he first got into pizza 24 years ago as a business opportunity, not a passion, has discovered his métier later in life. He and we are luckier for it.

After tasting sourdough crust, Sicily’s owner Ali Beydoun never looked back.

VIOLA KLOCKO

Chowhound

Why everyone should wait tables and tend bars

By Robert Stempkowski

Chowhound is a weekly column about what’s trending in Detroit food culture. Tips: eat@metrotimes.com.

EARN WHILE YOU learn: Last week’s reader contributor, Laura Buus of Berkley, was a little late in forwarding me some bio info I’d intended to attach to her questions on what’s up with service charges, tip pools, and such. Once she did share a little of her backstory, post-deadline, it reminded that there’s something more to be said for time served in the hospitality trades; and, perhaps, food and beverage specifically.

In the late ’70s, as a 19-year-old server at the former Royal Touch on 15 Mile and Groesbeck (thanks for forwarding the Polaroid, Laura), Buus pocketed some priceless pearls of wisdom while waiting tables for tips. Recalling two regulars, she reflected:

“One was a good-looking non-tipper and the other was not so good-looking but a great tipper.” Buus admittedly wasted too much time trying to make an impression at the former’s table before realizing her bread was only getting buttered at the latter’s. Laura also learned the lesson of walking a few

miles in someone else’s work shoes. “… When I complained to the cooks [over waits for orders, food quality, appearance, etc.], they told me to learn to cook so I did. That didn’t last long because the work was harder and paid less. It changed my tune.”

After doing the math on what kind of a living waitressing would likely afford her long-term, Buss decided to work her way through college instead. She’s become an international tax specialist, a career she says she’s loved. Still, she credits her days of dining room duty with skill sets she continues to employ both professionally and personally, citing organizational, multitasking, and a focused, personable approach to people that she offers everyone from clients and prospective clients to friends and family alike. And recalling one customer from her past in particular, Buus, apparently makes it a point to never forget a face.

“One customer at Denny’s [another Buus stop along the way] looked familiar. It took a while but I recognized him as a guy who used to go through the drive-thru at Jack In The Box where I had worked before and masturbate when he pulled up to the window.”

Chowhound readers may recall another recent contributor, Erica Pietrzyk, who had her own jerk-off to deal with. I don’t know what surprises me more; reports that guys with way too much time on their hands are out there bopping their bolognas, or that masturbation’s been a thing as far back as the 1970s. Who knew?

As someone with some history in the business, Buus, purely a restaurant-goer 40-plus years later, sees how times have changed in the industry as a workplace.

“We had to pass a written test before we could work the floor, we knew the menu inside and out,” she says. “What frustrates me now is when I ask a question and they don’t know the answer and I have to actually ask them to find out.” I would agree, Laura. Generally speaking, the premium placed on preparing hospitality employees for success doesn’t appear to be what it once was. And this increasing lack of service-focused, instructional and informational support from employers, combined with the youthful, nominally experienced and socially insecure/awkward workforce customer service trades traditionally attracts, tends to render predictably lackluster results. More and more, it

amazes me how restaurants are content to deliver sub-perfunctory service in their dining rooms. Fine dining is still a notable exception, where proprietors know they need to deliver high-priced value perceptions. Yet I digress. Let’s accentuate the positive here.

I’ll second what Laura Buus has to say about the real value of time spent working in the restaurant business. It can teach things about human nature and how to get along with people outside the cozy confines of our own social circles. Anyone who plans to make their way in the real world might do well to serve a stint in food & beverage. You’ll practice the social graces and get ahead of the game making great impressions through simple manners. You’ll gain confidence in your conversational skills; learning how and how not to establish trust and rapport with strangers, while honing powers of persuasion and strengths of personality. You’ll find you’ve more of an ability to think on your feet, budget your time, and juggle demands on your time and attention by getting stretched in all those areas. And you’ll start to see a social animal in you that’s a bigger dog or more clever kitty than you’d ever previously unleashed to the world. And you’ll be proud of those accomplishments, for what they’ll prove worth to your self-esteem and future efforts at whatever you choose to do or become.

Let me be clear: I’m not advocating careers in waiting tables and bartending. But I do believe good, honest restaurant work builds character traits that can serve a person well past their days of taking care of people looking to be well-fed and watered. Whenever I try to sum up what it takes to do that while reaping the truest rewards, I’m reminded of what one of my mentors Rich Huie (longtime owner of Scottsdale’s Salt Cellar lobster house) taught me about what’s true of making a living in the restaurant business:

“Not everybody’s just happy to eat out. Once they hit the door, the expectation meter’s running. They’re hungry for sure, and maybe had a hard day to boot,” Huie explained, defining “hangry” for me two decades before anyone coined the term. “The game is to feed that bear before the bear eats you. Get ‘em that first drink right away. Don’t be slow on the second. The first goes fast. That’s what this business is about: getting bears to eat from your hand.”

