Dirty Show

With the month of February comes cliche sentiments of love and romance, and feelings of inadequacy that you're not showing your significant other enough affection. And fortunately, it also comes with fishnets, bondage, and electrical tape! That's right kids, it's Dirty Show time again!

This year is the 12th incarnation of the erotic art show, and the Dirty Show continues to draw an international cadre of artists with a variety of different media but all all built around a theme of eroticism. But while all artists initially start with the same theme, it's always astonishing to see how the motif gets twisted embraced and the variety of interpretation that comes out as a result. I tend to gravitate to the more kitchy and whimsical pieces that make me chuckle to myself, but the gamut runs from macabre to surreal to just plain ol' dirty.

(I love BTW, that in the background  you can catch another rope act of a differnt kind going on on top the bar. One a little more dirty, but no less acrobatic...).

Since first attending the show in 2007 when it seemed that Bert's Warehouse was packed to the rafters, it seemed even more packed last Saturday. Fortunately (thanks Dayna!) we got our tix right when doors opened, and when we came back later to get in, it was already sold out. It seemed that the type of art showcased was very different this year compared with years previous, which was refreshing to see. Not that I disliked the previous shows, but there have been some perrenial favorites that have had similar pieces included in the show for the last few years. It was really great to see a totally different spectrum of artwork, and there definitely seemed to be a lot more photography featured.

On the performance end, there also seemed to be a much different roster of performers this year. In the past it seemed like it was pretty heavy on burlesque performers and girls that can do all kinds of neat tricks on poles. Don't get me wrong, many of these lovely ladies still represented respectably, including the Detroit Dizzy Dames and Hell's Belles, and I guarantee that Kat the Midget Entertainer walked away with far more dollar bills than anyone else, except maybe a half naked bartender and hey, they have the advantage of doling out booze, so an easy advantage. But there were far more boylesque (oh yes, put in in your vernacular 'cos it's here to stay) groups and representation by the fellas in general - I don't ever recall there being a dude dancing above in the cages, and certainly not one rockin' a tramp stamp and lace up boots. I appreciated the broader range and more inclusive lineup - it was nice to feel like it wasn't just dudes drooling over boobs...ha ha! Who am I kidding? Men, drooling, and boobs were still there in full force!

But don't worry! You still have a chance to drool over boobs - one additional date for the Dirty Show has been added for this Saturday, Feb 26th. So get out those pleather thigh high boots out from the back of the closet, tie up that corset, and bring your whip along, it always promises to be an eye-opening event, in all the best ways.

Thanks again to Matt and Dayna for coming with me! You guys rock.

Iggy and the Stooges tix

I admit it: I haven't been so determined to get tickets at an on sale since having my sister move us up to the front of the queue when she was working at the Michigan Union ticket office for our 'N Sync tickets in the summer of 2000 (chuckle and mock all you want kids, but it was probably the most fun I've ever had at a concert. I might attribute that to the fact that we were the only few people there who could buy and consume alcoholic beverages...). But there I was staring at the clock in the lower right corner of my computer screen Friday morning hitting refresh on the ticketmaster website every 15 seconds until the links went active. Success was mine (lemme tell ya though, those little timer things on each page while you're filling out fields on the ticketmaster website are a little stressful).

I have my Iggy and the Stooges tix. Actually, strike that, I have my receipt that I paid for my Iggy and the Stooges tix. Now I'll be stalking my mailman awaiting their arrival in the mail. The concert will be April 19th at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor and is a benefit for the Ron Asheton foundation. There's a great note from Iggy on the Michigan Theatre's website:

"The Stooges and I wanted to do a concert in memory of Ron and his music. We've chosen to do this in Ann Arbor where our group, our attitudes and our ideals were forged. It really was the birth of a movement. We're planning to involve musicians across the spectrum from classical to youth groups and have a fucking big blast in memory of Ron. Teenage musicians from the Neutral Zone, Ann Arbor's teen center will open performing early Stooges songs. I may join them on vocals if they don't have somebody who can kick my ass. Deniz Tek from Radio Birdman who was Ron's closest friend in music outside the group is going to join me for a couple of Ron's best numbers. Henry Rollins who articulates so many things about music so well has volunteered to MC and try yet again to defeat me in a musical duel. He may think he's got a better chance now that I'm 64, and he's only 50, we shall see. Henry was given his pick of Stooges songs to perform and he chose a great one.

The full and present Iggy and the Stooges line up will then perform a full set, songs from The Stooges, Funhouse, Raw Power/- James Williamson - guitar, Scott Asheton - drums, Iggy Pop – vocals, Mike Watt and Steve Mackay, Bass and Sax respectively."

-Iggy Pop

See you there bitches!

Motown Winter Blast

Even 5 years later, my first Motown Winter Blast experience still rings unpleasant in my mind. In addition to one million other people, we went down in 2006, the year Super Bowl XL was in town. And in spite of being blown away at the energy and excitement of the event, Detroit being magically transformed into a thriving city, and having an amazing time while we were actually enjoying the events, most of that enjoyment was squashed as the shuttle back to Royal Oak turned into a debacle of City Council proportions. After seeing swelling masses of crowds bum rush each approaching bus (to the point of fearing for our safety), falling asleep on the floor of the Penobscot building waiting for a cab, and finally getting back home around 4am, I can only call my previous experience a draw.

