Living in the D

Category: Events

Check out haunted houses, Halloween events for good causes

This weekend I was excited to learn about two haunted houses in the city of Detroit, both of which support causes close to my heart: homelessness and Belle Isle.

Over the next two weekends Cass Community Social Services is daring Metro Detroit to experience Detroit's Urban Legends, the agency's haunted house in the 126-year-old Cass Community United Methodist Church. For the seventh year, petrified patrons will have a chance to brave the 2,500-square-foot attraction. Don't be put off by it being a church - the Web site has this to say: "WARNING: Last year, one patron left Detroit Urban Legends by ambulance!"

Volunteers from around the state help make this what promises to be the scariest haunted house around. This year contributing groups include Swartz Creek youth, Albion College students, Wyoming Park UMC and Michigan State University students.

The event raises money for programs that support homeless mothers and children. Tickets cost $10 for adults (ages 12 and older) and $8 for children (not recommended for children under 5). Groups of 12 or more are eligible for a discount. Transportation is available for groups of 20 or more. Cass Community United Methodist Church is located at 3901 Cass at Selden in Detroit. Call (313) 883-2277 for more information.

Detroit Parks and Recreation is also hosting a haunted house the last weekend of the month on Belle Isle. The Halloween Extravaganza as well as Angels' Night events and halloween parties for children happen all over the island as well at the casino building at various times Oct. 30-31.

I'm working up the courage to go so I may help out in a fun way. I hope you are up for the challenge, too!

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Category: Events

Help the homeless this weekend and have 24 hours of fun doing it!

The 24 Hour Community Spacewalk promises to transform Detroit this weekend into a multimedia production. It will be 24 hours of citywide performances by actors, dancers, poets, singers, artists and YOU! Come play a part in having fun and networking during an event that will culminate in helping to feed the city's homeless.

Spacewalk will roam throughout the city and is a participatory event: The more you are involved, the more fun you will have. Local organizations, each individual, businesses and nonprofit organizations will work together to produce the event.

The opening ceremony will take place at the Belle Isle Fishing Area at noon. Then, with a program and map in hand, Spacewalkers begin their odyssey. Participants can choose any number of the events, which include a health fair at the Church of the Messiah from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 24 hours of yoga will be available in the gazebo at Eastern Market . An art car parade will travel up Woodward, toward the Artist Village and the Redford Theatre, then back down to the city center for additional events at Campus Martius, the Heidelberg Project and Spirit Farm , among others. Be sure to check out the interactive map for a list of events.

The primary movement of Spacewalk, after having moved throughout the city all day and night, will be complete by 9 a.m. At that time, food will be served to the homeless at NSO Tumaini Center, provided by a number of generous people and local organizations; all are welcome to help.

The woman leading this ambitious event is Warrior Girl, who you can see perform in the Superhero Soap Opera, a Seaholm High School graduate who has worked with Cirque du Soleil and recently came home to Metro Detroit. She's a performance artist and activist who's lived all over the world. She is working closely with Boulevard Harambee to help see this dream of uniting Detroit come true ... won't you join her?!

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Category: Events

Local artists will paint for food

If there's one thing Detroit has plenty of, it's bland industrial walls begging for some paint. We also have a healthy supply of starving artists. So why not get a bunch of artists together to put some color on those walls and raise some money for good ol' fashioned food? What's not to love?

All that will come together this Saturday as the fun-loving artists from the Mati Group get together for another one of their famous art battles. This time they're going big. They'll compete as teams, painting agriculturally themed murals at the IndiEdibles space at the Russell Industrial Center. Of course, there will be jazz, funk, food, all that noise. The $10 cover goes to support urban gardening in Detroit. I'll quit with the yammering and let their video explain it better:

For more information, e-mail matiartbattle@gmail.com.

Category: Events

Wednesday Coffee Nights at the Glass Academy

This is a free event on Wednesdays the Glass Academy from 4-9 p.m.

You can go watch live glassblowing, meet and hang out with friends, and spend time with your family. This is a great way to see the school in action, bring in your glass repairs (I have a cool neon piece I need to take and get wired) and ask questions you always wanted to know about glass! Mine would be how does Dale Chihuly get credit for the glass works his name is attached to when he never touches the glass anymore?

Think of it as a great way to break up the work week, host a book club, have artist meetings, knitting groups, girls night out, family time, etc. The limit is your imagination. I used to attend aerial yoga classes here.

