Metro Times 11/30/22

NEWS & VIEWS

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We received responses to last week’s cover story about how the FBI spied on soul singer Aretha Franklin for decades, written by freelancers Jenn Dize and Afeni Evans.

Hi, this is a message for the people who wrote the Aretha Franklin article. What was her “great pain?” [It was] called neglect. Parental neglect. [Her] father had numerous women coming through the door. Aretha’s mom had already moved away. And you should not think that at 21, people are not carrying their childhood pains. They are. Look at Kelly Clarkson, John Lennon, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson people neglected, maybe abused. And because of that neglect

and you know, who knows, abuse people need the approval of somebody, so they seek the spotlight. That’s what drives a lot of these folks. Prince look at look at his young life, a mess. ... You probably couldn’t delve into the subject too much since you’re a newspaper and arts paper and stuff. Have a good one. Take care. Bye. —Brian Taylor, voicemail

Thanks for your message. Franklin’s “messy” relationship with her father was explored in last year’s National Geographic series, Genius: Aretha Also, a note to readers: The Incision columnist Abdul ElSayed has taken a well-deserved vacation, so there will be no column this week.

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

Gov. Whitmer to appoint rst Black woman to serve on Michigan Supreme Court

By Steve Neavling

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER announced last week that she will appoint the first Black woman to the Michigan Supreme Court.

Whitmer is selecting state Rep. Kyra Harris Bolden, D-Southfield, to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of Jus tice Bridget McCormack, a Democratic nominee.

With Bolden’s historic appointment, Democrats will maintain a 4-3 majority on the court.

“A state representative from South field, former law clerk and litigator, Kyra is passionate about the law and will be the first Black woman ever to serve on the Michigan Supreme Court,” Whitmer said in a statement. “She will bring a unique perspective to our high court as a Black woman — and as a new, working mom — that has too long been left out. Kyra is committed to fighting for justice for generations, and I know she will serve Michigan admirably, building a brighter future for her newborn daugh ter and all our kids.”

Bolden, who was first elected to the state House in November 2018, will join the court in January and serve a partial term expiring on Jan. 1, 2025.

Bolden said she is “incredibly hon ored” by the appointment and pledged to have an even hand on the court.

“I will ensure equal access to justice, apply the law without fear or favor, and treat all who come before our state’s highest court with dignity and respect,” Bolden said. “I also know that this mo ment – becoming the first Black woman to serve on the Michigan Supreme Court – would not be possible without lead ers like Judges Shelia Johnson, Debra Nance, Deborah Thomas, Cynthia

Stephens, and Denise Langford Morris. These are the Black women who blazed the path that I seek to follow. I hope that my voice on the Court will inspire future generations to pursue their dreams. I am humbled by this honor, and I am ready to get to work on behalf of all Michigan ders.”

In the House, Bolden was the assis tant Democratic leader and a member of the House Judiciary and Insurance committees. During her tenure, she has focused on criminal justice reform and crafted bipartisan legislation to protect survivors of sexual assault.

Before serving in the House, Bolden was a civil litigation attorney with Lewis & Munday, P.C. in Detroit. She also was a staff attorney for 3rd Circuit Court Judge John A. Murphy and served as a courtappointed criminal defense attorney for the 46th District Court in Southfield.

Bolden received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. She also has a bachelor of science degree from Grand Valley State University.

“This is a monumental day,” said Murphy, her former boss, and the longest serving Black judge in Michigan history. “Kyra Harris Bolden’s historic appointment to the Michigan Supreme Court will impact justice and fairness in Michigan for generations to come. Her experience as my judicial law clerk, litigator, and her time in the state legislature, coupled with her empathy, inquisitiveness, and sense of justice, will make her an asset to this role. Kyra is an excellent appointee and will make an ex cellent Justice. I look forward to seeing the impact she will make on the bench.”

Michigan Attorney General Dana

Nessel applauded the appointment.

“The composition of our courts should reflect the population its rulings impact. I commend the Governor for selecting Kyra Bolden to serve on our state’s highest court,” Nessel said. “I know Representative Bolden to be a sincere, caring and thoughtful person who will always take into consideration the substantial impact of each and every one of her opinions. She will serve the state with integrity and humility and will do so honorably.“

The appointment was also supported by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR).

“Governor Whitmer’s appointment of Kyra Harris Bolden to the Michigan

Supreme Court marks a significant and consequential moment in the history of our state,” said MDCR Executive Direc tor John E. Johnson, Jr. “As the first Black woman to serve in that capacity, she will bring a long-missing perspective to the deliberations of the state’s highest court. That alone makes this a monumental decision, but Ms. Bolden brings more to the table than her racial identity. Her trial experience as a criminal defense attorney, her leadership on important public policy and her dedication to justice – the legacy of her own greatgrandfather’s lynching — will inform her decisions and bring the court closer to the goal of achieving equal justice for all.”

We now know the location of Rihanna’s lingerie store Savage X Fenty

SAVAGE X FENTY, the lingerie brand owned by pop star Rihanna, has revealed the address of its upcoming Detroit location.

The store is headed to 1442 Woodward Ave., near other downtown shop ping spots like H&M, Lululemon, Warby Parker, and Shinola.

That’s according to a press release sent by Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock Detroit real estate arm. The store is expected to open in 2023.

“We want to make people look good and feel good,” Rihanna said a state ment in the press release. “We want you to feel sexy and have fun doing it.”

Announced earlier this year, the Detroit store joins five other new Sav age X Fenty locations across the U.S., including in Chicago; Long Island, New York; Atlanta; St. Louis; and Newark, Delaware. The new stores join existing locations in Culver City, California; Arlington, Virginia; Las Vegas; Houston; and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

The brand is known for designs that are inclusive of different body types available at accessible price points. It also has a men’s line.

—Lee DeVito

COURTESY PHOTO

Detroit considers moratorium on evictions, but not until thousands could lose their homes

DETROIT CITY COUNCIL is mull ing a moratorium on evictions as the winter nears, but it will have to wait until after Jan. 1.

Residents are calling on the council to take action after Mayor Mike Dug gan’s administration missed the dead line to begin providing lower-income residents with free legal representa tion when facing eviction.

But a moratorium won’t happen until at least January because the council is on its holiday break and won’t be back until after New Year’s Day.

By the time the council returns, more than 1,000 eviction cases are expected to go through the court system.

“We know it’s going to be a very cold winter,” Councilwoman Angela Whitfield-Calloway said at a council meeting Tuesday. “We certainly can take a stance.”

During the public comment period, supporters of a moratorium urged the council to impose a mora torium before the holiday break.

“Please stay all night and draft this ordinance,” one resident said. “Don’t wait. Do it now.”

It’s unclear why the council is wait

ing until after the break to impose a moratorium. The issue wasn’t on the council’s agenda and was raised by Whitfield-Calloway at the beginning of the meeting.

Council Pro Tem James Tate said any future moratorium should only apply to slumlords.

“We also have to look at it from the standpoint of landlords who are doing it the right way,” Tate said. “We should look into the conditions.”

City Council staff is expected to draft the moratorium proposal dur ing the break.

More than 1,500 eviction cases

Prosecutor won’t charge Detroit cops who shot Porter Burks 19 times

FIVE DETROIT POLICE officers who fatally shot Porter Burks, a 20-year-old man experiencing a mental health crisis, acted in “selfdefense” and won’t be charged with a crime, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said last week.

The unnamed officers shot Burks 19 times in three seconds after he lunged at them with a knife shortly after 5 a.m. on Oct. 2.

“This is a truly tragic case,” Worthy said. “Mr. Burks had a long history of mental illness and violent behavior and a propensity for carrying knives that had been communicated by his family to the responding officers.”

The shooting occurred after Burks’ brother called 911 and said Burks was walking around the neighborhood with a knife and having a “really bad episode.” Burks had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

When police arrived, they urged Burks to drop the knife and said they wanted to get him help. He refused to comply and eventually ran toward the officers, prompting them to fire 39 bullets at him.

An ambulance wasn’t available, so police transported Burks to the hos pital, where he was declared dead.

“The police spent a significant amount of time trying to get him to drop his weapon,” Worthy said. “He suddenly ran at them with the knife and covered the distance between them in approximately three sec onds. Eyewitnesses to the shooting were interviewed and indicated that the police did all that they could to de-escalate the situation before Mr. Burks charged at the police. Unfor tunately, Mr. Burks was fatally shot by the officers in self-defense and defense of others.”

Detroit Police Chief James White said Worthy’s investigation “confirms that the actions of our officers were justified under the circumstances.”

But, White said, the encounter with someone experiencing a mental health crisis underscores the impor tance of providing additional services to help those in need.

“The death of Porter Burks remains a tragic event that continues to call attention to the need for additional

have been filed a month over the past several months.

The Detroit City Council approved the right-to-counsel ordinance on May 10, and it was supposed to go into effect on Oct. 1. But Duggan’s administration delayed the process, saying it needed more time to work with potential vendors who want to represent low-income tenants.

Without legal representation, housing advocates say city ordinances that protect renters from slumlords are useless because many tenants can’t afford legal representation.

—Steve Neavling

resources for those suffering from mental illness,” White said. “This includes reinstituting long-term mental health treatment centers, greater awareness of behavioral health challenges and additional training. It also includes recognizing our responsibility as a community to provide support, encouragement, and assistance to individuals in men tal distress.”

White added that the city is working to improve how the police department responds to people expe riencing mental health illnesses.

“Enhancing and expanding mental health response and increasing crisis stabilization services remains a top priority for Mayor Duggan and the Detroit Police Department,” White said. “We will continue to work with city departments and our community partners in this endeavor.”