I’ll close with this, from another foodie philosopher whose reputation and perspectives I also subscribe to:

“The things taught in colleges and universities are not an education but the means to an education.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson (who worked his way through Harvard by waiting tables).

Reader Laura Buus circa 1977, age 19, when she worked at the Royal Touch at 15 and Groesbeck.

SHUTTERSTOCK

FOOD Mondays are for brunching

ONE OF THE Avenue of Fashion’s newest restaurants is serving brunch — on Mondays.

That’s thanks to Detroit food popup Fried Chicken and Caviar, which is doing a brunch residency at the Petty Cash restaurant on Mondays.

Yes, we know, Sundays are for brunching, but the pop-up wants to fill a void on a day many restaurants are closed and who are we to say no to brunch?

Fried Chicken and Caviar always keeps it “a little weird, a little hood, and a little bougie.” Their brunch menu features collard green fried rice, brunch tacos, ribeye hash, and, of course, fried chicken and caviar. Vegetarian and vegan options are also available and the brunch is available for both carryout and dine-in.

Petty Cash, located at 20050 Livernois Ave., already has its own brunch on Saturdays and Sundays — but it’s not as fun as the Fried Chicken and Caviar menu.

Grosse Pointe’s Brine Oyster House opens its doors

BRINE OYSTER HOUSE will open the doors to its new “tide to table” restaurant in Grosse Pointe Park on Saturday, Aug. 5 — which also just so happens to be one of those fake holidays that you’ve never heard of, National Oyster Day.

The nearly 4,000-square-foot twostory restaurant is located at 15033 Kercheval Ave., the site of the former Janet’s Lunch diner.

It’s part of Grosse Pointe Park’s Chamberlain Hospitality group, which also manages Red Crown, LeRouge Boulangerie, and Brick’s Pizzeria.

“We knew we had big shoes to fill when taking over the iconic Janet Lunch space on Kercheval,” chefowner Trenton Chamberlain said in a statement. “Brine is truly a labor of love and we see it being a place for guests to celebrate life’s best moments or just enjoy a cocktail and dinner with friends and family. We’re so proud to bring sustainably sourced seafood to our little pocket of Grosse Pointe Park.”

Chamberlain is joined by executive chef Gavin Russell, who developed a seafood menu that includes

“sea-cuterie” boards, oyster shooters, entrees, sandwiches, and desserts. A raw bar located on the first floor will showcase a rotating selection of oysters served alongside shrimp, crab, crudo, and seasonal features.

The restaurant’s beverage program is led by Hank McHenry and features cocktails, beer, champagne, and wine, including a signature “Show Stopper Brut” made in partnership with AHD Vintners with artwork by Detroit artist Tony Roko.

The restaurant can seat up to 100 guests.

Grand opening festivities start at 5 p.m. on Aug. 5 and include live entertainment by Mr. Bill and His ZCats Zydeco Tour Les Jours. The restaurant says it plans to host live jazz music on the weekends.

Guests are encouraged to make reservations using the platform Resy starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 28.

The restaurant will re-open for regular service starting on Wednesday, Aug. 9, with dinner service available from 5-10 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and brunch served from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday-Sunday.

—Lee DeVito

“Monday brunch fills a need because food options are few and far between right after the weekend. People, including weekend workers, have that day free and are looking for good food and a luxury dining experience,” said Nik Cole, chef and cofounder of Fried Chicken and Caviar, in a statement. “So many people just can’t make it to a popular Sunday brunch, so brunch on a Monday is the perfect fix!”

Fried Chicken and Caviar has something like a cult following in Detroit. Cole and fellow chef and founder Chi Walker have curated eclectic menu items like duck nuggets for TwoBirds, loaded lamb fries at Batch Brewing Company, and lemon-roasted fennel risotto for East Eats.

The Petty Cash brunch pop-up goes from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Monday until Aug. 21. For more info, see pettycashdetroit.com.

—Randiah Camille Green

Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles is back

COMMENTS ON THE Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles social media pages have been asking “When are you reopening???” for the past few months, and we can finally answer that question.

The popular brunch spot on the Avenue of Fashion reopened on Friday following a complete makeover.

Kuzzo’s first closed in July of 2019 for renovations, then reopened in March 2020 — just when restaurants were forced to pivot to carry-out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The restaurant closed again in January of this year to re-brand completely, according to the owners.

Now they say Kuzzo’s has a refined menu that still focuses on chicken and waffles alongside other southern-style dishes.

Highlights include a 10-ounce T-Bone steak with cheesy eggs called “The Biggie,” “Kuzzo’s Cheddar Waffle with Lobster,” “Grits and Gumbo,” and the “Original Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffle.”