Tonight they are offering a discount for the Glass Blowing Sampler class that starts this Saturday at 10 a.m. If you sign up today you will receive a $10 discount.

The four-hour introductory class explains the process, history and answer any questions before the students work the hot glass themselves with a 2,100 degree furnace. Now that's a hot deal!

Category: Events

Dismantling racism in Detroit

On Feb. 18 from 7-9 p.m. Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit, Detroit Evolution Laboratory and Eastern Market Corp. are teaming up for a powerful Detroit Abides. The groups will be gathering to screen two of the three-part PBS series, "Race: The Power of an Illusion".

The episodes "The Story We Tell" and "The House We Live In" will assist viewers to establish definitions of race and racism and open a dialog requisite to social justice and meaningful change in Detroit, the groups say.

The goal of this event is to address the division of the world's peoples into distinct groups - red, black, white or yellow peoples - that has become so deeply and widely accepted, according to Detroit Evolution Laboratory. "Race: The Power of an Illusion" questions the very idea of race as biology, suggesting that a belief in race is no more sound than believing that the sun revolves around the earth, it says. More here and check out the clip below:

Shed 5 is enclosed and heated, but bringing sweaters, blankets, a comfortable seat and friends is a good idea. Shed 5 is at the corner of Russell and Alfred Street in the Market. Parking is available in the lot next to the shed.

Category: Events

McDonald's nurtures Detroit's student poets

To celebrate the talent of local youth, area McDonald's are sponsoring "Words and Rhythms of the D Primetime Program" on Saturday at the Music Hall in Detroit. The two-fold primetime program features hip-hop icon/spoken word extraordinaire Talib Kweli and Detroit poetess Jessica Care Moore along with some of Detroit's most talented youth.

The first part, which begins at 4 p.m., allows students to learn poetry styles and techniques directly from Kweli and Moore. The second part of the program is a performance at the Music Hall beginning at 7 p.m., where student poets perform alongside Kweli and Moore. Tickets can be purchased at the Music Hall Box Office or ticketmaster.com for $15.

"In the spirit of great literary artists of color, this is an opportunity to showcase the written talent of Detroit youth and motivate them as the next wave of literary history makers", said Willie Blue, McDonald's regional marketing manager.

Tomorrow's program is part of an exclusive sponsorship of the "Words and Rhythms of the D" program in association with the Music Hall in Detroit in which McDonald's has published a poetry book entitled "Words and Rhythms of the D: a Compilation of Poetry by Detroit Area Youth."

The book contains individual entries from about 20 Metro Detroit middle and high school student poets. The individual entries cover a myriad of topics inspired by current events, personal experiences and the written word.

So if you are in a McDonald's for a coffee sometime this month, pick up a free book with the purchase of any McCafe product.

The program is designed to promote literacy and creative expression through the written and spoken word. This program's outreach extends to students at Metro Detroit public schools and other community venues.

Category: Events

Detroiters gather at Eastern Market to catch up on Transition movement

Eastern Market's Shed 5 is Detroit's hip new spot! OK, OK, maybe it's not that hip, but last night it was cool - truth be told it was darn right cold. Yet people gathered last night on metal chairs in the freezing cold shed to listen to Michael Brownllee from Transition Boulder speak. He gave a lecture on the tri-fecta of issues that he feels (and many others do, too) that we need to address with immediacy: the threat of peak oil, climate change, economic crisis and ways transitioning communities become resilient through working together to help counter these issues. It was inspiring and a great way to meet other like-minded people in the city.

According to Gregg Newsom of Detroit Evolution Laboratory, more than 50 people comprising farmers, body workers, laid-off automotive engineers, teachers, legislators and a News librarian were there last evening to learn how we can be apart of the Transition Movement in Michigan . That is an impressive number of people especially because many are just learning about the movement. I have a feeling the numbers will grow quickly once this subject spreads and more learn how important it can be to our communities, neighborhoods and pocketbooks.

If you want to stay informed about this movement is in Detroit you could follow the detnews.com Green Life blog as well as stay tuned to the Lab and attend events in Shed 5. My guess is that together they will be rolling out ways to inspire people to reconnect and rebuild their communities while strengthening local economies. What could be hipper than that?

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Category: Events

It's cold outside, so lets get sexy!