Attorney Geoffrey Fieger filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city and the five officers, alleging gross negligence, assault and battery, wanton and willful miscon duct, and a violation of the Ameri cans with Disabilities Act because of Burks’s mental illness.

—Steve Neavling

QAnon adherent charged with threatening to kill a congressman and FBI director

A FLINT-AREA man who ranted about a baseless QAnon conspiracy theory was charged with making threats against a congressman and FBI Director Christo pher Wray.

Neil Matthew Walter, 32, of Grand Blanc, is accused of leaving a threatening voicemail for Rep. John Garamendi, DCalif., earlier this month and days later posting a death threat against Wray on an FBI Facebook livestream video.

“John. Hey John. You’re gonna die, John. You’re gonna die,” Walter said in the voicemail on Nov. 3 at 10:53 p.m., ac cording to an affidavit written by an FBI agent.

On a Facebook post, Walter allegedly wrote, “Director Wray is going to die every single day multiple times a day for raping my family over and over and lying to them.”

During the investigation, the FBI dis covered a series of recent Facebook posts in which Walter claimed Garamendi, the FBI, CIA, actor Tom Cruise, and Twitter CEO Elon Musk were involved in a child slave rape ring, a popular QAnon con spiracy theory. On one Facebook post, he wrote that Garamendi had raped an infant to death.

“Have a nice life John, your getting put down for life bud,” Walter wrote.

When a detective knocked on Walter’s door for a welfare check on Election Day, he answered with a firearm and initially refused to drop it, according to the af fidavit.

“During police contact, Walter went on a rant about kids being raped, a law suit with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, and how he is calling everyone all the time, but not one is doing anything about the kids,” the affidavit states.

The detective said Walter insisted he would use his gun to defend himself against the U.S. government.

Walter’s mother told investigators that her son had been previously involuntari ly committed to a mental institution and was refusing to take his medication.

Threats against politicians have been on the rise, especially among supporters of former President Donald Trump.

In the past election cycle an increas ing number of Republican extremists have plotted violence against Michigan Democrats.

—Steve Neavling

SHUTTERSTOCK

PHOTO BY KAHN SANTORI DAVISON

NEW MONEY NEW MAN

Rapper Baby Money talks music, 12th Street, Quality Control, and taking care of his family

By Kahn Santori Davison

Baby Money is sitting at a large wooden table inside of a high rise clubhouse in downtown Detroit, overlooking the Detroit River. He’s talk ing to his manager Darylynn Mumphord, his friend A1, and a couple of others about the frustrating logistics of hopping on and off planes from doing shows and inter views over the last several weeks.

“It be nonstop, bro,” says the Detroit native.

He has on a sky blue Supreme tracksuit, white T-shirt, and gold diamond link chain with an emblem that reads “12th” (for 12th Street) hanging from his neck. The chain was purchased from Hutch’s Jewelry last year before the famed owner Dan Hutchinson’s untimely death this past June.

“I don’t know if he actually put his hands on it,” says Money. “That would be good to find out, though.”

Born Carlos Fischer, he’s the middle son of eight siblings and grew up in one of the most infamous parts of the city.

“The block that I’m actually from, Clairmont, is where the riots started in 1967,” he says. “My aunties and my grandma was in it.”

Money was born 30 years after the uprising that started at Clairmont and 12th Street, and the area looked about

the same as it did post-rebellion. Of course, many of the neighborhoods were full of longtime Detroiters, many determined to do what they could by manicuring their lawns and looking after each other. But much of the area was polluted with burnt-out storefronts and dilapidated houses; remnants of residents and people who left and never came back. There were also multiple crime pockets littered throughout the area.

Money’s father was murdered when he was 5 years old, leaving him to navigate the streets and adulthood on his own.

“I ain’t gonna say I didn’t have no guidance, but I didn’t have no guidance for real, for real,” he says. “You know, I was just looking for that father figure ya feel me?”

Even though Money had three older siblings (and five younger ones), he was

still the neighborhood’s little bro; a kid everybody genuinely loved.

“I’ve always been Baby Los,” he says. “That was my first name, or Dollar,’ because I used to always ask people for dollars. I used to go around the hood and have a bankroll in my pocket, get a dollar from everybody, and then go shoot dice with the older people.”

Money split time between the streets and the basketball court. He was a left-handed point guard with a knack for getting to the rim. Many of his peers felt he had college potential.

“I was nice! That’s our court on Ha zelwood between Byron and Woodrow Wilson,” he says. “I actually wanna find somebody to redo that court.”

That same court was also the old stomping grounds for Detroit native and NBA all star Derrick Coleman. Colman had kept ownership of his childhood home on Hazelwood Street during his playing days, and after re tirement he evolved into a community leader and youth mentor while starting his own basketball summer league. (Coleman also served as commissioner of athletics of DPS for a short period of time.) Money met Coleman through his godfather, and the former NBA star took him under his wing.

“I was real, real close to [Coleman],” he says. “He was like an uncle. Every year he would take us Christmas

shopping to Toys “R” Us or Best Buy. I played on all his teams. I got to meet the Pistons, [Allen] Iverson, some of everybody.”

By the time Money was 15, his relationship with basketball and school had reached an impasse. Lunchtime freestyles and layup lines were fun, but getting money in the streets was better. Ninth grade would be the last year he would be a member of a team, and he went on to get his GED.

“I started making money in school,” he says. “You get that big head. I was young. I regret it now, though. People had so much fun in school. I would go back to school in a minute hooping was my main focus in life, though. The music was just for fun.”

Hip-hop had always had a strong presence in Money’s life and household. He had grown up listening to 50 Cent, Rock Bottom, Team Eastside, Doughboyz Cashout, Stretch Money, Blade Icewood, and Street Lord Juan. His dad, who went by Los, was a mem ber of a Detroit rap group that went by the name the Cash Cartel. He can also be seen in the movie Mile wear ing a black jacket, standing a bit away behind a feisty Eminem during his last battle rap scenes. (It’s been welldocumented that the crowds in the battle rap scenes were mostly made up of Detroit hip-hop artists.) Money had

always known his father was an emcee, but had never heard any of this music due to a house fire at his dad’s friend’s house.

“People used to always talk about it,” Money says. “Dada, he was like my cousin, he used to always rap the song to me, but he had never found the song.”

This past March, his aunt was able to obtain the song and share it with him. “One day she was like, ‘check your email,’” he says. “The song was there. That was my first time hearing his voice. He was in that era when they was talking about the struggle-struggle. I didn’t even know some of the stuff he was talking about.”

As school and basketball faded out the picture, hip-hop became the only thing that could compete with Money’s focus on the streets. “It was a fam ily thing,” he says. “My big brothers, Domo, Joc, my cousin. 1800it is my producer, he took me to my first studio ever on Grand River and Seven Mile. It started off as fun, just trying to see if we could even make a song. They taught me how to lay four bars down.”

For his first few trips to the studio, he was there in more of an entourage role, there to support his big bros behind the mic. But as the months played out, his family saw something in him before he even saw it in himself.

“My brothers had always told me I was sweet,’” he says. “It got to the point where after we did the first song, they taking me to the studio like, ‘We making sure Los rap, nobody else doing no songs but Los.’”

Money took the nudge, matched it with his own energy, and began recording and releasing his own music. He made waves when he dropped the single “Bum Bum” in 2015, and made even more with the 2016 single and video, “Intro.”

“ Intro’ was when I started dropping every week,” he says. “That’s when I started focusing on me. I didn’t even like doing features no more.”

“Intro” had all the dramatic sonics and graphic urban lyrics that the De troit trap sound is known for. Though still a new artist, Money’s flow and ferocity showed he wasn’t going to be playing too many games in the minor leagues of Detroit rap.

“All I hear is shoot that and shoot this/ in the hoop game you pussy niggas wouldn’t shoot shit,” he raps. “I should be in Hollywood the way my niggas shoot clips/ when I say I’m punching in I ain’t talking about no shit.”

Money would go on to drop two albums in 2017: Sosa World and Baby Brothers. Even with the early promise he showed as an hip-hop artist, Money continued to spend more time engulfed

in street life than studio sessions. “It was about a 70-30 ratio,” he says through a shrug.

In the midst of having one leg in music and the other firmly planted in the streets, his friend Sosa was murdered.

“That was my brother, my best friend,” he says. “He couldn’t even rap, but he would be more ready to go to the studio than I was. It was something he really wanted me to do, so I had to be sure I kept pushing.”

By 2019, Money was taking music more seriously, and his quality and quantity showed. Time a Tell was the most cohesive project he had released up to that point, which he followed with standout verses on Dej Loaf’s “RAT” and 42 Dugg’s “Light This Bitch Up” in 2020. He closed out a pandemicfilled 2020 with two more projects, Im patient and Blank Checc, and opened 2021 with his biggest hit to date, “Moncler Bubble” off his Young Nigga Old

Soul album that was realeased months later. Money admits he wasn’t a fan of the song at first, and had no idea it would be his first signature song.

“That song was an irritating song,” he says. “I didn’t go to the studio to do that song, but my big brother kept talking to me, saying, ‘You need to talk like yo old self ’ That’s why I say, This that Baby Los asking for dollars.’”

“Moncler Bubble” is an urban an them, a celebration of Money’s rags-toriches come-up and his acknowledge ment that the Lil Bro from 12 Street has made it. “Moncler bubbles for the times we ain’t had shit/ This that Baby Los t t i c s i s is t t os that drink Actavis,” he raps.

Money filmed the video for the song at his first out-of-state performance in Dayton, Ohio, and recorded a remix featuring fellow Detroit hip-hop all-stars Babyface Ray and Peezy that dropped several months later. The orig

inal has racked up 2.5 million YouTube views, and the remix an additional 1.5 million more.