Specialty drinks have cheeky AAVE names that nod at Black Detroit culture. There’s the “I’m out Here (fleez baby)” with Remy Martin VSOP, Cointreau, citrus, mango, and peach; the “Sick We Gettin Off Like This,” a frozen Patron kool-aid tower with Patron Silver, Reposado, and Anejo; a Düsse lavender lemonade called “I’f I Düsse so myself”; and of course a variety of Kool-Aid

flavors.

Chefs Chris McClendon and JaQuan Jackson are behind the new menu which is supposed to offer health-conscious options, though it isn’t clear exactly what those are yet.

Owner and former Detroit Lions cornerback Ron Bartell said in a statement that the restaurant has evolved to match customers’ palates and dining expectations.

“The closure allowed us to take a step back, listen, and act on our customers’ needs,” he said. “We are committed to not only offering satisfying food but also creating a great dining experience.”

The restaurant also plans to host a weekly brunch series with live DJs and curated pop-ups. Kuzzo’s reopening marks the launch of a series of culinary ventures under Bartell’s hospitality management collective that aims to create dining spaces that foster “a sense of community for Black professionals in the dining industry.”

Kuzzo’s first opened in 2015 and quickly gained popularity, although it seems they later struggled with the sheer amount of customers, leading to long wait times.

—Randiah Camille Green

Hours for Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. TuesdayThursday, and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. FridaySunday.

Brine Oyster House opens at the site of the former Janet’s Lunch. NICOLE ST. JOHN

WEED

Dispensary owner Rudi Gammo freed

A MAN WHO served years in prison for his operation of a citysanctioned cannabis dispensary in Detroit has now been released on parole, according to activists who fought for his release.

The Last Prisoner Project, a group dedicated to freeing people incarcerated for cannabis offenses, had fought for Rudi Gammo and lent financial support to his family.

They say that, in 2018, Gammo was arrested and sentenced to five and a half years in prison for helping Detroit patients access medical cannabis.

Vape cartridges recalled

THE MICHIGAN CANNABIS Regulatory Agency has issued a voluntary recall bulletin for a line of vape cartridges that have been sold around metro Detroit.

The cartridges — branded as Flight Live Resin Disposable Grease Monkey, Space Ether, and Bubblegum — were recalled due to the “possible presence of banned chemical residue exceeding the established action

limits,” according to the CRA.

The products were manufactured by Sky Labs and sold at several adultuse dispensaries including Detroit’s Da Cut, and House of Dank locations in Detroit, Centerline, Grand Rapids, and Ypsilanti, among a host of others.

The CRA advises people who have purchased the vape cartridges to return them to the dispensary where

they were purchased. They also ask that consumers report any adverse reactions to their healthcare providers and the CRA via email at CRAEnforcement@michigan.gov or by phone at 517-284-8599.

A full list of the locations where the Flight Live Resin Disposable vape cartridges were sold can be found in the online bulletin.

—Randiah Camille Green

Detroit City Council eases space requirements for cannabis businesses

CANNABIS BUSINESSES WILL have an easier time finding a location to open in Detroit after the city council narrowly approved an amendment to its recreational marijuana ordinance that reduces the space needed between weed establishments and certain other businesses.

The council voted 6 to 3 last week to reduce the distance requirement between cannabis businesses and “controlled uses,” such as liquor stores, from 1,000 feet to 750 feet. The amendment also allows cannabis businesses to operate within 500 feet of each other, down from 1,000 feet.

Since the changes required amendments to the ordinance, the council needed six votes to pass it.

Council President Mary Sheffield, President Pro Tem James Tate, and members Fred Durhal III, Gabriela Santiago-Romero, Mary Waters, and Coleman Young II voted in favor of the amendments. Council members Scott Benson, Angela Whitfield Calloway, Latisha Johnson, and Scott Benson voted against them.

Tate, who proposed the amendments,

and other city officials said the previous space requirements made it difficult for Detroit entrepreneurs to open a marijuana business because of the city’s abundance of liquor stores. By reducing the space requirements, Tate said residents can “take advantage of the stores and businesses within Detroit as opposed to going across the border and providing funds to another municipality.”

The amendments don’t impact the space requirements for cannabis businesses’ proximity to drug-free zones like schools, churches, child care centers, libraries, and recreation centers, which remain at 1,000 feet.

The three council members who voted against the amendments said they didn’t want to make it easier for cannabis businesses to open because many residents don’t want them near their neighborhoods.

“I think the conversation is premature,” Johnson said. “I would like to see things fleshed out a little more to see where we are in the current ordinance.”

The city’s ordinance allows for up to 160 recreational cannabis licenses in

the city, which will be approved in three stages. Detroit issued 36 licenses in the first phase and recently began accepting applications for the second phase.

Because of the space requirements, cannabis businesses are prohibited from opening in the vast majority of downtown. Young said he wants to explore ways to enable the businesses to open downtown so fewer open near neighborhoods.