You heard me and this weekend at the Trowbridge House of Coffee there will be a party to warm up the senses and rid some of the chill in your bones that has us all under too many layers of clothes and shivering.

This is a party, not a place to gawk or drool, an opportunity to don some classy clothes and dress your sexy best to shed some of that flannel. Show some skin and curves as you get ready to dance to some Detroit and Chicago DJ's, listen to lascivious spoken word by Libertine, see performances from the Detroit Fire and Circus Guild and listen to a special violin performance by Dixon!

This is an evening aimed at cultivating acceptance of various modes of expression. Sexy does not mean necessarily solicitous! According to the owner Ken Duby (sounds like doobie and no that is not a joke) claims THC shares some of characteristics of a Spanish tapas bar, a Martini bar, a Hookah bar, and some of the characteristics of an elegant restaurant. Sounds like this will be a perfect place to get you're your sexy on!

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Category: Events

Latkas, latkas, latkas - light the menorah please!

It's not often that Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa all fall in the same week but that is what happened last week. Last Sunday was the beginning of Hanukka (or Hanukah/Hanuka/Chanukah) and I hosted a small brunch for a few gentiles and a very nontraditional Jew. Bacon was on the menu. Enough said!

For those of you who do not know Hanukkah, and I do not know much, it is the festival of lights that is symbolized by the candelabrum known as a menorah (more on those later). The Jewish holiday is celebrated to symbolize when in 165 B.C.E. the Syrian army was driven out of Jerusalem and their temple was reclaimed. Once back in the Temple they only had oil enough for one day but miraculously it lasted for eight days until new oil arrived to fuel the flame. This is why Jewish families light candles or burn oil in a menorah for the eight days of Hanukkah, adding one candle each day.

Traditionally, Jewish families eat foods that are fried in oil during Hanukkah because oil is such an important part of the holiday's history. This brunch was a little less traditional and bit adventurous for sure.

The guest of honor made Matza ball soup, and kugel, which looks gross but tastes like heaven. There was also sweet potato latkes with wasabi sauce and the zucchini and red potato latkes with red pepper sauce . There were, of course, lox and bagels with tomatoes, onions, cream cheese and capers, and as I mentioned earlier there was also a big plate of bacon! She really deserves the T-shirt Jews for bacon.

For giggles I bought Manischewitz wine but ended up liking it very much due to the strong Concord grape flavor! We had chocolate coins with the Star of David imprinted on the foil, though I did not have time to get to Gayle's Chocolates in Royal Oak to pick up chocolate latkes, but they carry them along with a line of other Hanukkah treats!

The guest of honor also brought her very own menorah. It is a Scooter menorah, which fits her personality perfectly. After everyone ate and exchanged little gifts to celebrate the day she lite the first candle as the sun went down. We even sang the Dreidel song. OK, truth be told only I sang it but I just love the song!

This evening after eight days the last candle of the menorah is lit as members of the last synagogue in Detroit, Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, struggle to keep their doors open. Detroit News Reporter Louis Aguilar wrote about it on Dec. 18 "Saving Detroit's last synagogue." Just last night an event for the synagogue took place, followed by a party and election of board members. We look forward to hearing about the results of the event and the fate of this place of worship in downtown Detroit. Shabbat Shalom.

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Category: Events

Lions tailgaters, Solstice revelers mix at Eastern Market

This past freezing cold Sunday morning as diehard (definitely not fair weather) tailgaters gathered to BBQ, play drinking games and talk about the merits of Marinelli at the Eastern Market before the last Detroit Lions home game, something much more subdued was taking place just around the corner.

Silver Sunrise was an event to celebrate the Winter Solstice and the release of a new movie by Disinformation. The event was hosted by the UFO Factory and the Detroit Evolution Laboratory.

The space was packed with more than 50 people despite the blistery weather and negative wind chill. His Name Is Alive performed a sunrise set followed by a short lecture on the topic of 2012 by Alan Scheurman and guided meditation with Gregg Newsom from the Lab. Then as the Detroit Premiere of Disinformation's new movie "2012: Science or Superstition" the audience enjoyed an amazing vegan breakfast created by Angela Kasmala from the Lab.

Leaving the UFO space, I was content with good food and insight about a topic that is on the forefront of many people's minds as the solstice approached, marking the four-year countdown to 2012. I can only hope the Lions fans left Ford Field feeling half as good as I did.