“A lot of people think I got signed off Moncler Bubble,’ but I didn’t,” he says. “I got signed off Impatient’ and Chrome Heart.’”

As inquiries from record labels started to roll in, Money and his team sought the best opportunity that fit him musically and economically. On the business end, they wanted more of a partnership and an artist-friendly contract. Musically, they wanted the freedom to record and curate music without being micromanaged. They took a trip to New York in September of 2021 to meet with Alamo Records, and while there they talked to representa tives from Capitol, Warner, and Columbia. However, a record label 900 miles away reached out and Baby Money’s decision was made.

Wayno, born Wayne Clark, is a New York native who was a manager and A&R for Jay- ’s Roc-A-Fella Records.

“I got another manager named Q, he got a cousin named Noodles,” Money says. “Him and Wayno is like from the same side of New York. So I went down there, played my music, he called Wayno at 3 a.m., woke him up like, ‘I got this kid you gotta hear, I need you to listen to his music.’”

Days before Baby Money’s arrival in New York, Clark had accepted an A&R position at the Atlanta-based Qual ity Control Music, home to hip-hop acts Migos, Lil Yachty, City Girls, and Lil Baby (just to name a few). Clark contacted Quality Control CEO Pierre “P” Thomas about Baby Money, and Thomas was immediately interested, sending Money a direct message on Instagram. (Money had actually sent a direct message to Thomas five years earlier pitching himself to QC.)

“QC made an offer that was for both of us to win,” Money says. “In my mind, I was signed when I got that DM, but the paperwork was worked out in a month. I signed in October but we announced it in January.”

A month after the announcement, Money released his seventh project and first with QC, Easy Money. The 12-track album showed right up front that QC was going to let Baby Money be Baby Money. His sound and lyrics were raw and Detroit as they had ever been.

“I got freedom,” he says. “They want your opinion on everything that’s about you.”

Money also feels his patience and focus on what he wanted before he signed his record deal can be a learn ing example for other aspiring artists. “I always look at the long run,” he says. “Don’t let nobody give you a certain amount of money for right now and

Baby Money preforming at the Red Bull Soundclash

PHOTO BY KAHN SANTORI DAVISON

have you locked into something. Don’t move too quick, make sure you read your contract. You might be signing your life away if you don’t read it.”

Baby Money’s phenomenal year didn’t come without a setback. In March he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for a probation violation due to a positive drug test for lean (a recre ational drug beverage that’s usually a mixture of promethazine and pop). He admits he’s been off and on probation since he’s been 1 . “Everytime I would get off, I’m getting back on and it’s always some bullshit,” he says, shak ing his head. Money says his probation violation was a lesson learned, and he’s put lean and all other street activity behind him. “That lean weak, it ain’t even worth it,” he adds.

Money was released in June fully sober and focused. He dropped his eighth project, New Money, in September. Again, his growth and creativity behind the mic was obvious. On “Tables Turn,” a song he originally wrote in jail, he raps: “I done watched the odds change, guess the tables really turned/ I done watched the vibes change, but it’s turned up my earnings/ I’m the teacher and the student, ’cause ain’t nothin’ wrong with learning/ I could smell the opps burning, streets cold with three thermals.”

Along with crafty bars, much of what has made Baby Money successful behind the mic has been a very authoritative tone he has in his voice. You feel his energy behind the bars just as clearly as you see the picture he’s lyrically painting. Whether he’s rapping about getting money or going against his opps, he makes you feel like you’re doing it all with him.

On “Pyrex,” he raps, “It’s a lot of drama in my life, it ain’t no problem/ I’m still puttin’ Prada on my mama, I make commas by the hour.”

And in “Remember Me” he goes like an all-trap Bob Ross: “Seventh letter in the alphabet, I been a G/ A pint of red in a pop look like grenadine.”

“He’s got a different kind of flow than everybody else,” says longtime friend A1. “He young and he talking bout things that niggas over 30 be talking about. He’s always advanced.”

Money says he goes to the studio daily. He says he rarely writes songs out in advance, and prefers to let the vibe of the beat dictate what kind of song he writes.

“The studio for me is a chill session. I record myself, so it’s like I’m about to sit in a chair and talk to the mic,” he says. “I record five or six songs a night Somedays I make one song, some days I don’t make no songs, because I didn’t get the beat I wanted.”

Moving forward, Money is trying

to find a way to be more vulnerable in his music. Part of the appeal of hip-hop greats like Tupac, DMX, and Scarface has been their transparency. Money has the stories to tell, but he’s not quite sure when or if he wants to tell them.

“I got a problem telling people my problems and the shit I went through because people will use that against you,” he says. “I gotta open up more on that part. I talk about it, but I went through so much that people wouldn’t believe it. The shit I rap about be crazy, but the shit I don’t say be even crazier.”

This past August, Detroit hip-hop superstar Icewear Vezzo became labelmates with Baby Money when he also signed to QC. Icewear and Money are from two different hip-hop draft class es, so it’s kind of like Chauncey Billips joining Cade Cunningham on a dream team. This past October, the two (along with Babyface Ray) were featured on the cover of Billboard magazine.

“That’s my brother right there,” he says. “That felt good, especially for the city. I used to always see him and it was always love. We’ve been able to do a couple of songs together.”

Money is focused not just on him self but on his family as a whole. He understands he has an opportunity to create the kind of generational wealth that can financially secure his family for years to come. With that understand ing comes the need to stay focused on his goals and to keep his circle tight. (Insert Drake’s “No New Friends” mantra.)

“I don’t feel any pressure, but I gotta keep winning,” he says. “I wanna get to that point where nobody work ing. Thats what I want You can’t let nobody get in your pocket, except for yo mamma. Yo mamma deserves every thing. I’ve always been a man since I was a kid — the house, the car, and the money. So it just made me tightened up, because you don’t know who your friends are at this point.”

“It’s fun to see him grow into a man in this industry” says his manager Darylynn Mumphord. “It’s my little brother to me, it’s not just business. It’s a heartfelt thing. I really want to see him make it.”

Baby Money promises more business ventures and better music moving forward. He has his own line of “Baby’s BBQ Potato Chips” coming soon. (“We eatin!” reads the bag in a photo he posted on Instagram.) Still, Money acknowledges that he still isn’t quite feeling the gravity of his success.

“It ain’t kicked in yet,” he says. “The goal is so big and I’m just going through the levels. I ain’t nowhere right now yet.”

WHAT’S GOING ON

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

Wednesday, Nov. 30

Live/Concert

Advance Base, MJ Lenderman and The Wind, Spencer Radcliffe pm; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.

Album Release Show: Rodney Whitaker Quartet 7:30 & 9:30 pm; Cliff Bell’s, 2030 Park Ave., Detroit; $25.

THEATER Performance

Meadow Brook Theatre A Christ mas Carol $42 2 pm, Dec. 2, 8 pm, Dec. 3, 2 & 6:30 pm and Dec. 4, 2 & 6:30 pm.

Musical

Hamilton (Touring) 8 pm, Dec. 1, 8 pm, Dec. 2, 8 pm, Dec. 3, 2 & 8 pm and Dec. 4, 2 & 8 pm; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd, Detroit; $69-$249.

Hockey

Little Caesars Arena Detroit Red Wings vs. Buffalo Sabres $39-$209.25; pm.

Thursday, Dec. 1

Live/Concert

Album Release Show: Rodney Whitaker Quartet 7:30 & 9:30 pm; Cliff Bell’s, 2030 Park Ave., Detroit; $25. Baked Shrimp, Asklepius 7-11:30 pm; The Parliament Room at Otus Sup ply, 345 E Nine Mile Rd, Ferndale; $10.

Influence, Hudson Hill, Strengthbeyondyou, Voluntary Mortification, Phoenix Rising 7 pm; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $10.

Oakland University Jazz Band and Latin Jazz Ensemble 7:30 pm; Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Perform ing Arts, 12 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $8. Then Sings My Soul - Introducing Alexander Abaté 6 pm; Em erald Theatre, 31 N. Walnut St., Mount Clemens; $25.

A Very Special Evening of Motor City Soul 8-11 pm; Aretha Franklin Jazz Cafe At Music Hall, 350 Madison Street, Detroit; $20.

THEATER Performance

Harmonie Club The Immersive Nut

cracker -Detroit; Dec. 1, 1, 2 & 3 pm, Dec. 2, 1, 2 & 3 pm, Dec. 3, 11 am, 12, 1, 2 & 3 pm and Dec. 4, 11 am, 12, 1 & 2 pm.

The Music Box Detroit Symphony Orchestra Dec. 1, :30 pm, Dec. 2, 8 pm and Dec. 3, 11 am & 8 pm.

Musical

Hamilton (Touring) 8 pm, Dec. 1, 8 pm, Dec. 2, 8 pm, Dec. 3, 2 & 8 pm and Dec. 4, 2 & 8 pm; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit; $69-$249.

COMEDY

Improv

Ant Hall Thursday Night Live! $5.00 8-10 pm.

Stand-up

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle

Comedian Phil Hanley with Caitlin Checkeroski and Ron Rigby. $20. Dec. 1-3, 7:30-9 pm, Dec. 2, 7:15-8:45 & 9:45-11:15 pm and Dec. 3, 7-8:30 & 9:30-11 pm.

Basketball

Little Caesars Arena Detroit Pistons vs. Dallas Mavericks $24-$2,215.50 Dec. 1, 7 pm.

Friday, Dec. 2

Live/Concert

Blind Liars, The Honey Pot, matro.matic 8 pm-12:30 am; The Lex ington, 5063 Trumbull Ave., Detroit; $5.

Brother Elsey, Oliver Hazard, Remnose, Pia 7 pm; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $15.