“We have to show the residents that we are serious about making sure we are not having these in the neighborhoods, where they shouldn’t be, and start having marijuana businesses in places where businesses are, which is downtown and commercial districts,” Young said.

Detroit was late to open its borders to the recreational marijuana industry. City council members wanted to ensure that Detroiters, especially Black residents, could participate in the industry, which has become dominated by white entrepreneurs.

While the sale of recreational marijuana in Michigan began in December 2019, the first businesses didn’t open in Detroit

At the time, recreational cannabis had not yet been approved, and Gammo was charged with running a criminal enterprise for how he operated his city-sanctioned medical dispensary. The Last Prisoner Project says Gammo’s “crime” was simply permitting caregivers to grow medical marijuana on property he owned, which they say was allowed under state law. Oakland County, however, saw things differently.

Gammo’s imprisonment led to an immense amount of struggle for himself and his family, as he suffered stomach ulcers and contracted COVID-19 while serving time. In October 2020, Gammo learned that one of his three children, his six-year-old son Santino, had been diagnosed with leukemia during his time in prison.

Despite the hardships, Gammo kept a clean record and developed a post-release plan for his transition back into society.

The project says Gammo now plans to fight for other people in similar situations. “What I hope to see one day is that every governor in legal recreational states sign executive orders releasing people in prison for nonviolent cannabis offenses,” he says.

—Layla McMurtrie

until earlier this year.

The city’s initial attempts to craft an ordinance that made it easier for Detroiters to join the industry were met with lawsuits, which claimed that the city could not give licensing preference to Detroiters.

The city’s current ordinance offers two tracks for licenses so that “equity” and “non-equity” applicants aren’t competing with each other.

In August 2022, a judge dismissed the final two lawsuits filed against the city.

—Steve Neavling

COURTESY OF THE CRA

CULTURE

Artist of the week

Meredith Morrison weaves memories into beads

By Randiah Camille Green

Meredith Morrison’s “meditation cloths” aren’t made of fabric. They’re a mass of tiny beads strung together in a pattern resembling a mycelium network. They certainly look like some type of futuristic cloth, however, as they hang on the walls of Playground Detroit.

“They’re something that’s in between that you can’t quite place your finger on,” Morrison tells Metro Times “Maybe you can’t say that’s a cloth, or a sculpture, or something of a craft origin, but these really liminal spaces and things without firm delineations are exciting to embrace.”

The small-scale seed beads hold Morrison’s memories as they’re adorned with iridescent cutouts of things that give her nostalgia. The blueprints of her childhood home are scattered about a piece in her “Nostalgia” series along with monarch butterflies and other things that remind her of summer. Those little stick-on earrings most women who grew up in the 1990s remember wearing as girls shimmer on another piece, “Missing

Earring.” Her “Obsession” pieces are embedded with images of her cats and other hyper-fixations. Another cloth represents anxieties that have crept into her dreams, like getting tested for COVID-19.

And yet, the transparent beads also reflect how our memories fade as images appear fleeting in the mind.

“As you get closer to the cloths you see more of the detail, but they do appear as sort of ghostly figures,” Morrison says. “And sometimes it’s hard to tell where they start and where they end. So it feels very akin to the way memory works sometimes where you might not be able to fully remember where something came from, where the genesis point of it was, or where it ended.”

Making the beaded webs is a meditative process for Morrison, as she sits with a needle, thread, and seed beads musing over specific memories or dreams. It can take up to a month to complete each one, depending on its size.

The experimental fiber artist says

she often finds herself stopping midbead to journal her thoughts and memories that come to her during the process.

“It’s a way for me to process the world around me and to recenter, so I build these cloths with this ongoing intentional revisiting of a memory landscape,” she says.

Morrison is one of Playground Detroit’s 2022 Emerging Artist Fellows. She is originally from North Carolina and moved to metro Detroit for her Masters of Fine Art in Fiber at Cranbrook Academy of Art, which she obtained in 2021. She previously worked doing commercial design and manufacturing for home furnishings but decided to focus on handcrafts like beading at Cranbrook.

“I use hand processes, specifically beadwork, as a way to slow down,” she says. “There’s something about the rhythmic quality and intentionality of performing an action over and over again, that provides a generous space for me to be proactively engaging with my memory network… but also be

reflecting and be grateful or be processing events of the past and thinking about how to utilize them.”

Inspecting the meditation cloths and finding all the embedded objects will take gallery-goers some time, which is intentional on Morrison’s part.

“I really want people to think about these meditation cloths as being active investments, and hopefully, think about their own memory landscapes and ways of slowing down in order to look towards the future,” she says. “It’s important to not just be so demanding of what’s next, but to be really cognizant and give care to how things become.”

Where to see her work: Dreamwork is on display until Saturday, Aug. 12 at Playground Detroit; 2845 Gratiot Ave., Detroit. Viewing hours are by appointment only. An artist talk is slated for Thursday, Aug. 3 from 6-8 p.m. and there is a yoga class at the gallery to coincide with the exhibit on Sunday, Aug. 13.

