Northern Express - November 29, 2021

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Treat Yourself - to your best cup of coffee - artful cuisine - a full-body float - 50 minutes in Michigan’s only Harmonic Egg - and more ...

NORTHERN MICHIGAN’S WEEKLY • nov 29 - DEC 05, 2021 • Vol. 31 No. 48 Cover photo by Raquel Lauren

Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 1

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2 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

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Winning Welcome to the world of diversity, where we are all winners. The world is shrinking, and we have all become neighbors. In northern Michigan, you might have noticed signs advertising for workers who are wanted everywhere: farms, hospitals, restaurants, care homes, private businesses. We have jobs and no takers.

Michigan needs immigrants.

Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics: · 84,000 Michiganders are employed

by Latino and Asian-owned businesses. · $11.6 Billion in sales and receipts are generated by Latinos and Asian-owned businesses. · $5.44 Million in state tax revenues are generated by Arab Americans each year.

Immigrants have helped in the past and are needed now. Many of us are the beneficiaries of immigrant labor and of businesses started by folks who have

O N LY A T Y O U R N E I G H B O R H O O D B I G A P P L E B A G E L S ®

come to begin new lives in our country.

In Michigan, we will soon have the opportunity to welcome refugees from a country where citizens helped save the lives of our fellow Americans, where they have been educated and held good positions in their home country.

Our votes are our voice. We have given power to our representatives to provide laws that enhance our lives and protect our future. Join us in asking our senators and representatives to pursue meaningful immigration reform now. As Christians, we are called to welcome the stranger!

CONTENTS features

In Pursuit of the Perfect Cup .........................10 Forrest - A Food Studio.................................12 Must-Tries for the Modern Mid-Lifer..............15 50 Years in Focus.........................................16

1133 S. Airport Rd. W., Traverse City • (231) 929-9866 www.bigapplebagels.com

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Lou Ann McKimmy, Rapid City Scofflaw A scofflaw, according to the MerriamWebster Dictionary, is “a contemptuous law violator.” On Wednesday, Nov.17, I attended a meeting of the board of the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department. Prominently displayed on the entrance to the health department building was a sign stating “masks required” to enter the building.

Upon entering, I was not surprised to see that Leelanau County’s No. 1 scofflaw, William J. Bunek, who appointed himself to the board of health, was not wearing a mask and did not put one on when the director of the Health Department confirmed that masks were required inside the building by order of the health department.

Mr. Bunek is no different from other scofflaws, whether they are part of the mob of zealots who stormed our Capitol or part of the anarchist “sovereign citizens movement,” whose members believe they can ignore government orders whenever they want. Mr. Bunek’s contemptuous defiance of the law disqualifies him from his position within the Leelanau County Health Department and any other position of authority in local government.

Jay S. Johnson, Empire Township

columns & stuff

Top Ten........................................................4 Spectator/Stephen Tuttle...............................6 High Notes (sponsored content)......................7 Opinion.........................................................8 Weird............................................................8 Dates........................................................18 Film..........................................................22 Nitelife..........................................................23 Advice......................................................24 Astrology...................................................24 Crossword.................................................25 Classifieds................................................26

Northern Express Weekly is published by Eyes Only Media, LLC. Publisher: Luke Haase PO Box 4020 Traverse City, Michigan 49685 Phone: (231) 947-8787 Fax: 947-2425 email: info@northernexpress.com www.northernexpress.com Executive Editor: Lynda Twardowski Wheatley Finance & Distribution Manager: Brian Crouch Sales: Kathleen Johnson, Lisa Gillespie, Kaitlyn Nance, Michele Young, Randy Sills, Todd Norris, Jill Hayes For ad sales in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Boyne & Charlevoix, call (231) 838-6948

For Traverse City area news and events, visit TraverseTicker.com

Creative Director: Kyra Poehlman Distribution: Dave Anderson, Linda Szarkowski, Sarah Rodery, Roger Racine Matt Ritter, Gary Twardowski Listings Editor: Jamie Kauffold

Contributors: Amy Alkon, Rob Brezsny, Ross Boissoneau, Jennifer Hodges, Michael Phillips, Steve Tuttle, Anna Faller, Janice Binkert Craig Manning, Krista Weaver, Brighid Driscoll Copyright 2020, all rights reserved. Distribution: 36,000 copies at 600+ locations weekly.