Capstan, In Her Own Words, Cherie Amour, Shallow Pools pm; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $18.

Falling In Reverse 7 pm; Saint An drew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $45.

Festival of Lessons and Carols 7-9 pm; Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, 9844 Woodward, Detroit; donation.

Kambridge 6 pm; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15.

ReTooLed Tool Music Tribute :30-11:30 pm; Otus Supply - Parliament Room, 345 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $12 adv./$15 door.

The English Beat 8 pm; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $35.

Tino Gross, Junkluck 8-10:30 pm; Berkley Coffee, 14661 West 11 Mile Rd., Ste. 50o, Oak Park; $10 suggested (door jars or can take card at bar).

Metallica announces two Detroit shows in 2023

THE HEAVY METAL stalwarts in Metallica have a new album, 72 Seasons, slated for release in April, and on Monday they announced a world tour to support it with a stop in the Motor City.

The “M72” tour is a mini-festival of sorts, with the band playing two shows in each city, and promising not to play the same set list twice. Detroit’s shows are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 10 and Sunday, Nov. 12 at Ford Field.

The dates will feature an “in-theround” stage set-up surrounded on all sides by fans. In a post on metallica.com, the band also says, “Most of the shows (sorry, not all — we tried!) will be on Fridays and Sundays, so we’ll be sure to have lots of extracurricular events for you to hang with fellow Metallica fans at before the shows kick-off and on the

WJLB Big Show 6:30 pm; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $40-$150.

DJ/Dance

Fast & Loose w/ DJ Nervous Recs + special guests 9 pm-2 am; Second Best, 42 Watson St., Detroit; Free.

THEATER

Performance

Fox Theatre Baby Shark Live!: The Christmas Show $14.50-$64.50 Dec. 2, 6 pm.

Harmonie Club The Immersive Nut cracker - Detroit Dec. 1, 1, 2 & 3 pm, Dec. 2, 1, 2 & 3 pm, Dec. 3, 11 am, 12, 1, 2 & 3 pm and Dec. 4, 11 am, 12, 1 & 2 pm.

Meadow Brook Theatre A Christ mas Carol $42 2 pm, Dec. 2, 8 pm, Dec. 3, 2 & 6:30 pm and Dec. 4, 2 & 6:30 pm.

The Music Box Detroit Symphony Orchestra Dec. 1, :30 pm, Dec. 2, 8 pm

Saturday night in between.”

Michigan’s rock ’n’ roll revivalists Greta Van Fleet will also join the band on the tour, but not for the De troit dates. Pantera and Mammoth WVH have been announced as the support acts for the first night in the D and Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills on the second.

Tickets for access to both nights go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday through Ticketmaster. Tickets for individual nights will be available starting on Jan. 20.

A portion of proceeds from tick ets go to the Metallica’s All Within My Hands foundation, which sup ports grants for career and techni cal education programs in the U.S., aid for people experiencing food insecurity, and disaster relief efforts worldwide.

and Dec. 3, 11 am & 8 pm.

Musical

Hamilton (Touring) 8 pm, Dec. 1, 8 pm, Dec. 2, 8 pm, Dec. 3, 2 & 8 pm and Dec. 4, 2 & 8 pm; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd, Detroit; $69-$249.

COMEDY

Go Comedy! Improv Theater

Name This Show; 8 & 10 pm.; $20.

Stand-up Opening

Andiamo Celebrity Showroom

Peter Fogel $40 Dec. 2, 8 pm.

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle

Comedian Phil Hanley with Caitlin Checkeroski and Ron Rigby. $20. Dec. 1-3, 7:30-9 pm, Dec. 2, 7:15-8:45 & 9:45-11:15 pm and Dec. 3, 7-8:30 & 9:30-11 pm.

Art Exhibition Opening

Dancing Eye Gallery Leni Sinclair Photography; dancingeye.com; Dec. 2, 6-8 pm.

—Lee DeVito

TIM SACCENTI

Saturday, Dec. 3

Live/Concert

Ali Gatie: Who Hurt You? Tour 7 pm; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25-$40.

Captain Fantastic - The Ultimate Tribute to Elton John 7 pm; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $25.

Jake Hill, Belmont, Oliver Francis 7 pm; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20.

Jim McCarty & Mystery Train 9-11 pm; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; free.

The Bronx Wanderers 8 pm; An diamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 E. 14 Mile Rd., Warren; $32-$62.

Voxanna -10 pm; Berkley Coffee, 14661 West 11 Mile Rd., Ste 50o, Oak Park; $10 suggested.

Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience 8 pm; Emerald Theatre, 31 N. Walnut St., Mount Clemens; $25-$200.

Wreking Crue - Motley Crue Tribute 7:30 pm; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15.

Hamilton (Touring) 8 pm, Dec. 1, 8 pm, Dec. 2, 8 pm, Dec. 3, 2 & 8 pm and Dec. 4, 2 & 8 pm; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd, Detroit; $69-$249; 313-9721135; www.thezenithatthefisher.com .

COMEDY

Stand-up Opening

Fox Theatre Live, Lit And Laughter $69-$165 Dec. 3, 7 pm.

SPORTS Hockey

Little Caesars Arena Detroit Red Wings vs. Vegas Golden Knights $69$355.25 Dec. 3, 7 pm.

Sunday, Dec. 4

Live/Concert

Bad Omens Presents: A Tour of the Concrete Jungle 5:30 pm; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $23.

Buried Alive, Exhibition, Ante Up pm; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $20.

Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert for Children of All Ages 3-4:30 pm; Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, 46 Fairford, Grosse Pointe Woods; $20 ($15 seniors, $5 college students, free to students -12).

Local buzz By Broccoli and Joe Zimmer

Welcome to a new column about Detroit’s music scene. Got a tip Hit us up at music metrotimes.com

Jonah Baseball: After his breakthrough 12-inch single on Portage Garage Sounds (“Baby’s Born to Fish” backed with “Impish Desires”), underground favorite 2Lanes is wading into the physical realm again. This time it’s on his own Auto Shop label, with a four-track scorcher with fellow Detroit musician and DJ Jonah Baseball “recorded over many sessions during the past year,” accord ing to the artist’s Bandcamp page. Per these two producers’ reputations, the EP runs the full gamut of sounds you’d expect to hear at the late-night gigs they typically play. The first sin gles offer thumping techno DJ tools, mid-tempo soulful house moments, and downtempo melodies for when the starts to come up. Other guest musicians include Ji Hoon (previ ously featured on 2Lanes’s “Impish Desires”) on saxophone, L.A.-based singer Jia Pet, and also Jonah’s father David Julian Gray lending clarinet to a track. The “Standing Waves” EP is released digitally on Dec. 5 via 2Lanes’s Bandcamp page (with three exclusive bonus tracks), with the physical vinyl arriving in shops worldwide soon after.

Vinny Moonshine ends eight-year hiatus: Kevin McGorey released his first cassette as alter-ego Vinny Moonshine in 2014, and quickly thereafter was unable to tour and support the album due to illness. That album Live at Waxwing (not

actually a live album) went on to receive a late burst of critical acclaim, thanks in part to getting reissued in 2020 via Metaphysical Powers. Now, eight years after the debut, Vinny has emerged from the depths to give us Mass Extinction Fairy Tale, 12 cavernous tracks of his signature haunting vocals over blissed-out, dreamy loops. The new album offers the same gorgeously simple melodies fans loved on the debut, with a heavy dub influence that recalls some of the more skeletal songs Panda Bear might write. CD and digital versions of the album are available now via the Metaphysical Powers Bandcamp page, with a release show happening on Dec. 2 at Grey Area, an art gallery in southwest Detroit that has been hosting great DIY and punk concerts as of late (4200 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit, greyareadetroit.com).

Wetdogg’s new video: On her latest video for “EMO SWINGSET,” a track inspired by a middle school diary entry, Wetdogg conjures pop styles both old and new and blends them into a sentimental and mysterious ru mination on emotional uncertainty. Over a minimal club beat, complete with blown-out kicks and echoing percussive textures, Wetdogg’s voice twinkles sharply in a stark juxtaposi tion that somehow results in remark able harmony. The video is charming as well, contrasting VHS-style shots of rollercoasters and swing sets

with clips of the artist’s early-2000s inspired attire and an over-the-shoul der peek at the act of journaling, as if you’re trying to understand what the song is about as a concerned friend. Reminiscent of early work by fellow Detroit artist Tammy Lakkis, as well as some contemporary work by the likes of Hyd, “EMO SWINGSET” is an intriguing offering that primes the listener for more experimental offer ings to come.

Allen Dennard’s debut album: One of the most prolific young jazz talents in the city of Detroit right now is Allen Dennard. As a frequent collaborator with a variety of artists, including Bruiser Brigade affiliates Gulley and Apropos as well as DeSean Jones, to name a few, it seems like Dennard always has something new to offer. Coming off of a stellar year where he performed with his band on the main stage at the 2022 Detroit Jazz Festival, Dennard has just released his debut album, Flashback, celebrating the occasion with a performance at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Cube as well as at a show this past week end at Motor City Wine. The record hit some delays through streaming services, but you can check out a selection of tracks via his SoundCloud page, and be sure to keep an eye out on his website (allendennard. com) and Instagram ( al kay313) for updates on physical and digital distribution. Expect a crisp, refresh ing take on contemporary jazz that soundtracks Dennard’s life as a trumpeter, composer, band leader, and activist.

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Stone Cold & The Jackal: Holiday Show live in Royal Oak. $49. Dec. 3, 1-2:30 pm.