Meredith Morrison and one of her meditation cloths. COURTESY PHOTO Ghosts or cloths? Or something else?

MICHAEL CHRISTIE PHOTOGRAPHY

CULTURE

Under the pink

By Eileen G’Sell

Barbie

Rated: PG-13

Run-time: 114 minutes

We are living in difficult times. Girls’ self-harm and suicide rates are spiraling; women are more burned out than ever taking the second shift. Boys are slipping behind in school and struggling to graduate; men are more and more often the victims of deaths of despair.

Could Barbie be to blame?

It’s tempting to trace the troubles of both genders to the iconic blonde doll. After all, from the beginning, she has perpetuated impossible beauty standards, relentless consumption, and the unrealistic expectation that femaleidentifying people never stop teethsmiling. With her impressive résumé (astronaut, doctor, teacher, president), she’s also encouraged the “girls can be everything” mindset that backfires when girls and women realize, “Oh, we actually can’t. Or, at least most of us can’t.” Whether regressive pin-up or a blown-out girl boss, Barbie can’t be the perfect role model. Gender ideals, past and present, have always been too fraught.

The excessively hyped Barbie movie knows all this, but also knows how much fun it is to both embrace these roles and mock them. Directed by Greta Gerwig and co-written with Noah Baumbach — best known for directing off-beat indie hits like Lady Bird and The Squid and the Whale — Barbie is not a movie for people who seek an evening of simple fuchsia escapism. Nor is it a movie for kids (though, at the matinee I attended, little girls in sparkling crowns howled with laughter from the front row). It is a movie for those who can earnestly revel in the unabashedly femme — pastels, lipstick, sparkles! — but are also open to a startlingly sober exploration of gender inequality and late-capitalist dread.

“Thanks to Barbie, all problems of feminism have been solved,” says the voice-of-god narrator (Helen Mirren) during an intro aerial shot of “Barbieland,” a relentlessly peppy matriarchy of plastic houses near a sun-lit beach. From here, our heroine —

dubbed “Stereotypical Barbie” (Margot Robbie), as she resembles the model invented by Mattel CEO Ruth Handler in 1959 — sets off on yet another perfect day in her perfect world.

All the women around her are also “Barbie,” and represent actual dolls sold in real life (with certain welcome exceptions; one Barbie is plus-size and another is played by trans actress Hari Nef). The Kens in Barbieland — also a range of races, though less so body type — are mostly a diversion. They hold no positions of power, and are mostly around to lift Stereotypical Barbie (henceforward called just Barbie) in the air at one of her nightly dance parties.

“Stereotypical Ken” (Ryan Gosling) courts Barbie’s attention to his constant disappointment; Barbie doesn’t want to kiss him and prefers a “girl’s night” to a roll in the (plastic) hay.

Things go awry when Barbie suddenly has “thoughts of death” and her upper thighs display a faint ripple of cellulite. Something is wrong — very wrong! Consulting “Weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon), Barbie is advised to take a portal to the real world and confront the girl who’s playing with her — the girl whose malaise and indignation are responsible for the doll’s dysfunc-

tion. Much of the humor in the “real world” comes from Barbie’s befuddlement that women don’t run it and Ken’s wild glee that, in fact, they do.

Crucially, Barbie is not a film that tries to convince its audience that the patriarchy is real and should be upended. It is a film that assumes we already know it’s real and can laugh (and cry) at all the ways it is absurd and hurts people of all gender identities. In the film’s second half, a mother and daughter from the real world (America Ferrera and Ariana Greenblatt) help Barbie in her dual mission to 1) restore order in Barbieland, which has fallen apart in her absence, and 2) figure out her individual purpose once she realizes her blonde, perky cluelessness is terribly retrograde.

Robbie’s knack for physical comedy (and grace; see her lead turn in I, Tonya) is on full display, as is her impressive range of emotional expression. I can’t think of any other actor today who could both make you believe she is a plastic doll and gradually become so real and vulnerable that her former lack of substance becomes all the more unsettling. Robbie’s not going to get an Oscar nomination for this film, but she should. Gerwig

and Baumbach might very well get a nom for Best Screenplay, and they will deserve it. This is a film when, just as you ask, “What in the name of plastic stilettos is going on here?” a squad of suited Mattel execs (led by Will Ferrell) storm Venice Beach in neon rollerblades or a West Side Story-inspired dance battle erupts between dueling Kens. This is a film that delights in the absurdity of Barbie to expose the absurdity of gender in the world we live in.

“How did this movie get made?” my partner asked me around two-thirds through. Good question. Gerwig and Baumbach fought to keep artistic freedom with the script, even when Mattel and Warner Bros. initially insisted on approval, and so what could come across as yet another nostalgic Hollywood cash-grab is instead a send-up of both consumerism and conservative gender roles. Barbie ultimately asks what it means to be mortal, what it means to be alive — and it takes these questions seriously.

