Later, Michael Jackson

Buy the shirt on Etsy!

Detroit

When I moved to Detroit, I didn’t understand the nature of “neighborhoods.” I called everything, “Detroit.” From Ferndale, to Rochester, to Indian Village, to Dearborn, it was all just Detroit. Well, I now understand some of the differences between the areas, or, am starting to. And in 20 years, I’m sure the “bad” areas won’t be nearly as scary.

Last night, I had fun at a friend’s Dos de Mayo / Housewarming party, near Mexicantown, in Southwest Detroit. He recently bought a pretty gigantic house, built in the 1920s, and is in the process of doing some renovations. When he bought it, (for a very low price, considering it would be a million-dollar home if it were in, say, Chicago), no one else had bid on it, and it was in need of the least amount of repair, compared to a bunch of other homes he was looking into. The neighborhood wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst, either. And if your house is big enough to ride a bike through, maybe you don’t need to go outside, anyway. Haha. But it was gorgeous. One point for Detroit’s economic effects.

And to take that point away, we got new, free, perfectly great couches yesterday. From up the street. From a young family that had their little house sold from underneath them. (The 26 year-old mother had hired a company to “re-evaluate” her finances, hastily signed a paper, and accidentally allowed these assholes to sell her home without her really knowing.) Earlier in the day, running past the house, I saw two young brothers sadly moving things to the curb, one holding a blanket and trying to squeeze himself into a small, over-packed car. Later, I walked down to examine their left-behinds with the rest of the housemates. We found out what happened through the neighbor lady, when she offered to let us use her car to move the couches. Anyway, it’s a sad story for the family. And we have amazing new couches. We should throw them some money, maybe.

And to take another point away, let’s talk about the jerks who have taken over the amazing building that is now called, Bo House, no longer the full name of Bohemian National Home. It’s just 5 minutes up the street from my friend’s new “mansion” in Mexicantown. Here’s what it used to be, as created by Joel Peterson:

Rhys Chatham reflects on Bohemian National Home:

“The Bohemian National Home is a former Czech social club, housed in a large, two-story square building. The building was bought at a highly competitive price by Joel Peterson, who purchased the building so that there would be a performance place for experimental music in Detroit. Joel does all the booking there and programs free jazz, improvised and world music, electronic noise stuff, as well as other musical craziness.” (via his site)

And it hasn’t changed much, except it has a new owner. A big dumb bully owner. Apparently, this new owner came through and physically forced Joel out, with bodyguards, or pimps, or whatever they were. This person said he was tired of the place being filled with crazy musicians and indie kids all the time. So, Joel was gone. Then, the new owner bully started doing exactly what Joel was doing. Musicians filled the place up again, hipsters and indie hippies and everyone else came pouring in, excited to see their favorite venue back in action. And hardly anyone knows the real story, I’m sure, because if they did, I’d like to think they wouldn’t go to shows there anymore. What happened was devious and disgusting and terrible and I want to know who is responsible, so I can draw a big picture of him as Hitler or something.  So, that’s what I heard. Thank you, inside source. Haha.

So I gave Detroit a point, and took two away. But I’m going to give it like 50 points just for fun, because it’s really a heart-warming place full of lovely people, and the sun has been shining for a few days straight. Yay.

Check this out: CNN Money’s article on why 13 Detroiters love their hometown.

Be Cool

And wear this T-Shirt. Better yet, buy it here.

Why?

Because I drew it, and I think it would look really great on you.

And also, on top of that… it is for The Pop Project! They are extremely awesome friendly dude friends.

Thanks.

Sweet Updates

It’s been a while since my last post, but I have some truly sweet updates for you.

Meet The Silent Giants. They do it themselves, and they do it right. What they do is design and hand-screen great posters out of Detroit. They’re new on the scene, and already working with big names like The National, Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Wolf Parade, Bon Iver and more. Here’s some fresh Silent Giants press from OMG Posters! Your office would look awesome with some of their posters on the walls. People will swoon at your coolness and knowledge of music.

On a personal note, I’m thrilled to report that my illustration career is gaining momentum!  I am putting a portfolio site together.Yes! It will be clean, Angela-style, and effective. My good Yooper friend, Justin Sailor, is being a hero and setting it up. His many awesome projects: The Hometown Invasion Tour, Yooper Steez, and Bugsyrocker.com.