Allen Dennard. NOAH ELLIOTT MORRISON

MUSIC

‘I’m a musician above everything else’

Jazz bassist Rodney Whitaker stays busy with upcoming gigs at Cliff Bell’s

By Jim McFarlin

A phone interview is sched uled with Rodney Whitaker, the native Detroiter hailed as one of the greatest jazz double bass artists on the planet, for a Saturday morning.

Don’t want to call too early. Musi cian’s hours, you know.

“I’ve been up since eight!” Whita ker counters from his mid-Michigan home. “I was in Florida for a couple of days teaching master classes, so I got up this morning, did some writing for the method book I’m working on, then practiced for a couple of hours.”

It’s important to maximize one’s time when you’re a performing, touring, and recording artist who’s played with everybody from Wynton Marsalis to Dizzy Gillespie and who also happens to be the Distinguished Professor of Jazz Bass and Director of Jazz Studies at the Michigan State University College of Music.

“It’s a challenge,” he admits. “I have a regular weekly schedule and only a certain amount of weeks per semester I can go and do other work. But it would be the same if I was a doctor, lawyer, or any other profession. I’m a musician above everything else, and you have to put in the time and hard work in anything you do.”

Whitaker’s road work takes him

home this month for a two-night, three-show gig at Detroit’s fabled jazz club Cliff Bell’s Wednesday and Thursday nights in support of his new release Oasis: The Music of Gregg Hill, coming out this month on the Origin Records label.

Oasis is Whitaker’s third album collaboration with Hill, the Lansingbased composer who has published 145 original jazz compositions. “We recorded the first one (Common Ground) pre-pandemic, and the second one (Outrospection) during the pandemic,” Whitaker says.

“Gregg is a great friend of mine, lives here in the Lansing community, and he’s a very philanthropic person who supports a lot of artists here. But he’s also a beautiful human being, just a kind, gentle person, and we talk about music all the time. He had so many tunes he wanted to get out, and as he began to get his music recorded I said, ‘Hey, I want to be a part of some of these collaborations!’”

It’s also Whitaker’s fifth release on the Seattle-based Origin Records label. His long association with Detroit’s Mack Avenue Music Group ended in 2014.

“They’re a great co-op label,” he says of Origin. “You own your product

and they do all the distribution and promotion. I had done projects with all the artists who record for their label, and when I approached them with my Ellington record (2019’s All Too Soon: The Music of Duke Ellington) they were pretty excited. All the records I’ve done for them have really done well in terms of sales, publicity, and radio play. And you need to own your product in this modern day. That’s the way it should be. Content is everything.”

Whitaker says he tries to perform at Cliff Bell’s at least twice a year in recent years since one of his former students, Noah Jackson, was named curator and creative director there. “I just want to support what he’s doing,” he says.

“But I always tell people, there’s no audience like a Detroit audience,” Whitaker says, a note of pride in his voice. “Those crowds know whether you can play or not. You can’t come into Detroit with no BS. They don’t tolerate it. Detroit has a BS filter. Like Stanley Clarke used to say about New Yorkers, ‘They can smell the sulfur before you strike the match.’”

For this record release engagement Whitaker will be accompanied at Cliff Bell’s, as he was on Oasis, by his daughter, Rockelle Fortin, on vocals. “Rockelle (a musical variation on “Raquel,” a

favorite movie actress of his youth) and I have been playing together since she was 18,” Whitaker says, “and she will tell you she’s in her late 20s now.”

Fortin’s distinctive vocal gifts are particularly evident on the haunting, reflective Oasis track “Interlude.” “You know, just like you’ve got to learn parenting, you’ve got to learn how to work with your family,” Whitaker reflects. “Because sometimes they take what you say very personally. So you’ve got to respect them like you respect your other musicians. I enjoy working with her. She’s got a great voice and comes prepared all the time. And she wrote the lyrics to all the tunes. She’s become quite the lyricist.”

And he’s become quite the educator, helping transform MSU’s jazz curriculum into one of the preeminent programs in the nation under his leadership. “We won a national competi tion last year,” he says, “the alumni are doing well, and the program continues to grow. Probably 60% of our students are from out of state, as far away as California, Florida, and the East Coast. Michigan State has invested a lot in our program, and we’re probably ranking in the Top 10.”

Teaching jazz, as you might imagine, “is very difficult, because you have to think outside the box,” Whitaker believes. “You have to work on com munication all the time. You can’t assume students know what you mean. When I teach I’ll go over material even if we talked about it last week. Nobody wants to admit they don’t know.”

To help present and future stu dents remember, Whitaker is putting together his method book, a textbook that compiles everything he’s learned and taught over his career.

“For the last 20 years I’ve kept a course pack, which is a collection of all the things I’ve taught my students about the bass,” he explains. “What I’ve started working on is putting that all together in a book to be published by next summer. Ron Carter got a method book. Rufus Reid got a method book. So I’m just trying to follow their lead. I think that’s how you leave a legacy.

“One of my mentors always said to me, ‘You don’t have anything to com plain about. You have people paying you money to do your hobby.’ So all is well.”

The Rodney Whitaker Quartet performs album release concerts on behalf of Oa sis at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, o . rs ec. t liff Bell’s, 2030 Park Ave., Detroit; 313- 961cli ells.com. oors o e t p.m. for dinner. Seating begins at 6:15 or t e rst s o .m. or t e seco . Tickets are $25.

Rodney Whitaker performs back-to-back nights at Cliff Bell’s.

COURTESY PHOTO

Thai newcomer is a family affair

By Jane Slaughter

After one visit, a Royal Oakian who lives nearby immediately switched his takeout loyalty from a longstanding Thai restaurant to Saab Sis Thai. Open since January and owned by sisters Rihana and Fang Yenpanya, the place is winning converts in the crowded Royal Oak restaurant market with its spicy takes on familiar favorites.

Thai restaurants have existed in this spot, one after the other, for a quarter century, most recently a carryout-only called Thai Princess. In this — their first restaurant venture — the Yenpanya sisters have made the place lovely, with a tiled and curvy bar, wooden tables, brick walls painted cream, and lots of throw pillows. Windows are below street level, which somehow makes it more interesting to watch the pedestri ans striding by.

I encountered just one dud in a list of 15 dishes sampled over two visits. There’s lots of sweetness and lots of spice.

Appetizers include all the regulars: rolls, potstickers, chicken satay. Spring rolls were skinny and fresh, with a sweet-and-sour sauce. Deep-fried wings are given a place of honor on the menu with a giant picture, indicating the owners know what Americans like. I endorse the chive pancakes, which have been formed into cubes, with a

spicy soy sauce; five for $6 is a good price these days. And my very favorite dish of all was CoCo Calamari, seven big deep-fried rings with dried coco nut sprinkled on and a simple mayoSriracha sauce.

Whether to order Tom Yum or Tom Kar can depend on your mood. Tom Yum is of course tart, even sour, and citrusy, and Fang Yenpanya, who makes the soups, doesn’t skimp on the vegetables. Tom Kar with its coconut base is more soothing, creamy, and yes, sweet. Both mushrooms and the shrimp I added were perfectly cooked, with just the right amount of give.

You can of course make a meal from a large soup, but if you want a more solid entrée, all the regulars are here: curries, various noodles (pads, which means fried, and otherwise), fried rice, and some seafood dishes that at $18-$20 have the highest prices on the menu. For most, there’s a base dish and you choose your protein: tofu, beef, vegetables, chicken, shrimp, or a seafood mix.

Of these, I had three favorites. Egg plant with chicken was sweetish, soy ish, and gingery all at once; it includes garlic and basil too. The eggplant achieved the perfect umami that is its specialty; all Asian cuisines seem to get this right.

Drunken Noodles are often billed as the perfect hangover food. Though they do have a certain winy flavor (maybe that’s the power of sugges tion), a better translation, I’ve read, would be “drunkard’s noodles.” You can see why — they are big wide rice noodles thoroughly soaked in garlic sauce, with veggies to give the illusion of health food. They’re just as good the next day, too, if you do hit the bar after Saab Sis Thai — there’s no liquor license here, yet.

My companion ordered his stir-fry Seafood Chili mild, and it was. Scal lops competed with shrimp and clams for lusciousness.

Almost everything else was good, too. Green curry is not a pretty shade but its gravy is creamy and it includes eggplant despite being sweet. Salmon curry is a giant serving, I thought a bit dry, with kaffir lime leaves for spicy citrus notes. “Mixed vegetables with special brown sauce” contains the baby corn, broccoli and carrots you expect, very crisp, and you they don’t have to stay vegetables-only; all the meat and seafood additions are available. Pad Thai uses the requisite skinny rice noodles along with tofu, bean sprouts, green onions, eggs, and the tamarind sauce that imparts the tang.

Rihana Yenpanya says she’s

Saab Sis Thai

515 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak 248-543-7210

saabsisthai.com Soups $5-$10, entrées, noodles and curries $14-$18

worked as a server at several Thai restaurants and wants to do things a bit differently than most — “closer to the traditional way, how I was growing up” in a village near the Laos border. An example is brother-in-law and chef Jeng Chompoosak’s take on Drunken Noodles. Most restaurants use dried noodles, Rihana says, which are smaller. It costs more to order fresh ones twice a week — but the sisters wanted the big, soft kind, so they do it. And the dish is still just $14-$18.

We were underwhelmed by a banana roll for dessert, where the innards did not taste like bananas, but we loved warm coconut pudding, thoughtfully divided in four for our party. It has a clear gelatinous layer and a white creamy layer.

As you know, in Thailand people eat with a fork and spoon (knives aren’t necessary), but when a guest asked for chopsticks, the server didn’t bat an eye, and brought them right away.

Pad Thai with Tom kha kai soup.