“If you’re celebrating all that is, you’re also celebrating everything that will come to an end,” Gerwig said at the New York premiere for Baumbach’s White Noise, in which she starred. For the half-hour prior, I watched as my press colleagues posed question after question to her romantic and creative partner, until she artfully co-opted a query about the film’s buoyant take on death. The audience cheered — as did I.

No one will be surprised that Barbie will make a lot of money. What is shocking is that Gerwig didn’t sell her soul to make it. I’ll take that as some small progress.

Barbie is existential brilliance — and also a lot of fun.

COURTESY WARNER BROS.

This is a movie for those who can earnestly revel in the unabashedly femme — pastels, lipstick, sparkles! — but are also open to a startlingly sober exploration of gender inequality and late-capitalist dread.

CULTURE

Savage Love

Family Ties

By Dan Savage

time I said it during sex I lost my erection and told my fuck buddy I didn’t feel well and left.

: Q

I’m a 25-year-old gay man. My parents have been divorced most of my life, and my dad came out to me as gay when I was 15. I came out to him and everyone else when I was 18. We’ve always had a good relationship, but we don’t see each other that often because we live on different coasts. We’re probably more open with each other about sex than most fathers and sons, but not in ways that I think are inappropriate. For example, on a recent visit we shared which hookup apps we were on so we could block each other. He’s also made sure I’m being safe about things like casual sex, drugs, and PrEP. As a result of these conversations, I know he’s kind of kinky and into bondage, but don’t have details on what he enjoys.

On my latest trip to see him, a friend of my dad’s came over to pick him up. My dad didn’t refer to it as a hookup beforehand but when the guy arrived, I could tell that’s what they were planning. Before they left for the other guy’s place, my dad’s friend started to flirt with me, which I didn’t take seriously. But as they were leaving the friend said it would be hot if I joined them for an incest scene. Then my dad made a joke about how it could be “father/son bondage time — I mean bonding time!” I didn’t think that was funny, but I laughed and then said I wasn’t interested, and they left. I stayed for two more days, and my dad never said anything else that made me uncomfortable, and we never discussed this guy again or the joke.

I really don’t think my dad wants to fuck me and he probably would have freaked out if I acted like he was serious and said yes. I know it was just a bad joke, but ever since I’ve been dealing with intrusive thoughts and trying to not think about it only makes me think about it more. I like light bondage and want to continue doing it, but now I can’t even think about it without thinking about my dad tying me up, something I do not want and do not want to think about. There are a couple of older guys in my life that I regularly meet up with for casual sex that I like to call “daddy.” That word has never made me think of my own dad until now. The last

How do I get over this? Should I say something to my dad? Or would that make it worse? I’m sure he’d apologize, but since he didn’t intentionally put these thoughts in my head then I don’t think an apology would make them go away. I don’t want to give up bondage, which I enjoy, and “daddy” is such a common term in gay circles that I’ll never get away from it even if I stopped using it myself. I’ve never been in therapy, but is that what it takes to get rid of unwanted thoughts?

—Stupid Humorous Remark Involving Nasty Kink

A: “I definitely think SHRINK should talk to his father about what happened,” said Dr. Joe Kort, a sex and relationship therapist and the author of Cracking the Erotic Code: Helping Gay Men Understand Their Sexual Fantasies. “From what SHRINK writes here, it sounds like his father has been appropriate and protected him from the inner workings of his sex life, just as he has protected his father from the inner workings of his own sex life. They’ve both done a great job.”

Until your last visit.

“I think SHRINK’s dad most likely felt just as awkward as SHRINK did when his dad’s friend said what he said,” said Dr. Kort, “and then his dad made that unfortunate joke.”

You think your dad made a stupid joke, Dr. Kort thinks your dad made an unfortunate joke, and I think your dad made an unforgivable joke. But why would your father make a joke like that?

Your father was probably trying to avoid embarrassing his friend. Your dad’s fuck buddy said something wildly inappropriate, SHRINK, and instead of prioritizing your feelings by shutting his fuck buddy down — which is absolutely what your father should have done — your dad opted to make the worst dad joke in the long, sordid history of dad jokes. To spare his friend the embarrassment of being made to feel like the creep he is, SHRINK, your dad lunged at a stupid play on words (bondage/bonding). He could have made that same joke without implicitly endorsing his fuck buddy’s suggestion of an incestuous threesome (“Sorry, but that’s not the kind of father/son bonding we’re interested in”), but the tension of the moment led your dad and I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt here — to go with the first

(and worst) version of the joke that popped into his head.

And in that moment your dad put you — his own son — in the awkward position of either having to confront him or laugh it off.

