He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University
TICKET GIVEAWAY courtesy of WXOU 88.3 and the Magic Stick. The first person to email Wild Bill at doramu13@yahoo.com will win a pair of tickets to see Oregon based experimental folk rock band Blitzen Trapper on Feb 20th at the Magic Stick. Their new album ‘Furr’ is out now and their song “Wild Mountain Nation” (which I played on my show this morning) ranked #98 on Rolling Stone’s Top 100 songs of 2007. Folk singer Alela Diane will open.
Also, if you listen to Nick Rorick’s punk rock show this Tuesday between 4-5PM on WXOU 88.3FM (online at http://www.wxou.org/), you can win tickets to the Magic Stick on Feb 21st to see the psychobilly group Creepshow along with the Koffin Kats.
In the world of theatre, I highly recommend the new Meadowbrook Theatre production, “Kong’s Night Out” which is a farce of epic proportions. Producer Myron Siegel has had a string of bad luck producing viable Broadway successes and is hoping things will change with his new production, Foxy Felicia. Things are looking good until he learns that his audience is cancelling their tickets to see the new production across the street by his arch nemesis Carl Denham, who is back from a recent cruise with a new starlet, Ann Darrow. Not willing to let Denham ruin yet another production, Siegel, along with his henchman (Christo Savalas – yes related to Kojak) and his mother (played wickedly by Cindy Williams fresh off her Nunsense appearance) plan to find out what Denham’s new production is and try to ruin it. Eddie Mekka stars as a gullible financier who rekindles his spark from his days of playing Carmine opposite Cindy in ‘Laverne & Shirley’
which adds an even greater fun to the slapstick nature of the play. Also wonderful is Kady Zadora (yep, Pia’s kid) as Siegel’s niece who plays the airheaded ingénue who is looking for her big break in film so she can leave Buffalo. I also thought Katie Neighbors was hot as the lovely Ann Darrow who shows she can jump over a prop like nobody’s business (and she is related to good old Jim Nabors if you are keeping score). The play basically ends soon after King Kong in a special appearance takes Ann Darrow away and meets his death. I really hate to leave anyone out, so Christopher Howe, Teri Clark Linden, Wayne David Parker and Rusty Mewha all deserve their kudos too in what I consider the best Meadowbrook production since I have been covering their productions. Between the all-star cast and witty script, I can’t think of anything about the play that isn’t top notch unless they could’ve gotten a real 40 foot ape for the role of Kong. See
this play or I’ll send Kong to step on your car. For more information, go to http://www.mbtheatre.com/. You’ll be happy you did. Kong trivia - Executive Producer David Selznick left RKO midway through production of this film, but his last act of business at RKO - and probably his biggest contribution to the film - was to write a memo changing the name of the production from 'Kong' to 'King Kong.' The body count for the film is 40 deaths and the play has no deaths but over 100 laughs. My grade is an A+.
The film “Wendy & Lisa” opened this weekend at the Main Art Theatre and it is an exceptional film. Wendy (Michelle Williams) is a young woman on the road heading for Alaska in hopes of being able to find a job and starting a new life with her best friend Lucy, which is her dog. The car she is driving breaks down in Oregon and she is faced with increasingly dire financial situation. She has a run in with the police and when she gets that straightened out, she finds herself back at her car but Lucy is missing and she needs to find her. That is the movie in the nutshell. It is a simple yet moving piece as we watch Wendy deal with her life at that moment. Despite, or because, of that simplicity, the film grabs at a deeper meaning which draws us into her predicament and allows us to empathize with her in a way bigger budget films don’t always allow anymore. This is a film that might not sound great but it is definitely worth your time. My grade
is an A+.
About nine couples proposed on the set of the Enterprise bridge on Valentine’s Day at the Detroit Science Center’s new exhibit “Star Trek: The Exhibition”. Ride in a flight simulator, sit in Kirk’s chair and order photon torpedo’s to be fired, walk the halls of the Next Gen Enterprise and see Picard’s ready room, stand on the transporter pad or walk through the Guardian and pretend to go back in time in this wonderful exhibit. This is a great exhibit for fans of Star Trek though it does focus heavily on the first two series but does have costumes, props and model ships from all the series. Todd Slisher doesn’t know what they DSC will be doing for the new Star Trek movie release yet, but he confirmed they are planning to do something special for the event. The Star Trek franchise, like it or not, has had great cultural impact on our lives from Martin Luther King Jr’s talk with Nichell Nichols about the importance of seeing a person
of color on the Enterprise Bridge to the naming of the Space Shuttle. It is also believed, whether correctly or not, to have influenced the design of many current technologies, such as the Tablet PC, the PDA, mobile phones, and the MRI (based on Dr. McCoy's diagnostic table). It has also broken many taboos such as the first multiracial kiss on TV (Kirk and Uhura) to dealing with issues like homosexuality in a way that isn’t overly preachy. You can go to http://www.sciencedetroit.org/ for more information. Live Long And Prosper!
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting the Toronto based singer Lights at the iLounge in Pontiac so I hope you listened to the interview on my show last Saturday. Her career got its first boost as she was modeling for a Wal-Mart ad and while she hasn’t pursued modeling, she did end up getting an agent out of the deal for her music career. When you watcher perform, you can see a little bit of her musical inspiration Bjork come out. Like Bjork, she wants to explore everything that music can be and not be pigeonholed by anybody. She is also a big fan of comic books of which she has written one about her career and has a beautiful vintage Wonder Woman tattoo on her back. Heck, she even knows who Magnus Robot Fighter is, so I must be in love. She is also a fan of sci-fi films like Barbarella which you can see in her t-shirt designs. She has officially changed her name to Lights (a nickname based on her last name Poxleitner) and will be
touring extensively this year including a month on Warped Tour. She says warped tour is like a mini-boot camp for artists since there is little time to do set ups so it affects the way she would normally do her show but the benefits of being able to interact with fans makes up for that drawback. Check out her website at http://www.iamlights.com/.
If you want to see me out and about, I know for such that I will be at the Pike Room this Tuesday for Goblin Cock, a heavy metal band from San Diego started by Rob Crow of Pinback. Basically, they play a heavy sounding slow tempo metal revoking bands like Black Sabbath. I will also be at the Ben Kweller show at St Andrew’s on Thursday with the wonderfully talented Watson Twins and on Friday. I’ll be at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor for Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt. Other good shows include 2/18 – Ben Folds @ Michigan Theatre or Brett Dennen @ The Blind Pig, 2/19 – Flogging Molly w/the reggae influenced Aggrolites @ the Fillmore, 2/20 – Celtic Women @ the Fox Theatre or pianist Jade Simmons @ the DIA, 2/21 – the jam band Bakerton Group @ the Shelter or The Von Bondies and Nico Vega @ The Blind Pig. So take advantage of this wonderful music week and go see a concert.
Have a good week and I look forward to seeing you all next week. Also, I almost forgot a happy 200th birthday to Charles Darwin. How come some people can’t envision a God with the ability to create a force like evolution but can believe in water into wine?
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