TOM PERKINS

FOOD

Sleek restaurant Zana opens in downtown Birmingham

By Lee DeVito

AN EXTRAVAGANTLY DE

SIGNED restaurant that features gold trim, mosaic tiles, and a far-out, hand-blown glass light fixture from the Czech Republic has opened its doors in downtown Birmingham.

The new spot, called Zana, is located in the former The Bird & The Bread space at 210 S. Old Woodward Ave. It’s the latest restaurant by the Tallulah Group, which also operates Birming ham’s Tallulah Wine Bar & Bistro and Detroit’s Besa.

“Guests should expect a dining experience that will transcend taste through alluring ambiance, bold flavors and unparalleled service,” said Johnny

Prenci, Zana’s general manager and partner, in a press release.

The menu was led by Chef Jason Bamford, a chef from Michigan whose career started at New York’s Culinary Institute of America and included stints as VIP chef at NYC’s Waldorf Astoria and executive chef at Miami’s Delano Hotel.

“I’ve been fortunate to have worked all over the country but was waiting for the right opportunity to return home to Michigan,” Bamford said in a press release. “It’s an honor to now be part of the Zana family.”

The menu includes dishes like steak tartare (with 12-hour tomato, shiitake,

Kum & Go is ‘kumming’ to Detroit

THE HUMOROUSLY NAMED convenience store chain Kum & Go is coming to metro Detroit.

The family-owned, Iowa-based com pany announced that it plans to open stores in the Detroit area in 2024, and more than 50 in Michigan in the coming (kumming?) years.

The company previously announced an expansion into Grand Rapids.

“We are excited to announce our en try into the Detroit market,” said Kum & Go CEO Tanner Krause in a state ment. “We’ve been warmly welcomed

as we prepare to enter the Grand Rapids area and with the addition of Detroit, believe Kum & Go will be the lead convenience operator across the state as we continue our growth and expansion. Michigan is full of great people and great communities, and we know Kum & Go’s fresh perspective to convenience will create many opportunities there.”

“We’re thrilled to continue our expansion in Michigan with this move into the Detroit area,” said Niki Mason, senior vice president of store develop ment. “Detroit’s ever evolving and

burnt onion, cress, and marrow toast, under smoke), octopus (with fennel, potato, cured olive, celery, chicharron, nduja, and lemon), whole black bass (with olive, citrus, herbs, potato tos tones, and Shishito pepper zhoug), and lamb chops (with coco spice, shaved kohlrabi, apple, cress, black barley, mint, and pomegranate vinaigrette.)

Zana’s cocktail program is led by mixologist Anthony Escalante.

The 10,000-square-foot space includes a bar, private dining room, and seating for up to 135 guests.

More information is available at zanabham.com.

The Red Hook will host a pop-up in former Great Lakes Coffee Co.

AFTER ONE LOCAL coffee company closed, another is poised to take its space — at least for one night.

Signs for local coffee company

The Red Hook were spotted on the former Great Lakes Coffee Com pany in Midtown by a Metro Times reporter last week.

The Red Hook owner Sandi Heaselgrave tells Metro Times by email that The Red Hook plans to open a pop-up in the space on Noel Night, the holiday event planned for Saturday, Dec. 3.

No word on whether The Red Hook will permanently move into the space.

The Great Lakes Coffee Company store closed in January during a CO VID-19 outbreak, prompting staff to go on strike in demand of union recognition and better working conditions.

It never reopened, and as the months-long labor dispute dragged out, the company closed its other locations inside Meijer stores in Detroit and Royal Oak. Those two locations have since become outposts for another local company, Avalon International Breads.

The Red Hook operates three other stores in metro Detroit, including downtown Ferndale, West Village, and its “Greenway” location near the riverfront. That third loca tion closed earlier this year when a car crashed into it, but according to a post on The Red Hook’s Instagram page, it aims to reopen in midDecember.

—Lee DeVito

changing city presents an exciting opportunity for growth and expansion. We’re excited to start serving and con necting with this community.”

The expansion comes (kums ) as the company has launched a new madeto-order menu dubbed “Real, Fresh, Fast Eats” meant to compete with fast-casual restaurants that has been described as “better-than-fast food but faster-than-fast-casual food,” including sandwiches, burritos, bowls, and cold brews. Kum & Go also uses compostable silverware and straws, recyclable cups and lids, and paper or post-con sumer recycled food packaging.

It also has some cute merch and an appropriately humorous social media presence.

The company, which has more than 400 stores in 11 states, says it offers full time employment opportunities with benefits including medical and dental coverage, tuition reimbursement, 401(k) with match, paid time off, paren tal leave, and more. It also has a policy of donating 10 of its profits back to the local community. (Kummunity?)

“Welkum” to Detroit!

—Lee DeVito

Designers pulled out all the stops for Zana.

HAYDEN STINEBAUGH

Program aims to help Michigan military vets with free pot

By Lee DeVito

A NEW PROJECT has a plan for Michigan’s cannabis surplus: donate it to U.S. military veterans to help them treat conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder.

Michigan’s recently approved Veteran Compassion Care program, a partnership between the Hero Project USA and the Canna Social Equity Foundation, is modeled after a similar program launched in California.

Due to the federal prohibition of cannabis, the U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs frowns upon its use by vets. But Canna Social Equity Foundation executive director Connie MaximSparrow says many vets who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries say they would rather use cannabis to help treat their conditions than other drugs.

“Some of the feedback that we receive out of the Hero Project is that [vets] don’t want to be on pharmaceu ticals, they don’t want to be on opi ates,” she says. “And they just feel like once they get home from active duty and they’ve been diagnosed with a TBI or PTSD, the VA just starts handing them fistfuls of drugs, and they don’t want to be on them.”

Maxim-Sparrow says the conditions were right for such a program in Michi gan. It could also help manage Michigan’s cannabis surplus, caused by an overabundance of licenses which has led to a drop in the price of cannabis, hurting local growers and dispensaries.

“It would be helpful, I think, that if we had this donation stream, we would be able to combat this oversaturation of products,” she says.

Maxim-Sparrow says she was first approached with the idea in 2021 by California-based cannabis delivery company Eaze, which helped launch a similar program there, to bring it to Michigan. “Well, unfortunately, Eaze is not operating in Michigan anymore,” Maxim-Sparrow says. “And so they kind of pulled away from working with us on this project. But what was beautiful about it was they gave us all of their guidance documents that they have in California.”

Maxim-Sparrow says she and her partner Anton Harb tried for months to get the state’s previous Cannabis Regulatory Agency executive director Andrew Brisbo to move forward with the project, to no avail. Acting director Brian Hanna was appointed to replace Brisbo earlier this year, and Maxim-

Sparrow says he immediately greenlit the project. Hanna is also a military vet, having served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve.

“In a matter of seconds, he said, ‘Yeah, go ahead and move it forward,’” Maxim-Sparrow says. “We were kind of shocked.”

Maxim-Sparrow says she hopes to launch the project in 2023 with a pilot featuring 25 Michigan veterans diagnosed with PTSD or TBI that also are approved for medical marijuana cards. Cannabis retailers, cultivators, and processors will have the opportunity to legally donate commercially tested products to designated retail locations for distribution to vets, who will get the donated products free of charge.

Several cannabis businesses have already expressed interest in the program, including JARS Cannabis, Michigrown, and Premier Grow. Maxim-Sparrow says interested licensees should contact Samantha Perysian at samantha hatchaplanmi.com to find out how they can participate.

The goal is to expand the project even further in Michigan in 2024, Maxim-Sparrow says. She hopes to also bring it to Missouri, where voters recently approved adult-use cannabis.

CRA waives additional fees for social equity applicants

APPLICANTS FOR THE social equity program in Michigan’s cannabis industry no longer have to pay an additional application fee if their prequalification status has expired.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer an nounced the change to the Canna bis Regulatory Agency on Tuesday.

“Removing this barrier to entry for social equity program partici pants in the cannabis industry will lower the cost of doing business and promote sustainable small business growth in Michigan,” Whitmer said in a statement.

“This essential update will directly benefit business owners who have been most impacted by unfair laws and practices and ensure that Michigan continues leading the way in building an equitable, just, and prosperous cannabis industry.”

The social equity program was designed to help people from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the racist war on drugs to get a leg up in the new legal industry. It offers reduced application fees for people from communities impacted by cannabis prohibition, including a 25% fee reduction for residents who have lived in an impacted community for at least 5 years, a 25% fee reduction for applicants with misdemeanor cannabis-relat ed crime convictions, and 40% for cannabis-related felonies.

The non-refundable application fee for prequalification is $3,000. Additional fees range from $1,000 for cannabis event organizers and consumption establishments and $24,000 for growers and processors.

Social equity applicants will be required to submit a new prequali fication application, but they will not be charged an additional ap plication fee.

“Listening to stakeholders is very important to the success of this industry and is one of my top objectives,” acting CRA execu tive director Brian Hanna said in a statement. “I am proud that my team has found a way to make this improvement to our processes a reality for our social equity partici pants.”

—Lee DeVito More information is available at michigan.gov/cra.

The Veteran Compassion Care program plans to use the state’s cannabis surplus to treat PTSD

SHUTTERSTOCK

For the love of lm

By George Elkind

In one of The Fabelmans best scenes, three family members — a father, a mother, and a son — work on separate creative tasks as a force moves between them. The mother dutifully practices the piano, retreating into her instrument as its tones carry through the house. The fa ther sits with a notepad across from her, seeming to make notes as he listens. At the same time, upstairs, their son Sammy engages in the rhythmic tasks of film editing on an analog bench, working on a short work dedicated to his mother at his father’s secret request. Living amid the tensions of these related forms of work, and treating film as a few of the things it can most naturally be — both documen tary and a creative expression — Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans concerns itself with what Sammy’s work reveals. Alone in the dark, he’s left to map out his vision of the world, the specters of both familial and artistic influence carrying through the air.