Northern Express Weekly is free of charge, but no person may take more than one copy of each weekly issue without written permission of Northern Express Weekly. Reproduction of all content without permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 3

this week’s

top ten 9,260 Square Feet of Northport News The grand dame of Northport — the vast and vintage structure that has stood center stage in the village’s downtown since 1902 — is about to embark on her next act.

Business partners Steve and Carrie Ball of Old Mission Peninsula and Lynden and Meghann Johncock of Elmwood Township have purchased the 9,260 square-foot building at the corner of Waukazoo and Nagonaba streets.

Their plans: to restore the historic structure’s original 1902 brick façade and continue growing it as a hub for lodging, dining and imbibing, live entertainment, and gatherings.

The partners say they’re already in the process of working with the state and village officials to procure a class C liquor license for the site — something Lynden Johncock calls “a key component for what we need for its future and for this corner to be everything it should be.” (Should the license come through, a family-friendly beer garden in the adjacent outdoor space could be part of future plans.)

What will stay the same: The upper floor will remain the nine-room Northport Inn, and the new owners will continue to work with and invest in tech and other upgrades to support it and the building’s first floor tenants, Northport Fitness and The Union. The Union is home to chefs Eric Allchin and Paul Carlson’s event space and community suppers, as well as by-appointment tastings for both Northport’s Baia Estate wines and Idyll Farms cheese.

The Reason for the Season Buried somewhere under the shopping receipts, wrapping paper, and gifts, there’s a reason for the season many Christmas celebrants believe is too often overlooked. New Hope Community Church is ready with a reminder. The Williamsburg church will host 45-minute outdoor tours along a wooded path, leading visitors to actors and live animals recreating elaborate scenes of the story of Christmas, from Creation to Bethlehem and beyond. Tours are scheduled for the evenings of Dec. 4 and 5 and Dec. 10-12, with special ALS tours Dec. 3 and 10. See newhope. cc for details.

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Hey, watch it The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip

Need a break from your own family’s holiday drama?

Escape on a luxurious getaway to Turks and Caicos with some of the most iconic members of Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise for the ultimate TV crossover event.

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip brings together your favorite housewives from across various cities (New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, and Beverly Hills are all represented) to an opulent beachside villa for dramatic fireworks. With fresh dynamics and new feuds to explore, this is everything a Housewives fan could dream about, and it’s also light and breezy enough for a more casual viewer. Streaming on Peacock.

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One Card

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Three Restaurants

tastemaker Zest’s Dragonfruit Bowl

Once you wake up from your Turkey Day tryptophan coma — some time in the afternoon on Saturday, Nov. 27, we’d guess, right about the time this paper hits newsstands and Mom’s back in the kitchen turning several pounds of leftover protein into turkey soup, turkey tetrazzini, turkey sandwiches, et al. — we recommend a nice brisk walk. Take it directly to Zest Plant-based Kitchen in Traverse City, where you’ll find an entire menu of options, not one of which includes turkey, to reawaken you and your tastebuds. We’ve tried several dishes and daily specials galore, but one stupendous standard we keep coming back to is Zest’s Dragonfruit Bowl, a bright, zingy, and extended energy-inducing blend of frozen dragonfruit, banana, strawberries and coconut milk topped with supertart (and nutritious) goji berries, coconut flakes, and sliced strawberries. Think it’s too much a taste of summer for a cold November day? You’re wrong; there’s also a generous pile of pumpkin seeds on top. Indulge at your leisure — this time, without regret or a Rip Van Winkle imitation. $14. Find Zest at 439 E. Front St. (231) 421-3141, zesttc.com

4 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

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Get Stoked, Bro!

For those who’ve already had it up to here with tree lightings, hot cocoa, candy canes, and community sing-alongs, the Harbor Springs school ski team is hosting a radical alternative: a movie and pizza night that starts at 5pm Friday, Dec. 3, at the Boyne Highlands Day Lodge Cafeteria.

Dinner — all-you-can-eat pizza, salad, cookies, lemonade, and iced tea (or soda for $1, with a cash bar for adults) — is just the beginning. A quick and cool live auction follows, and then comes the main insane event, a screening of the film Stoke the Fire, a documentary that follows some of the “world’s gnarliest athletes” (three of whom also bear the titles “male fitness model,” “retired burning man veteran,” and “tiny dog mom”) as they climb up and ski, soar, flip, and crash down mountains in pursuit of the pure joy that manifests itself through their evolution as skiers. Tickets, $15, are available at the door, from ski team members, and at Kelbel Pharmacy in Harbor Springs.

