Dill-Vodka Martini
By Ed Sikov Cocktail Chatter When we left our hero, he had just ruined yet another dinner party with a rare but deadly combination of bad memory and gracious seasonal taste. I had made dill-infused [...]
Music Makes The People Come Together
For Miguel del Aguila, one of the most rewarding aspects of being a composer is bringing people together with his music. "You can have your music performed in China or Germany and even if this [...]
Listen to your friends, Gemini!
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes Venus is squaring Mars, boosting creative and sexual tensions. Impulse and ego are very strong here, not true love. Commitments to a higher cause can prove dramatic. Promises of love [...]
Hear Me Out: Pink’s Defiant Disappointment
Pink, 'The Truth About Love' In a world ruled by artificial pop princesses, Pink has always approached her music with real-woman candor, whether she's slamming horny dudes at the bar or singing a true-life tale [...]
Goodbye, Mr. Phipps
Across 1 Pirate drink 5 ___ Virgin (character in 19-/43-Across) 8 Spencer-Devlin's sport 12 Like Obama's office 13 Takes out of the text 15 Blown away 16 Queens tennis stadium 17 Tatum of "The Bad [...]
Planet Ant Delivers Food For Thought
Hamtramck - A town almost completely surrounded by its much larger neighbor, Detroit - was once home to Southeast Michigan's Polish community. In 1970, 90 percent of its residents were of Polish ancestry. Today, the [...]
Laughing Through The Tears At Go!
By John Quinn The sheer wealth of original comedy available to local audiences is remarkable, given the relatively few artists who are proficient in improvisation and sketch comedy. It is no career for the faint [...]
Confrontation Of The Past Leads To Tense Psychological Drama
By John Quinn In reflecting on his 1990 play, "Death and the Maiden," Chilean-born writer Ariel Dorfman noted, "I wanted to look at the question of how we coexist in the same country, even in [...]
The Hiberry Celebrates 50 Years With Christie Classic
By John Quinn The Grand Dame of Crime, Agatha Christie, deserves a category in "Trivial Pursuit" (that, my children, was a board game we played before the Internet taught us the real meaning of "trivial") [...]
‘Moonlight and Magnolias’ Is Hollywood Hilarity
By Martin F. Kohn You don't, unless you're a very unusual person, think of "Gone With the Wind" as a Hollywood laff riot. The writing of the movie, on the other hand, is another story. [...]
Twisted Tale Burns A Candle Of Hope
By Bridgette M. Redman Does life ever become so horrible that it would have been better to have never been born? That's one of many questions that the dark drama "The Pillowman" by Martin McDonough [...]
Keeping The Art Alive
Thirty-six years ago, Robert Louis Kidd and Ray Frost Fleming opened a Birmingham landmark: the Robert Kidd Gallery. Partners in business and in life, the pair founded the establishment on Townsend Street in 1976, a [...]
The Not-So Bible Belt
By Crystal Proxmire For her first-ever visit to Ferndale, Alisha Virani's friend Liz Salazar picked the Rust Belt as a must-see [...]
Making Your House Blossom
By Jerome Stuart Nichols For most people, the only time they step foot in a flower shop is when there's a wedding, funeral or first date in the near future. Flowers can be more than [...]
Torn apart, gay couple fights deportation
BY Crystal Proxmire DETROIT - If Tim Hunter had his way, he would marry Hugo Gallardo Petatan and save him from being deported. "He is very funny, very charming, very good looking, excellent cook. And [...]
Voter Action Town Hall Lays Out Issues for LGBT Citizens
FERNDALE - Will you go down on the ballot? That's the main concern of the panelists at the Voter Action Town Hall at Affirmations Sept. 19. The event had representatives from several of the Unity [...]
Horizons Project’s ‘Who’s That Girl’ Campaign Seeks to Inform About AIDS and Trans Women
DETROIT - About 50 people showed up Sept. 21 for the launch of Who's That Girl, a media project presented by the Horizons Project and supported by the Michigan Department of Community Health's Health Disparities [...]
Memories of MCC Lead to 40th Anniversary Dinner
The Rev. Nancy Wilson, head of Metropolitan Community Church, a worldwide inclusive Christian denomination, has shepherded over MCC Detroit since early in her career. And now, in celebration of the congregation's 40th Anniversary, Rev. Wilson [...]
AIDS Walk Michigan
DETROIT - On a sunny, cool Saturday morning, AIDS Walk Michigan - Detroit walkers strutted along behind the awesome and energetic Cass Tech High School Marching Band. The band, in their snappy green and white [...]
Cast of West Wing Promotes BTL’s Progressive Online Voters’ Guide
Cast members of the award-winning television series, The West Wing, have come together to film a web video encouraging registered voters to cast votes in the non-partisan section of the General Election ballot Nov. 6. [...]
Hungry for Equality, week 8 Quotes
"I won't starve today. I won't even really be hungry. But I am starved to have the conversation about perspective and other words like: equality, democracy, freedom, civility, society." - Julie Marcos "Unfortunately, I've been [...]
Sex and Justice Conference Shines Light on Criminalization, Regulation
By Jerome Stuart Nichols When working towards a more civilized society, sex is one of the topics that tends to get left behind most often. The University of Michigan is trying to change that with [...]
Neubeckers Respond to House Fire Help
Hello BTL Readers, A letter of thanks from us has been long overdue! The fire in our home last month has been a stressful experience for us with a whirlwind of activity as we worked [...]
Christopher Gorski of Detroit GT
BY Crystal Proxmire Between Ourselves Christopher Gorski is a 42-year-old Ferndalian who turned his hobby into a unique tee shirt business. Find him in the Rust Belt Market or at various events in the famous [...]
Historic Nine Gay-Related Cases Seek Review By U.S. Supreme Court
By Lisa Keen Perhaps the most historic U.S. Supreme Court session ever for the LGBT community gets underway officially Oct. 1, with a record nine gay-related cases seeking review, all involving same-sex marriage. Two of [...]
Bryan Fischer
Hey, did you know that September 23 was "Bisexual Visibility Day"? I, personally, did not. So if you did nothing to celebrate, perhaps you can be forgiven since this bisexual day only exists, in official [...]
PC, as in polished correctly
Parting Glances The magic two-way mirror that Alice passed through long ago - recounted by Lewis Carroll in his story of wrong-sided wonderment, "Alice Through The Looking Glass" - sold recently on e-Bay. Alice's mirror [...]
Michigan’s ‘one tough nerd’ should better protect the rights of gays
By Jenny Oorbeck Viewpoint Gov. Rick Snyder ran for office on the gutsy proclamation of being "one tough nerd." I do not know Snyder personally, but it makes me wonder: Was he outcast as a [...]
Vote this November
By Eric W. Rader Speak Out Mitt Romney has certainly had a bad month. Over the course of the last few weeks, the Republican presidential nominee has made a series of political gaffes and misstatements. [...]
Reflecting on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Repeal
by Brian Stone Viewpoint This week is a reminder that President Obama fights for all Americans. On the first anniversary of the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," gay servicemembers like me - and all [...]
EXCLUSIVE: Rebel Wilson On Original Pick For ‘Pitch Perfect’ Role (Adele!) & Her Gaydar
Photo: Universal Everyone's talking about Rebel Wilson, the scene-stealer in "Bridesmaids" who played Kristen Wiig's trashy roommate and mistook her live-in's diary for a "very sad, handwritten book." The Australian breakout star has already [...]