As a bildungsroman engaged in playful self-mythologizing past the crest of a staggering film career, The Fabelmans manages to prove so buoyant, fluid, and wide-ranging in its concerns that it retains a liveliness one wouldn’t expect from its premise. Recounting a child hood (plainly a close approximation of Spielberg’s own) in which a middle-class Jewish kid falls in love with filmmaking, Tony Kushner’s collaboratively writ ten screenplay frames the form its lead falls head over heels for as something between a science and an art.

Those two poles don’t spring from nowhere; instead, they’re set out in alignment with Sammy’s two quite differ ently constituted parents. With Sammy (newcomer Gabriel LaBelle for most of the movie) navigating between his mother’s restless creativity and eventual discontent versus his father’s more actu alized, if faintly conservative attention to the capital-p Practical (though still creative and well-meaning) disposition as an engineer, the film also presents a study in divergent acting styles. As Mitzi, Sammy’s mother, Michelle Wil liams plays things nearly to the rafters, appearing in flowing garments (courtesy

of costume designer Mark Bridges) that seem like conscious efforts in cultivat ing a sense of freewheeling looseness her circumstances refuse to allow her. Seeming somehow inadequate to her efforts to express herself amid her lot as a homemaker and a partner to a husband with an accelerating career, these almost proto-hippie garments — like Willliams’s performance — mark Mitzi’s life as one of dreams only partially fulfilled. Charac terized through clothes, circumstances, and what she can’t achieve in maneu ver or expression during a constricted but changing time, Williams plies the language of mid-century melodramas in striving to get at gesturally what’s hard in the film’s particular moment for women to more plainly show or say.

Appearing in more familiar trappings and textured suits, Paul Dano as Burt, Sammy’s father, speaks with a hushed but warm seriousness, conveying a kind of ardor that’s earnest and unrestrained even as it’s stilted, delivered as it is from his character’s freer place of dorky paternal obliviousness. Conversationally awkward, effortfully polite, and some times blithe, Dano’s gee-whiz manner isms paper over a simmering temper and the fact that harms often arise from the best sorts of intentions — making for a less eccentric, more actorly performance, in contemporary terms, than Williams’s.

In this familial context, Sammy’s life exists in the context of a kind of turf war waged between his parents — albeit one fought through soft means, rarely erupt ing into anything too fierce. When either parent pushes Sammy in a particular direction, they do so as something like peers, expressing needs or grievances they’re (somewhat cheaply) leveraging parental authority and a sense of obliga

tion to either satisfy or air.

This running conflict lends The Fabel mans only a loose structure, one which trusts its meanderings to be as rewarding as any throughline might. (This tension, between the “practical” expectations of linear plotting and more intuitive draw of exploratory, episodic musings, enriches the film in parallel with the binarized polarities that tug at its young lead.) As it advances, and as Sammy moves through childhood into his late teens, the film’s tone and focus shift to and away from his parents, across states, and between the daily work of artistic craft and hostile confrontations at school. The film’s movements across episodes need not assume or deliver a sense of reliable prog ress, only a sense of occurrence, texture, and feeling, least of all because we know as viewers where the story ends. It’s inevi table (which partly curbs the film’s sense of suspense or risk) that Sammy will succeed, that he’ll go on to have a career first in television and then remake an industry, just as his maker’s been lucky enough to have.

But this sense of wandering is mostly a virtue, interrupted at intervals by the sorts of pep talks about self-fulfillment and pressurized questions regarding direction in life so familiar to coming-ofage fare. (For examples of these tropes grievous enough to sink a like autobio graphical film, one need only look to 2014’s Boyhood , but Fabelmans, thank fully, survives them.) This sense of integ rity is undeniably helped by Spielberg’s chops as a narrative entertainer, as well as Kushner’s wry, largely balanced writing work (only occasionally devolving into self-gratifying coyness).

Janusz Kami ski’s characteristically freakish work as a cinematographer and

lighting designer makes an ongoing case for itself here, too — a collaboration which tends to make Spielberg’s work far stranger and more expressive than it’s of ten given credit for. Toying with film for mats and some elemental, almost primi tive techniques of camera placement, blocking, and light, there’s something rich (if self-flattering) about Spielberg re tracing his first steps in filmmaking as he does here, restaging his past with a sense of good-hearted bemusement married to aesthetic inquiry.

Of The Fabelmans ’ many fine features, its approach to influence stands as one of its best. Positioning Spielberg’s early work (and, by extension, his later output) as products as much of history, col laboration, and personal experience as anything resembling authorial origi nality, his portrayal of filmmaking as a process acknowledges, in a work with few sharp edges, the volatility of the relation ship between input and effect. In other words, it accounts for the inability of any calculation to plot the links between creative effort and audience response. As with the spheres of physical science and creative artistry which the film charts a course between, the tensions inherent to the medium present mysteries that can be navigated but never resolved. Readily acknowledging the limits of what a career of often striving films can do, Spielberg situates his work modestly here in the slipsteams of cultural history, dealing with it both as a product of both his ex periential limits, his influences, and his time. Less imagining here that he could change the world than that he might reframe it, his craft is framed mostly as not too much more than a welcome — and hopefully stirring — diversion in the end.

Gabriel LaBelle plays Steven Spielberg’s alter ego in The Fablemans

MERIE WEISMILLER WALLACE/UNIVERSAL PICTURES/ AMBLIN ENTERTAINMENT

CULTURE

Savage Love

By Dan Savage

: Q I’m a 29-year-old cis straight male. What are the ethics of having a minor cum/breeding kink? Thanks, Dan!

: A No one chooses their kinks — our kinks choose us — so having a kink doesn’t raise ethical issues. Acting on our kinks… making choices that impact others… that’s where ethical concerns kick in. So, if it turns you on to “breed” someone, as the gay boys (very problematically!) like to say, and you never act on it, if you just sit in your apartment wanking about it, there are no ethical issues. But if you act on this kink with another person — if you want to have unprotected sex with a woman — you need to make sure she’s aware of the risks going in and that birth control is her responsibility. And you should be fully aware — going in and out and in and out — that child support could be your responsibility. (Also, you should read Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion by Gabrielle Blair.)

: Q I have misophonia. Blowjob noises make me sick. Is it possible to give a quiet blowjob?

: A Misophonia is a sensory disorder that makes certain sounds extremely unpleasant; eating sounds — mouth noises — can be particularly triggering for sufferers. Noise-canceling headphones seem like an obvious solution, but they won’t work, as noises made in your own mouth have a very different path to your eardrums. So, what you need are noise-generating headphones, i.e., regular ol’ headphones blasting music cranked up so loud you literally can’t hear anything else — not even those plunger-being-used-in-desperation-as-the-water-rises-to-the-top-ofthe-toilet-bowl sounds someone giving a blowjob makes when their work is almost done.

: Q Beginning to think I’m bad at sex. I try to be GGG. Any tips?

: A Sex isn’t just about giving plea sure; it’s not just about being GGG for your partner. It’s also about taking

pleasure and giving your partner the opportunity to be GGG for you. So, figure out what it is you like and what you want — sex acts or scenarios or dirty talk or materials that turn you on — and find someone who wants to give you those things, and take them.

: Q I’m a mid bi woman in her mid-30s a few years into an open/poly marriage to a man. I’ve fallen pretty hard for my girlfriend of six months. I’ve had relationships with women before getting married, but this one has me questioni i e ier s ll e e lesbian. How do I work out if this is just NRE (new relationship energy), a s eci c co ectio it er or ct ll a waning interest in men altogether?

: A Wanting to be with your new girlfriend all the time — that’s NRE for you — doesn’t mean you’d be happier as a lesbian, fully-fledged or otherwise. But it doesn’t not mean that either. You won’t know how you’re going to feel until the NRE wears off, which it should soon.

My boyfriend doesn’t want an open relationship and won’t have sex with me. But he looks at Grindr and watches a lot of porn. What do I do?

“I love you, honey, and I can do a sex less relationship — I mean, that’s what we’ve been doing for a while, so I can obviously do it — but I’m not going to lead a sexless existence. So, we’re either opening our relationship or we’re end ing it. One or the other, your choice.” (My hunch is that your boyfriend has already opened things on his end, liter ally and figuratively. Guys don’t get on Grindr for the recipes. So, it’s ultima tum time.)

Best advice for keeping sex hot in your late 40s, when you’re tired, you hurt, you’re crabby, and you’re bitter?

Realistic expectations, scheduled sex, pot edibles, E.D. meds, and erotic adventures planned months in advance (anticipation is a turn-on).

: Q I have a vanilla boyfriend (of three years) and a Master (of three years). My boyfriend knows. My Master wants my boyfriend to start asking Him — to call and ask Him — for His permission whenever my boyfriend wants to have sex with me, since I’m His “property,” but I know my boyfriend won’t want to do this and will be angry that I asked. I lo e ot i er iffere t s don’t know what to do. (My Master uses He/Him pronouns, always uppercased. If you respond, please use uppercase

He/Him in reference to my Master.)

: A Like your boyfriend, I am not your master’s slave. So, you can uppercase his pronouns on his orders — his, his, his — all you like, but you can’t order me to uppercase his pronouns. Which I probably would’ve done if you hadn’t told me I must. (I usually capitalize “Master” and “Mistress” and “Dom,” too, but I’m making an exception for your master, as I’m kind of annoyed.) Now, your boyfriend having to call and beg him (your master) when he (your boyfriend) wants to have sex with you (the person who annoyed me just now), that would be hot… if your boyfriend was into it… which he’s not. So, tell your master involving your boyfriend is a hard limit. And if your master can’t respect that limit, end things with him. If you can’t bear the thought and you’re willing to deceive both men in your life, well, you could buy a burner phone, impersonate your boyfriend’s voice, and pray you don’t get caught.