Stuff We Love: Treating Ourselves to Spring Flowers Before snow showers If appliance stores can have Christmas in July, there’s no reason we can’t enjoy a little garden-season shopping and celebrating now. The Friendly Garden Club of Traverse City is making it possible with a sweet (and sweet-smelling) deal on a bounty of Americana and Calliope geraniums. Order by Dec. 3 for pickup May 12, 2022 at The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park, and don’t feel a bit guilty for buying yourself flowers before Christmas; the sale is a fundraiser that helps the FGC fund grants, scholarships, and community club projects that beautify Traverse City. Choose from at least five different colors of Americanas in individual 5- or 12-inch pots ($5.25 or $25 each), full eight-plant cases ($39) or 13-inch hanging baskets ($25). Prices are the same for Calliopes, but the options in sizes and color are more limited. See the friendlygardenclub.org for details and ordering information.

Get Old Fashioned for Christmas Step back in time as you take part in the Victorian Sleighbell Parade and Old Christmas Weekend in Manistee, Dec. 2–5. The port city’s parade this includes horse drawn entries, bagpipers, a reindeer meet and greet, and carolers elegantly dressed in Victorian style attire. The highlights are the enormous draft horses pulling a 30-foot Christmas tree down River Street, followed by a display of luminaries, caroling, and the lighting of the tree. There is so much to choose from this weekend, including the Festival of Trees, guided tours of the historic 1894 mansion that now houses the Dempsey Manor Bed and Breakfast Inn and Victorian Tea Room, the Sleighbell Breakfast, Manistee Jingle Bell Jog 5K Run/Walk, River Street carriage rides; the 18th Annual Jingle Bell Jam; cocoa to go, and more. Search “Victorian Sleighbell Parade & Old Christmas Weekend” on Facebook for details on all of the weekend’s events.

8 Photo by Krista Weaver

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Most people automatically assume that pasta is best paired with a bottle of wine. Those people probably haven’t been to The Flying Noodle. While the intimate Italian pasta house and bar certainly makes it easy to complement their fresh and utterly irresistible pasta dishes (and pizza and desserts and salads …) with wines both fine and ridiculously affordable (lookin’ at you, $5 house red and white), we recently stumbled upon an invigorating and unexpected winter cocktail that made our already delish pasta experience even better. The Smooth Sailin’ ($10), a simple mix of cucumber, gin, and lime, served up, proved a perfect foil and palate pleaser to precede (and, OK, follow) our inhalation of the eatery’s rich and wonderful Pork Ragu ($14; twisted noodles in red-wine-braised pork, with baby kale, tomato, and fall spices). If your waistband can handle it, we recommend both, plus the walnut streusel for dessert ($4). Find the Flying Noodle at 136 E. Front St. in Traverse City. (231) 943-1178, flyingnoodletc.com

Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 5

STILL BURNING AND BANNING spectator

by Stephen Tuttle The first incident we know about took place in 213 BCE when Emperor Qin Shi Huang, upon conquering new territory, ordered all books, scrolls, or other papers that mentioned his predecessor be burned, lest he be compared unfavorably.

The latest we know about occurred November 8, 2021, CE, when the Spotsylvania County Public School Board in Virginia ordered all school libraries to remove any “sexually explicit” material, and two board members suggested the removed

the Food and Drug Administration, which claimed they were all promoting a medical device they deemed fraudulent. It’s hard to see how that didn’t run afoul of the First Amendment since the government was definitely abridging speech. Reich was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison, where he died in 1958 along with his research.

In 1973, a school board in Drake, North Dakota, declared some books in school libraries “objectionable” and had them collected and thrown into the school

The king of all book burnings was during China’s Cultural Revolution, 1966–1976. Led by Mao Zedong’s megalomania, untold millions of books, papers, and historical documents were burned to purify China of anything that didn’t agree with Mao. material be burned in school furnaces. The removal order was rescinded and no books were burned, but it seems our instincts to burn or ban books, now at least 2,300 years old, has not waned over time.

The most famous burning in antiquity was the ongoing destruction by fire of the great library at Alexandria that started as early as 60 BCE; as Egypt was repeatedly invaded, there was nothing left by 275 CE. In what was a staggering loss to history, at least 40,000 scrolls and perhaps as many as 400,000 were lost forever.

