Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University
Wild At Heart
Well, I am now looking at my last week of total freedom since I am starting a new job on Monday after being out of work for what seems like forever. I will miss being able to go to whatever preview or event I like, but the idea of money in the bank excites me even more. The past year has been fun but it is time to move on and that also means a new day and time for my show.
Check my myspace page out www.myspace.com/wildatheart_13 for details but it looks like I might be on Saturday mornings.
It the meantime, lets look at some fun things to do this week. I started the week at the DIA for their Friday Night Live which I hadn’t been to in awhile but it was a very relaxing day. I walked around some of the exhibits, listened to a nice jazz trio and checked out the new exhibit “Master Pieces: Chess Sets” which had many fascinating sets from the 16th to the 20th centuries including sets from Fabergé and one that was owned by Catherine the Great. I liked the sets which featured Good vs Evil and the one representing Communism vs. Capitalism. This Friday, you can go to the DIA and check out Scots fiddler Alasdair Fraser and American cellist Natalie Haas as they pursue the reinvention of the musical marriage between big and small fiddles, a familiar feature of the music of eighteenth-century Scotland. You can also see the Swedish vampire film, “Let the Right One In” where a young boy who gets picked on by bullies finds himself in a friendship with a mysterious 12 year old girl who just moved in next door. This girl turns out to be a vampire but he is not afraid and starts a friendship which helps build his self-confidence and helps her also as seen by the end of this wonderfully different vampire tale. Definitely worth the time to see it and this is its last weekend.
I also found my way to the Detroit Science Center to look at their new exhibit “Deadly Medicine – Creating The Master Race” which is on loan from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. This is a very emotional exhibit which looks at the international eugenics movement of the early twentieth century starting with America but more specifically the work on the Nazi’s to create their master race. The Nazis worked in collaboration with anthropologists, geneticists and to help legitimize the persecution, murder and ultimately genocide of the Jews, mentally deficient, gypsies, etc in the pursuit of building a superior Germany. The exhibit includes books, propaganda posters and some of the various instruments they used to bring this along, as well as pictures of some of the victims of their misused science. A very worthy exhibit showcasing the bad science can do if misused. This should be a must see exhibit.
I also took the time to check out a couple of films. I took in the planetarium show “Bad Astronomy” which was made here in ....Detroit.... with astronomer, lecturer, and author Phil Plait. Who is best known for his work on the Hubble Space Telescope. He is using his knowledge to help address the concept of bad science and this film looks at answering the questions of those who doubt we landed on the moon, tells us some things that might be mistaken for UFO’s, shows how certain movies (Armageddon, Star Wars) tinker with their facts and tells the difference between Astrology and Astronomy. A nice film esp for kids who are looking to get into the sciences and using correct scientific thinking (I also recommend the book). Also, after seeing Kate Winslet in two wonderful films last year (Revolutionary Road and the Reader), I got to hear her narration (along with Johnny Depp) in the IMAX film “Deep Sea” which is a is an exploration of the world beneath the sea and its bizarre and exotic inhabitants, such as the Mantis Shrimp and the Wolf Eel. The film is brilliantly filmed and has many wonderful moments. My favorites are a mantis shrimp fending off an octopus, the graceful swimming of the manta rays and the deep sea squid attacking their prey as well as the camera. You also get close-ups of jellyfish and sharks among other denizens of the deep. It’s a beautiful film for those who enjoy seeing the beautiful films of the sea. It also has music by Danny Elfman.
I also took a trip down to Greektown for their new International Buffet. The buffet is one price everyday and featured many items with an Asian, Mexican, American, Italian and Greek. The dessert bar I found disappointing with a poor selection and for the price, I don’t think it really compares to MGM, Motor City or Windsor. They did have a nice selection of shrimp, a tasty carved ham and really good lamb chops, but along with a few other items, it was underwhelming. Now if you get it on comp that is one thing, but I recommend the other casinos for the buffet if you have the choice.
This weekend should be special for the Ann Arbor Folk Festival. Day one features Jeff Tweedy and the Old Crow Medicine Show and there are still tickets left. I got my tickets for day 2 which is sold out (last year I didn’t have tickets but was first in line and managed to get some tickets which they released that day) and has performances by the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Kris Kristofferson (not much into his singing but he is a great songwriter and I enjoy his acting) and the legendary Pete Seeger (a folk god who found fame with the Weavers in the 50’s, wrote such famous songs as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)" and "Turn, Turn, Turn" and political activist). For those who can’t see Pete in Ann Arbor, you can see him as part of a panel discussion on the practice of profiling at the Arab American National Museum from 1-2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb 1st. The panel is free so come early to this event.
On the concert front, there are a few good shows in town besides those I mentioned. On the 28th, you can see Scott (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver) Weiland when he plays at St Andrew’s Hall on Wed. For Thurs fans, you have the choice between the Black Keys at the Fillmore or Funeral For A Friend at the Magic Stick (you can listen to WXOU on Tues during the Metal Meltdown show between ..11AM-1PM.. for your chance to win tickets). Local band Greenstreet will be at Fishbone’s on Sat.
I would also like to put a couple of shout outs to Nikolai Fraiture for a wonderful performance last week with his band Nickel Eye. Only about 20 people showed up but his folksy rock performance was very good. He is heavily influenced by people like Neil Young and Frank Black and it shows. Check out his new CD, The Time of the Assassins, when you get a chance. Also, I had a great time talking to Tonya Harding who has lost some weight and is still boxing. The 38 year old seems to have matured with age and is spending what time she doesn’t see in the ring working with young children with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. She is still the tomboy spending her free time around capmfires and the such. She admits that while skating, she didn’t really fit the image that the major skating outifts had about what a figure skater was supposed to be like (not liking the girly music and such) and has tremendous pride she was able to have such a good year in 1991 to prove them wrong.
I hope everyone has a good week and stay warm.