“SHRINK needs to let his father know how he felt when it happened and that he didn’t care for it and that it made him feel uneasy,” said Dr. Kort. “It isn’t about getting his dad to apologize or explain, it’s about SHRINK letting this go, at least metaphorically. SHRINK has been carrying this since it first happened, and he should imagine that by telling his father how this made him feel, SHRINK will be freeing himself from having to carry this around any longer.”

I disagree with Dr. Kort. I think your dad owes you an explanation and an apology. Even if you’re sure your dad didn’t approve of what his fuck buddy was doing (and here’s hoping he didn’t), and even if you’re absolutely sure your dad wasn’t being serious (and here’s hoping he wasn’t), you need to hear that from your father. There’s some unfinished business between you and your father — there are things you need to say to him, there are things he needs to say to you — and you’re going to be be plagued by these intrusive thoughts until you finish that business.

And while you don’t mention being turned on by these thoughts — indeed, they seem to have cost at least one erection — things that shock us or gross us out sometimes creep into our sexual fantasies in ways that can feel like an additional violation.

“It isn’t uncommon for something that causes us anxiety to become eroticized,” said Dr. Kort. “Sometimes an idea is so gross and disgusting that our minds create a turn-on to cope with how uncomfortable we were. And then, the harder we fight thoughts of this fantasy, the more it comes to dominate our thoughts.”

So, whether these thoughts are turning you on (and I don’t think they are) or turning you off (ding, ding, ding),

SHRINK, don’t blame yourself. You didn’t invite these thoughts into your head; your dad’s idiot fuck buddy and your dad’s idiotic response crammed them in there. Whatever you do, they’ll very likely fade with time, but I promise you they’ll fade faster after you get the explanation and apology you’re owed.

“SHRINK needs to have a little compassion for himself,” said Dr. Kort. “He was faced with something very cringy and these intrusive thoughts are the understandable result. He shouldn’t have to give up bondage or dirty ‘daddy’ talk during sex as a result. It might help if he thinks about all the other guys out there, with and without ‘daddy’ issues, who are still saying ‘daddy’ to their partners. Calling an older man ‘daddy’ doesn’t mean anything incestual. It’s not about anyone’s real dad.”

As for therapy, SHRINK, a little could go a long way. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been proven to help people who struggle with intrusive thoughts. After a few sessions you may find yourself enjoying light bondage and non-biological fathers again.

P.S. If there had been a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist Barbie in Barbie Land — along with President Barbie and Doctor Barbie and Weird Barbie then Stereotypical Barbie wouldn’t have had to go to the Real World to get over her intrusive thoughts of death and the Kens wouldn’t have wound up in a dance battle and Ben Shapiro wouldn’t have ended up crying in the lobby after the movie and then having to set fire to a bunch of innocent dolls. Something to think about that isn’t your dad’s dumb joke.

P.P.S. By the logic the Barbie universe, there’s now a burn ward in Barbie Land because of what Ben Shapiro did— not as terrible to contemplate as a bondage threesome with your own dad, but still pretty terrible!

P.P.P.S. People who call their adult sex partners “daddy” don’t secretly wish they were fucking their actual dads any more than people who call their adult sex partners “baby” secretly wish they were fucking their actual infants.

Follow Dr. Joe Kort on Twitter @DrJoeKort and learn more about his work at www.joekort.com.

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

CULTURE Free Will Astrology

ARIES: March 21 – April 19

Emotions are not inconvenient distractions from reason and logic. They are key to the rigorous functioning of our rational minds. Neurologist Antonio Damasio proved this conclusively in his book Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. The French philosopher’s famous formula — “I think, therefore I am” — offers an inadequate suggestion about how our intelligence works best. This is always true, but it will be especially crucial for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks. Here’s your mantra, courtesy of another French philosopher, Blaise Pascal: “The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know.”

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

The famous Taurus TV star Jay Leno once did a good deed for me. I was driving my Honda Accord on a freeway in Los Angeles when he drove up beside me in his classic Lamborghini. Using hand signals, he conveyed to me the fact that my trunk was open, and stuff was flying out. I waved in a gesture of thanks and pulled over onto the shoulder. I found that two books and a sweater were missing, but my laptop and briefcase

remained. Hooray for Jay! In that spirit, Taurus, and in accordance with current astrological omens, I invite you to go out of your way to help and support strangers and friends alike. I believe it will lead to unexpected benefits.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

“Did you learn how to think or how to believe?” When my friend Amelie was nine years old, her father teased her with this query upon her return home from a day at school. It was a pivotal moment in her life. She began to develop an eagerness to question all she was told and taught. She cultivated a rebellious curiosity that kept her in a chronic state of delighted fascination. Being bored became virtually impossible. The whole world was her classroom. Can you guess her sign? Gemini! I invite you to make her your role model in the coming weeks.