: Q How do I convince straight men that constantly pumping me full of c o s s er ci l com lime ts is not a substitution for a personality, a co ers tio or irti

: A By refusing to fuck them, one vacuous, superficial, meaningless-compliment-spewing straight guy at a time. (That said, compliments negging.) Urban dictionary and most folks consider “cocksucker” to be an insult. ost o s co si er m ff i er o t e other hand, to be a compliment. Is there a complimentary term for someone who sucks cock?

“Husband material.”

: Q Do you owe your romantic partner 100% honesty about everything?

: A No.

: Q Best advice for newlyweds?

: A See previous question.

: Q My husband of more than 20 years once told me he’d prefer to be the one initiating all sexual contact between s. t s e s lo s i t t i about it too much. Recently, I have begun to feel restrained by this and it has become a big problem for us. Is this a common hang-up for straight guys? Our sex life was really good for a long time, but I suddenly feel zero agency. He feels bad about it, too, but we can’t seem to get past it. Your thoughts?

: A Sounds like your husband needs to see a therapist; preferably a sex-positive therapist, and preferably in 1998.

Your husband might think women aren’t supposed to feel lust, and so a woman who initiates is a turn-off, or your husband might be uncomfortable — as some men are — being the object of desire, so you initiating turns him off. One or the other, both or neither, he needs to see a shrink.

: Q Is it OK to keep seeing someone who caught feelings for you when it’s not mutual? I’ve communicated where I’m at emotionally and reiterated that this isn’t exclusive. Am I doing my friend a disservice by continuing to see them? I don’t want to give up my only intimate outlet but being kind is more important to me.

: A It’s OK to keep seeing/fucking someone who caught feelings for you. But since you can’t know how that person is really feeling — they might be miserable and hiding it because they hope your feelings will change if they can just fuck you long enough — then calling it off is the kinder choice.

: Q Should I keep fucking my best friend who doesn’t want to be more than friends?

: A If you’re enjoying the sex, you’re not feeling used, and you don’t have false hopes, yes. If you’re hoping the sex will lead to something more, no.

: Q My previously very sub maso partner now has PTSD after a workplace injury. No idea if his relationship to pain will ever reset so we can play again. I can deal, but this is a big part of what ot s to et er i t e rst l ce.

: A Like a horny new dad whose wife is still recovering from the trauma of childbirth… you’ll have to deal while your partner heals. And if your partner can never again enjoy the kind of pain play that brought you together, you can explore less physically intense — and potentially triggering — kinds of pain play, perhaps supplemented with more intense psychological play. Mind fucks, humiliation, degradation, e.g., emotional sadomasochism. Negotiated carefully, rolled out slowly.

: Q t somet i er s eci c done to me sexually, but I don’t want to ask for it. I don’t think it would be as hot if I asked for it. I need to “inception” the idea. How do I do it?

: A At your own peril.

See the full column, along with podcasts, columns, and more, at Savage. Love. Send your question to mailbox@ savage.love.

CULTURE Free Will Astrology

By Rob Brezsny

ARIES: March 21 – April 19

Journalist Hadley Freeman interviewed Aries actor William Shatner when he was 90. She was surprised to find that the man who played Star Trek ’s Captain Kirk looked 30 years younger than his actual age. “How do you account for your robustness?” she asked him. “I ride a lot of horses, and I’m into the bewilderment of the world,” said Shatner. “I open my heart and head into the curiosity of how things work.” I suggest you adopt Shat ner’s approach in the coming weeks, Aries. Be intoxicated with the emotion al richness of mysteries and perplexi ties. Feel the joy of how unknowable and unpredictable everything is. Bask in the blessings of the beautiful and bountiful questions that life sends your way.

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

Of all the objects on earth, which is most likely to be carelessly cast away and turned into litter? Cigarette butts, of course. That’s why an Indian entre preneur named Naman Guota is such a revolutionary. Thus far, he has recycled and transformed over 300 million butts into mosquito repellant, toys, keyrings,

and compost, which he and his com pany have sold for over a million dol lars. I predict that in the coming weeks, you will have a comparable genius for converting debris and scraps into use ful, valuable stuff. You will be skilled at recycling dross. Meditate on how you might accomplish this metaphorically and psychologically.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

Tips on how to be the best Gemini you can be in the coming weeks: 1. Think laterally or in spirals rather than straight lines. 2. Gleefully solve problems in your daydreams. 3. Try not to hurt anyone accidentally. Maybe go overboard in being sensitive and kind. 4. Cultivate even more variety than usual in the influences you surround yourself with. 5. Speak the diplomatic truth to people who truly need to hear it. 6. Make creative use of your mostly hidden side. . Never let people figure you out completely.

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

In my dream, I gathered with my five favorite astrologers to ruminate on your immediate future. After much discussion, we decided the following advice would be helpful for you in December. 1. Make the most useful and inspirational errors you’ve dared in a long time. 2. Try experiments that teach you interesting lessons even if they aren’t completely successful. 3. Identify and honor the blessings in every mess.

LEO: July 23 – August 22

I think one of the major hangups Americans have with soccer and the World Cup is, unlike the rest of the world, our best actors are in Hollywood or on Broadway. Yeah, we’ll put the game on.

“All possible feelings do not yet exist,” writes Leo novelist Nicole Krauss in her book The History of Love. “There are still those that lie beyond our capacity and our imagination. From time to time, when a piece of music no one has ever written, or something else impossible to predict, fathom, or yet describe takes place, a new feeling enters the world. And then, for the mil lionth time in the history of feeling, the heart surges and absorbs the impact.” I suspect that some of these novel moods will soon be welling up in you, Leo. I’m confident your heart will absorb the influx with intelligence and fascination.

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

Virgo author Jeanette Winterson writes, “I have always tried to make a home for myself, but I have not felt at home in myself. I have worked hard at being the hero of my own life, but every time I checked the register of displaced persons, I was still on it. I didn’t know how to belong. Longing Yes. Belong ing? No.” Let’s unpack Winterson’s complex testimony as it relates to you right now. I think you are closer than ever before to feeling at home in

JAMES NOELLERT

yourself — maybe not perfectly so, but more than in the past. I also suspect you have a greater-than-usual capacity for belonging. That’s why I invite you to be clear about what or whom you want to belong to and what your belonging will feel like. One more thing: You now have extraordinary power to learn more about what it means to be the hero of your own life.

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

It’s tempting for you to entertain balanced views about every subject. You might prefer to never come to definitive conclusions about anything, because it’s so much fun basking in the pretty glow of prismatic ambigu ity. You LOVE there being five sides to every story. I’m not here to scold you about this predilection. As a person with three Libran planets in my chart, I understand the appeal of considering all options. But I will advise you to take a brief break from this tendency. If you avoid making decisions in the coming weeks, they will be made for you by others. I don’t recommend that. Be proactive.

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21

Scorpio poet David Whyte makes the surprising statement that “anger is the deepest form of compassion.” What does he mean? As long as it doesn’t result in violence, he says, “anger is the purest form of care. The internal living flame of anger always illuminates what we belong to, what we wish to protect, and what we are willing to hazard our selves for.” Invoking Whyte’s definition, I will urge you to savor your anger in the coming days. I will invite you to honor and celebrate your anger, and use it to guide your constructive efforts to fix some problem or ease some hurt. (Read more: tinyurl.com/AngerCompassion)

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

Sagittarian comedian Margaret Cho dealt with floods of ignorant criti cism while growing up. She testifies, “Being called ugly and fat and dis gusting from the time I could barely understand what the words meant has scarred me so deep inside that I have learned to hunt, stalk, claim, own, and defend my own loveliness.” You may not have ever experienced such extreme

forms of disapproval, Sagittarius, but — like all of us — you have on some occasions been berated or undervalued simply for being who you are. The good news is that the coming months will be a favorable time to do what Cho has done: hunt, stalk, claim, own, and defend your own loveliness. It’s time to intensify your efforts in this noble project.

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

The bad news: In 1998, Shon Hopwood was sentenced to 12 years in prison for committing bank robberies. The good news: While incarcerated, he studied law and helped a number of his fellow prisoners win their legal cases — including one heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. After his release, he became a full-fledged lawyer, and is now a professor of law at Georgetown University. Your current trouble isn’t anywhere as severe as Hopwood’s was, Capricorn, but I expect your current kerfu e could motivate you to accom plish a very fine redemption.

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

“I stopped going to therapy because I knew my therapist was right, and I wanted to keep being wrong,” writes poet Clementine von Radics. “I wanted to keep my bad habits like charms on a bracelet. I did not want to be brave.” Dear Aquarius, I hope you will do the opposite of her in the com ing weeks. You are, I suspect, very near to a major healing. You’re on the verge of at least partially fixing a problem that has plagued you for a while. So please keep calling on whatever help you’ve been receiving. Maybe ask for even more support and inspiration from the influences that have been con tributing to your slow, steady progress.

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

As you have roused your personal power to defeat your fears in the past, what methods and approaches have worked best for you? Are there brave people who have inspired you? Are there stories and symbols that have taught you useful tricks? I urge you to survey all you have learned about the art of summoning extra courage. In the coming weeks, you will be glad you have this information to draw on. I don’t mean to imply that your chal lenges will be scarier or more daunting than usual. My point is that you will have unprecedented opportunities to create vigorous new trends in your life if you are as bold and audacious as you can be.

This week’s homework: What do you like a little that you might be able to like a lot?

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