This year however, I can report far less drama. The 7^th Motown Winter Blast returned to the Campus Martius area downtown this past weekend with a wide variety of winter-themed entertainment including an ice sculpture park, marshmallow toasting, snow shoeing, and not 1, but 2 ice slides (the big’un and the junior). After donating our cans of food to Matrix Human Services and the Rotary Club’s “Break the Ice” on the Cycle of Poverty Initiative as entry fee, Amy, Marisa and I made a lap and checked out all of the winter festivities- sorry to report we all chickened out on the ice slide.

What we did manage to enjoy though were a few of the bands and performers that were playing  on Sunday. We caught Torch with a Twist, the “Old Timey Vaudevillian Variety Show” that has been performing  around the D for the past few years, helmed by Miss Grace Detroit, with a shifting cast of characters. Today we were fortunate to catch the magic of Joshua Wilde, the hooping of Olive Oyl, the belly dancing of Leilani, and the generally kooky antics of Satori Circus. While usually geared towards a more adult crowd, the performances were fun and family-friendly and the crowd certainly seemed to enjoy (I’m fairly certain the little girl in front of me who was entranced by Leiliani will be dressing up in all of her long skirts, putting flowers in her hair, and asking her mom for a knife to try to balance on her head while dancing). I dug it all…hey, they had me at digeridoo.

We were also able to catch Black Beauty, a blues/rock ensemble including a venerable who’s-who of local Detroit bands including Rachel May (Broadzilla) and George Friend (Twistin’ Tarantulas, Sun Messengers) on vocals and guitar (disclaimer: ok, so clearly I’m a newbie at this, and I suck, and I didn’t pay close enough attention, so I missed the names of the other folks in the band so please feel free to comment away correcting me or berating me and I will edit as appropriate. Lesson learned: notebook and pen at all times Lisa).

I think I’ve only seen Broadzilla once or twice over the last bunch of years, and I can say with certainty that I had no idea what a kickass voice Rachel has. I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of “Big Balls” and associated it with an effortless, bluesy rock voice, but the girl’s got the amazing chops to make me change my way of thinking. And I’ll probably appreciate “Big Balls” in a whole new way (that's right, I said that). The band had everyone passing by (young and old) getting their little groove on. My favorite, oddest part (with the exception of the 2 big pimpin’ full length coats that somehow found their way to each other) was the fact that they were selling sheets and bedding at a stand not far from the stage, so there were more than a few people dancing to the band with a 500 thread count sheet set on their arm. Gotta love it.

So my second attempt at the Winter Blast was a fun time and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. And the best part this time around? A short walk home right around the corner.

Well hello there stranger

Welcome everyone! For those of you who don’t know, I used to have a blog from roughly 2001 to 2007, but abandoned it when I moved to a new job where inevitably someone would have discovered its whereabouts, and the content was far more personal than I would prefer my new cubemates to have access to.  When I originally started blathering about my musings, random observations about pop culture, and occasional inebriated adventures back in 2001, the internet, and blogs in particular, were far different than they are today.  Words like “social networking” and “texting” (!!) were not even part of our lexicon yet. But since so much has changed, I think it only appropriate, and hopefully smarter on my part, to change the goals of my blog.

So my aims for blogging this time around are notably different than previous. I’ll be writing about the different arts, music, and cultural events around the Detroit area. I figure I go to so many of these events all over the place as it is, I may as well take a few pics and a little extra time to write up what I see.  So it’ll be a little bit of a blend of old school blog + new school blog. Without being quite so self-incriminating. But potentially with as much profanity.

So as an intro to me, I just moved to downtown Detroit a few months ago, having lived in the suburbs all my life. And it has been one of the wiser choices I’ve ever made. I am currently working as a technical writer for a small company. I even manage people (I know, seriously right? I’m responsible for other people??). And while I very much love what I do, it isn’t necessarily an outlet that allows me to be tremendously creative with writing (but I can copy and paste like a mofo). So this blog will hopefully suffice to inject some creativity into my day.

I have a crazy wide interest in music and don’t specifically affiliate myself to any one musical genre.  I have a soft spot for mellow singer songwriters;  I will unabashedly rock out to ELO at safer than recommended volumes; I’ve had Cee Lo’s “F**k You” stuck in my head for about a week now (“Ain’t that some sh*t?”).  I’m as easily convinced to go to Beer Fest (ok, not like that requires much convincing) as I am to go to a comedy show or art gallery opening.

So stay tuned kids! I’ll be out and about. If you’re ever going to something cool and you would like to have me tag along, please email me! And if I’m ever going to something and need some company, don’t be surprised if I apply to Catholic guilt to make you go with me me so I don’t have to go alone.

Oh, and btw, the nickname, Sloan E.Z., well, having gone to see many burlesque troupes that Russ has performed with, I always loved the double entendre names that the performers have. So we joked that I needed my own burlesque name, so Sloan E.Z. it is. But don’t expect me to be changing careers anytime soon to embrace my namesake…I would say when hell freezes over, but it’s been pretty cold here in the D…

Cheers.