TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel talks with Kurt Andersen about resetting America.
Update from my friend and all-around good guy Jason Brown:
Great news: The Show WILL go on! Detroit Shrine Circus has found a home. The Hazel Park Raceway stepped up and offered their facility. The Big Top will be there from March 18 to 21. Tickets on sale at noon today!
Click at this site here to get tickets. Goes to show how tough we are in the Mitten.
Strange morning...We were stalled at Metro Airport early today after a man jumped security without a boarding pass, baggage or sense in his head (I added the last one).
This incident comes shortly on the heels of the Dec. 25 attempted terrorist attack, where a man threatened to blow up an international flight arriving at Metro.
Proud to say everyone reacted with total respect and calm tempers this morning. TSA officials were helpful and polite. The Detroit and area police were quickly on the scene. The passengers all kept their cool. My family and I missed our flight, but the airport personnel got us booked on another one that will leave Tuesday.
Got an interesting email the other day…You may remember Mascha Poppenk, the Dutch filmmaker who co-created “Grown in Detroit,” a documentary about urban farming, a school for pregnant teens and Detroit.
Poppenk frequently visits the city, often for film showings and related projects. Her email goes as follows:
Every 12 minutes a family leaves the state of Michigan. Almost half the population left the city of Detroit... My family and I want to get in but don't get a Green Card... Isn't that strange? (We didn't make last year's Green Card lottery (and we) don't have the otherwise required money up front to get in.) Even the money we get to fund our films mostly comes from out of the country, which should be a nice bonus for Detroit/Michigan.
Maybe a nice blog question... how to get in to the "D"? Any suggestions?
Last time I mention it, I promise.
Web post/article onThe Detroit News about the end of the Ice House Detroit project. Part of the reason I mention it is that is it written by Donna Terek, one of the most talented photographers I've had the pleasure to work with over the years.
Highlight:
Asked about the meaning of the project, Holm says it was not so much about the housing crisis, although they did say that numerous times. Holm says that was more the media taking a statement about possible interpretations of the art installation and running with it.
"It's grown into something much more than an reference to the housing crisis in Detroit and beyond," Holm says, "and more about the personal quest that this has become and the community that has grown around it."
The Detroit-based writer's gritty plots and ear for dialogue have made his dozens of crime novels and Westerns into bestsellers: among them, Get Shorty, Out of Sight, 3:10 to Yuma have been made into hit feature films. His 1985 book Glitz became a best-seller and solidified his reputation as one of the best American crime writers. In his latest project, Leonard will executive produce the FX drama Justified, for which he created the character of Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. Submit your questions for Elmore Leonard below, then read the interview in an upcoming issue of TIME magazine.
Sometimes, it feels like Michigan's gray skies will never improve.
First, the state killed off the Michigan State Fair, citing budget constraints.
Now, the Shrine Circus may be kaput because Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her crew say the Shriners cannot rent the Fair's Coliseum.
Shutting down a fairground and shunning a circus? This state is such a bummer.
However, Jenny G. has until tomorrow to save the circus. A petition to that end is circulating around and the Shriners are asking folks to call the Gov to appeal her earlier decision. No word yet today whether their pitch will be successful.
Next Thursday, some 150 city leaders, business types, activists, planners, and educators will gather to discuss the future of Detroit with experts from the Brookings Institute, the Washington, DC think tank. It should be a lively session: moderated by TIME Managing Editor Rick Stengel and Bruce Katz, Brookings' director of metropolitan policy, the discussion will be led by panelists Mayor Dave Bing, Carol Goss, CEO of the Skillman Foundation, and Steve Hamp, chairman of the New Economy Initiative. Katz, with Jennifer Bradley, wrote a piece in the December issue of the New Republic outlining the basics of a plan forward for the metropolitan area. And guess what? They're hopeful; after all, they write, if Belfast can come back, why not Detroit?
A terrific gallery of Detroit has just been posted on LIFE.com, one of our Assignment Detroit partners. Let us know what you think.
Even though I think it's important to hold public officials accountable, I never had a problem with U.S. Rep. John Conyers' perpetual silence about his wife, Monica, the one-time Detroit City Council member who pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy last year. Even as recently as a few days ago, when Congressman Conyers (D-Mich.) refused to answer reporters' questions about his wife, I just met it with a shrug. After all, as far as I could see, he'd never had anything to do with her problems and hadn't seemed to be even in proximity of her dirt. Why then should he have to answer for her low-rent felonies?
And it might be natural for people to assume that a husband has more than just passing knowledge of his wife's shenanigans, but there hadn't been much to suggest impropriety on his part. Being married to an admitted criminal isn't a crime. So like I said, I really saw no problem with his reticence.
Ice House Detroit in pictures: Amazing.
Ice House Detroit in person: Average.
Truthfully, I don't know why I'm obsessing over this project. Perhaps it's the age-old argument of what is art. One art historian I know recently told me art is whatever the artist deems it to be. So if I decided to freeze my garage, I could legitimately call it art. Whether it is good or bad art, he noted, is the key question.
So is this good or bad art? I asked my 4-year-old son, who was in the car with me. After some prodding, he made this comment: “It is no progress.”
No progress. Definitely an interesting statement about the project as well as Detroit.
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