“Books” might be more of a euphemism than a literal description of the early losses.

Scrolls were a more popular form of recording language, and any books were written by hand since the printing press wasn’t even invented until 1440. But our desire to burn or otherwise destroy history and knowledge started long before Gutenberg created his press.

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The most famous of the modern book burnings occurred in Germany from May through June of 1933 when the Nazis decided to eradicate anything they considered “subversive.” That included any books with Jewish authors or books about Judaism, plus books written by anarchists, communists, pacifists, or liberals. Bonfires of books were celebratory, with planned events, parades, even bands. Historians now believe at least 1.5 million books burned over those two months.

The Nazis would later try to eradicate the authors and their followers, too.

We’ve been busy book burners here, too. In 1948, the powers that be in Binghamton, New York, decided comic books were leading to — or were going to lead to — irretrievable “moral decay.” They went so far as to go house-to-house collecting the offending comics so they could burn them.

There has even been government-sponsored book burning. In 1956, six tons of the books and papers of psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, whose research focused on human sexuality and something he “discovered” called orgone energy, were burned under the authority of

furnace. Among those incinerated were 32 copies of “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut and 60 copies of James Dickey’s “Deliverance.” When some students refused to return copies they had borrowed, school lockers were searched to make sure every single “objectionable” book possible was found and fed to the flames.

Bestsellers haven’t escaped our burning need to burn. The “Harry Potter” series, with its wizardry and popularity, has been the target of at least six very public book-burning incidents since 2001. Some folks would like to burn more of them since author J.K. Rowling has made comments deemed offensive to the transgender community.

Bible burning has usually been more of an attempt to outrage than to eradicate the most widely distributed book in history. But in 2008, Orthodox Jews in Israel really did try to round up as many New Testaments as they could and burned them all. Not to be outdone when it comes to religious intolerance, in 2010, a handful of American evangelical clerics burned the Quran, which seems an odd way to prove the superiority of your own religious beliefs.

The king of all book burnings was during China’s Cultural Revolution, 1966–1976.

Led by Mao Zedong’s megalomania, untold millions of books, papers, and historical documents were burned to purify China of anything that didn’t agree with Mao. When not burning, we’re banning. Books that schools and, shamefully, some public libraries have traditionally tried to ban are part of a fairly reliable group. Books authored

by Kurt Vonnegut, Henry Miller, Ray Bradbury, James Baldwin, and Mark Twain are often at or near the top of the banned list for various reasons. The top 20 books banned this year all focused on LGBT+ or race issues.

The targets have changed, but we’re still burning and banning, trying to erase history, competing ideologies, and anything we just don’t like or understand. It was appalling in 213 BCE, and it’s still appalling in 2021.

Alden’s Holiday HIGH NOTES Open House!

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An evening to enjoy your holiday shopping in charming downtown Alden

Mingle with Santa’s Elves* throughout the night as they gift wrap your perfect treasures!

Visit our merchants and enjoy complimentary gift wrapping, tasty refreshments, holiday Cheer, and family fun!

Friday December 3rd • 6-8 pm.

Donations of non-perishable food items will be collected for the Alden Food Pantry. *Bellaire High School’s Honor Society Students

As taxing as the holiday season can be on our pocketbooks, it seems to pack the biggest wallop on our mental clarity and physical calm. There are so many get-togethers, gifts, meals, and travels to plan and prep for — all while maintaining productive (and often condensed and more intense) workweeks — many of us find that deeper we get into the season, the more that feelings of stress overwhelm the intended (and essential!) feelings of joy and gratitude.

Maybe you’ve got a personal assistant to take over some tasks. Maybe you’ve got a nightly self-care ritual to offset the accumulated frustrations. Or maybe, like most people, you shove self-care to the bottom of your to-do list and focus first on taking care of everyone and everything else because, really, how useful is a two-hour bubble bath when your brain’s racing like a hamster in a wheel, anyway?

We get it. That’s why we advocate that interested adults looking for a quick-acting, non-harmful respite from the day’s (or season’s) stresses consider incorporating legal, state-regulated cannabis into their self-care routine.

As users and nonusers probably know, a multitude of studies show that cannabis can have a relaxing effect on the brain and body. But, we’d like to add, not just any cannabis. To dial in the effects without worry, working with a state-licensed dispensary with a well-educated staff is key.

