It is both absolutely ridiculous and sadly typical that Detroit has the country’s largest incinerator, and even more ridiculous and typical that the city officials who have the power to move the city in a new, more environmentally sustainable direction are leaning toward keeping this monstrosity (I’m looking right at you, Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams!). Detroit needs a challenge, and reducing our waste by making recycling the law (that’s right, the law) in Detroit is a great start. With a vigorous recycling program and more education regarding environmental and health issues, the choice won’t need to be between an incinerator and landfills. The answer will be a better life for Detroit and the surrounding area–environmentally and economically.

We could utilize the sage advice and experience from the good folks at Recy-clean in this challenge. In fact, you can start by going to see them regularly at 1331 Holden with these items at the following times:

Wednesday 10am-2am
Saturday 9am-3pm

Oh, and that $600-$1200 you’ll be getting from old mother Bush this May, it wouldn’t hurt to make a donation to this and other great Detroit non-profit organizations who do a bunch of great things for you for free.

It is, of course, the job of the writer to fit, fashion, and mold together words in meaningful, descriptive, and sometimes passionate and illuminating ways. To investigate the unknown and misunderstood with the implacable determination of the grittiest of hardboiled detectives and to confer unto our readers the prodigiously awe-inspiring yet sometimes uncouth world with soaring verbs and shimmering adjectives, full of moxie and bravado, this is the calling of the writer. Truly, the art of language is the nectar of the mind, and the writer is its steward.

It is with this great and weighty duty that I write the following of Scrummage University:

It’s f-ing awesome!

Located in Eastern Market, Scrummage University is a place, an art and music collective, a record company, and a way to live, as I learned from the guys who domicile in this spacious loft turned underground culture kibbutz. In a city where many people complain that most artistic or music groups are way too stuck up to hang with, the people at Scrummage were unabashedly friendly and fun. It’s the kind of place where people are not judged by what they wear but by the amount of fun they are visibly having.

With the psychedelic lo-fi Benny Stoofy, and its lil bro Lenny Stoofy (or is it the other way around) as its house bands, Scrummage hosts music of myriad sorts at least twice a week, asking for a mere $5 in return. And this, my first visit to Scrummage U, featured German duo Jeans Team, whose celebratory electro-pop got every fist pumping and every joint in every body jouncing. I saw a group of dancers nearly breathless from the onslaught of music whose power to make you move was impossible to ward off. They even had a freaking key-tar. Listen to the song “Das Zelt” here and feel a fool for missing it.

Scrummage has officially become one of my favorite places to be in Detroit, and I’m kicking myself that I hadn’t known about it sooner. One of the loftmates was kind enough to ask me during the opening DJ set if I was having a good time. I was. He said that he just hopes everybody’s having a good time but can’t tell for sure unless people are dancing. You can be assured that by 11:00 everybody was having a good time.

And this kitteh lives there, but was not available to comment.

Soul music is the music of the body as much as it’s the music of the soul. It brings out the usually sublimated human inner desire to fully realize our bodily facticity on a deep ontological level, and this is accomplished by shaking the hell out of what your momma gave ya (aka. your money-maker).

I couldn’t find anyone to go to the show with me since I had decided to go hours beforehand (and am I glad I did!). That didn’t stop me from dancing; in fact, I think I cut more rug than I ever had at a show before. I was right up front and thought for sure that Sharon would pick me to go up on stage to dance with her. She picked the dude next to me. Why Sharon? Why?

Any other loyal readers out there able to experience <a href=”this or this last Tuesday?

If you have a dog and need to board him for a night or just need a day to yourself, I encourage you to look into Canine to Five. Your pooch gets to socialize with other dogs and get lots of exercise, and you get to have a social life. Canine to Five is clean and the staff loves animals. What more could you ask for?

Kudos to the Ritchie’s for giving away some of their hard-earned money to Plowshares, a non-profit arts organization that seeks to “produce plays and programs that inspire, exhibit, and affirm African American life.”

Food-fanatic or not, Detroit’s Eastern Market is a hidden gem – a unique city staple we’re lucky to have.

Located on Russell Street near Gratiot, Eastern Market’s vendors and shops offer nutritious, inexpensive selections, plus tasty meats and cheeses, homemade breads, wine, beer, flowers, antiques and so much more.

Sure, other cities have markets – DC even has its own Eastern Market – but how many have been around since 1841?

And how many are as big as the D’s Eastern? I’m not sure if this is still true, but the 2000 edition of The Detroit Almanac says Detroit’s Eastern Market is the biggest open-air wholesale-retail market in the U.S.

Friendly competition aside, Detroit’s Eastern Market is just a flat-out cool place, one I wish everyone could enjoy. There’s something about heading to the market on Saturdays, spending a few hours with 45,000+ locals in this unique pocket of Detroit that feels like another world. It’s an experience like no other.

For pictures of Detroit’s market, check out the Flickr Eastern Market Photo Pool

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I took this picture around 9:15 tonight; it is the window-side of the building that faces north.

The opposite side of the building still sports the pink ribbon, which to me, is a nice compromise.

Go Tigers!

It was pretty crazy. People were running up to cars giving drivers high fives and cars were honking in celebration all over downtown. You could hear the honking from different parts of downtown echoing down the corridors between the high rises. Everything was peaceful and fun and Detroit’s finest actually did a pretty good job of working the crazy traffic. There were cops *everywhere*. I probably walked by at least a dozen on my way from Gratiot to Greektown.

I haven’t seen this many people downtown since the Superbowl – Greektown was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. I can’t wait for the ALCS on Tuesday! Go Tigers!