Do you like rare books? John K. King Books (in Detroit) is incredible. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. I wandered the amazing stacks for a few hours today, taking photos and looking for great, old illustrations. It’s a goldmine, if you have the time.  Imagine an enormous warehouse-turned bookstore, packed with old volumes in every imaginable subject, and you’re getting close.

A Prediction for the Future of Books and Everything, Ever

The whole “blog” thing is really taking off, eh? Understatement!

Well, I was just thinking about the future of books. And I had a vision of you, curled up in a future chair, under a future lamp, reading a future book on a little laptop. Just a little one, not your “main boo” computer, but a little guy that’s good for reading. A “nestler”, if you will.

But, I guess there’s already a little reading device on the market ($359) – called a Kindle. It could be awesome, if it weren’t so expensive. And it could be awesome, if you don’t already have a laptop.  But if you’ve GOT a little-ish computer already, you might as well just use it, right? That’s what I’m thinking.

That’s all I have to say about the future, for now.

But! Speaking of internetability skills and new sources of happiness, I streamed a live Fleet Foxes show at DC’s Black Cat last night, via NPR. I chatted on AIM with Colin Meloy, the intern at NPR’s All Songs Considered. Then I slept and dreamed of four-part harmonies. If you don’t know Fleet Foxes, you might as well download “White Winter Hymnal,” one of their most enchanting numbers.

Feed the Animals Music

Animals love music. Fact.

So, you can get the new Girl Talk album “Feed the Animals” here … for whatever price you want.

Girl Talk is DJ Gregg Gillis, possessor of the incredibly fun ability to combine popular songs into often amazing, “new” jams.

Sound familiar? Radiohead’s album, In Rainbows was pick-your-price, too.

Thanks, My Old Kentucky Blog.

You can play the guessing game, and try to figure out what songs are used. Or, you can just go here and see them all right now.

Aaaaand here’s a good piece by Jeff Milo, over at his blog, Deep Cutz.

Thinnovation!

I am intrigued and skeptical of the new MacBook Air. I don’t have a problem with the weight or thickness of my current mac (iBook G4) … but can’t help wondering what new personality the internet will have on something so new and tiny. New and tiny, like a baby. Maybe I will see the internet like a baby, too, free of preconceptions. Maybe I would discover great Truths and solve the problems of the world. Maybe I will write the Great American Novel on it.

Whatever happens, here’s an article on NOTCOT:

MacBook Air NOTCOT

I’m going to be sad if I open the box for this and it’s not in a manilla envelope … It’s just like a ginormous ipod…

Update! Check this out. You can buy a real protective sleeve/case that looks like a manila envelope:

Pitchfork: YACHT Designs Clever Sleeves for New MacBook Air
Taking to heart Steve Jobs’ claim that the MacBook Air will fit in a standard manila business envelope (seeing is believing), Bechtolt and frequent collaborator Claire L. Evans devised the perfect accessory: the manila envelope-styled protective laptop sleeve (pictured above). The pair readily admits it’s an “obvious” idea, but who cares when it’s also probably a massively lucrative one?

Songs in Diamond Commercials

Landon Pigg sings the song you probably like, in one of the A Diamond Is Forever TV commercials.

Right-click on the picture and save to download it, if you want to.

Cat Power sings another song you might like, in a Diamond commercial. It’s a cover of Cat Stevens’ song, ‘How Can I Tell You.’

You can find a lot of information about music used in commercials on AdTunes, if you’re so inclined.

Other Commercial Tunes to Dig:

• Check out this Vicks commercial featuring Anathallo, a Michigan-made band.
• Check out this Old Navy commercial featuring The Weepies. (People who look good in metallic jeans never shop at Old Navy.)

Vincent Gallo in Belvedere Vodka Commercial

I mass-text invited friends to our Ugly Christmas Sweater Party last Friday, and got a message back from someone saying, “Going to see Vincent Gallo!”

Who the heck is Vincent Gallo? The guy in this commercial:

I like the commercial, too. It’s a new take on the “crazy fancy party” theme. A little messier. And it’s still hot.

Gotta see Buffalo 66 now …

A Suburban Sprawl Christmas

‘Twas the night before Tuesday, a while before Christmas, when I blogged about the annual Suburban Sprawl Holiday Sampler.

Suburban Sprawl is a friend-made music label in Southeast Michigan. They live here on the internet, and that is also the place to download all of the songs on the sampler, for free. I joined The Next Door Neighbors on clarinet for the song Bah Hum Bug.

Merry Almost Christmas!