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

In the coming weeks, I advise you not to wear garments like a transparent Gianfranco Ferre black mesh shirt with a faux-tiger fur vest and a coralsnake jacket that shimmers with bright harlequin hues. Why? Because you will have most success by being down-toearth, straightforward, and in service to the fundamentals. I’m not implying you should be demure and reserved, however. On the contrary: I hope you will be bold and vivid as you present yourself with simple grace and lucid authenticity.

LEO: July 23 – August 22

Leprosy in Florida… Perhaps the Magic Kingdom can round them up and work it into another attraction.

“The Lepers of Devils Island”.

In 1811, Leo scientist Amedeo Avogadro (1776–1856) formulated a previously unknown principle about the properties of molecules. Unfortunately, his revolutionary idea wasn’t acknowledged and implemented until 1911, 100 years later. Today his wellproven theory is called Avogadro’s law. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Leo, you will experience your equivalent of his 1911 event in the coming months. You will receive your proper due. Your potential contributions will no longer be mere potential. Congratulations in advance!

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

Israeli poet Yona Wallach mourned the fact that her soul felt far too big for her, as if she were always wearing the clothes of a giant on her small body. I suspect you may be experiencing a comparable feeling right now, Virgo. If so, what can you do about it? The solution is NOT to shrink your soul. Instead, I hope you will expand your sense of who you are so your soul fits better. How might you do that? Here’s

JAMES NOELLERT

a suggestion to get you started: Spend time summoning memories from throughout your past. Watch the story of your life unfurl like a movie.

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

Nineteenth-century Libran physician James Salisbury had strong ideas about the proper ingredients of a healthy diet. Vegetables were toxic, he believed. He created Salisbury steak, a dish made of ground beef and onions, and advised everyone to eat it three times a day. Best to wash it down with copious amounts of hot water and coffee, he said. I bring his kooky ideas to your attention in hopes of inspiring you to purge all bunkum and nonsense from your life — not just in relation to health issues, but everything. It’s a favorable time to find out what’s genuinely good and true for you. Do the necessary research and investigation.

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21:

“I’m amazed that anyone gets along!” marvels self-help author Sark. She says it’s astonishing that love ever works at all, given our “idiosyncrasies, unconscious projections, re-stimulations from the past, and the relationship history of our partners.” I share her wonderment. On the other hand, I am optimistic about your chances to cultivate interesting intimacy during the coming months. From an astrological perspective, you are primed to be extra wise and lucky about togetherness. If you send out a big welcome for the lessons of affection, collaboration, and synergy, those lessons will come in abundance.

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

Please don’t make any of the following statements in the next three weeks: 1. “I took a shower with my clothes on.” 2. “I prefer to work on solving a trivial little problem rather than an interesting dilemma that means a lot to me.” 3. “I regard melancholy as a noble emotion that inspires my best work.” On the other hand, Sagittarius, I invite you to make declarations like the following: 1. “I will not run away from the prospect of greater intimacy — even if it’s scary to get closer to a person I care for.” 2. “I

By Rob Brezsny

will have fun exploring the possibilities of achieving more liberty and justice for myself.” 3. “I will seek to learn interesting new truths about life from people who are unlike me.”

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

Champions of the capitalist faith celebrate the fact that we consumers have over 100,000 brand names we can purchase. They say it’s proof of our marvelous freedom of choice. Here’s how I respond to their cheerleading: Yeah, I guess we should be glad we have the privilege of deciding which of 50 kinds of shampoo is best for us. But I also want to suggest that the profusion of these relatively inconsequential options may distract us from the fact that certain of our other choices are more limited. In the coming weeks, Capricorn, I invite you to ruminate about how you can expand your array of more important choices.

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

My best friend in college was an Aquarius, as is my favorite cousin. Two ex-girlfriends are Aquarians, and so was my dad. The talented singer with whom I sang duets for years was an Aquarius. So I have intimate knowledge of the Aquarian nature. And in honor of your unbirthday — the time halfway between your last birthday and your next — I will tell you what I love most about you. No human is totally comfortable with change, but you are more so than others. To my delight, you are inclined to ignore the rule books and think differently. Is anyone better than you at coordinating your energies with a group’s? I don’t think so. And you’re eager to see the big picture, which means you’re less likely to get distracted by minor imperfections and transitory frustrations. Finally, you have a knack for seeing patterns that others find hard to discern. I adore you!

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

Is the first sip always the best? Do you inevitably draw the most vivid enjoyment from the initial swig of coffee or beer? Similarly, are the first few bites of food the most delectable, and after that your taste buds get diminishing returns? Maybe these descriptions are often accurate, but I believe they will be less so for you in the coming weeks. There’s a good chance that flavors will be best later in the drink or the meal. And that is a good metaphor for other activities, as well. The further you go into every experience, the greater the pleasure and satisfaction will be — and the more interesting the learning.

Homework: Make up a fantastic story about your future self, then go make it happen.

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