Fact is, misinformation and misinterpretation about this young industry runs rampant. A little less than two weeks ago, for example, the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Association (MRA), which oversees every cannabis product and company in Michigan, issued its largest product recall yet.

The recall wasn’t a concern about a dangerous product, but rather, the processes a lab used to test the product. Nevertheless, media pounced, and few reports were clear about the actual issue at hand, leading to understandable confusion and concern from the public. The recall hit the industry hard, too. Nearly every retailer in the state was affected on some level, but the product wasn’t destroyed; it was simply retested according to the MRA’s stringent protocols.

The takeaway? The MRA is doing exactly what it has set out to do: protect the consumer, not punish the industry. And in this case, concerned users of that product or any others could rely on more than confusing media reports; they could turn to and directly question the well-educated staff at state-certified dispensaries like ours.

We can’t run you a bubble bath or serve as your personal assistant, but if you need to slow your mind and rest your body at any point during this season, a budtender at any of our five locations can help you select a product that can. We’re at the ready and always working in conjunction with our state MRA representative to ensure whatever you buy from us is safe, approved, and in compliance. And even one less stressor in a season full of them is, we think, something we’re grateful for, too.

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Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 7

RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK A Dog’s Life Gunther VI, a German shepherd, is selling his Biscayne Bay, Florida, Tuscanstyle villa that once belonged to Madonna.

Yes, you heard that right. Gunther inherited the mansion from Gunther IV, his handlers told The Associated Press, along with a “vast fortune.” It all began when Gunther III came into a multimillion-dollar trust from his owner, German countess Karlotta Liebenstein. Since then, the Gunthers and their handlers have lived a lavish lifestyle, jetting around the world and eating out at restaurants. With the home listed for nearly $32 million, Gunther VI hopes to take advantage of the hot real estate market. But he’ll surely miss his round red velvet bed overlooking the bay.

When Pigs Fly Wyverne Flatt of Canajoharie, New York, is willing to go to the mat for his 100-pound emotional support pig, Ellie, News10-TV reported. But the village doesn’t believe Ellie should be allowed to live with Flatt, who has been fighting her exile for two years. “I have gotten shot records from the vet, notes from the doctor, and all the paperwork,” Flatt said. “I’ve done everything they’ve asked me to do, and we just keep going to court.” Flatt said after a divorce and losing family members, he is comforted by the pig: Ellie “jumps right up on the couch to watch TV, and she does all this stuff. Her going away from me would be just as detrimental for her as it would be for me.”

Wrong Place, Wrong Time Suleman Shaikh, a newly minted physician in England, gifted his parents with a trip to Seville, Spain. Humaira and Farooq Shaikh were scheduled to leave on Oct. 4, and indeed they boarded a Ryanair flight -but when they landed, they were in Greece.

It was their taxi driver who informed them of their whereabouts, so they returned to the airport, the Mirror reported. But Ryanair agents laughed at their predicament and offered to cover only one night’s hotel stay, even though the next flight back to London wasn’t for four days. Suleman said he’s out about 1,100 pounds and is “completely outraged and shocked that this has been allowed to happen. It has triggered severe strain and anxiety on my parents.” But Ryanair stuck to its position: “It is the responsibility of every passenger to ensure they follow the correct procedures and take note of the information available to them.”

Bright Idea Johnny Masesa, 45, was due in court in Connecticut on Nov. 4 to face a first-degree larceny charge, CTPost.com reported.

Masesa was charged with scamming an 82-year-old Milford, Connecticut, woman out of $83,000 by telling her that she was “in the running” for a Publisher’s Clearing House prize and she needed to send money to claim it. But Masesa didn’t turn up for his hearing because, as his lawyer, Douglas Rudolph, explained, he had died in June from complications of malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he had family. When Rudolph emailed the assistant state’s attorney, Howard Stein, to let him know of the death, the prosecutor

asked for a death certificate. The document Stein received, however, was handwritten and showed several changes made with correction fluid. Rudolph said he has tried to reach the doctor who signed the death certificate, to no avail. Stein said he believes Rudolph is clear of any wrongdoing but asked for a rearrest of Masesa in the case.

“Obviously, if Mr. Masesa is in fact deceased, it would be difficult for the authorities to execute that warrant,” Stein said.

Scrooge In Fulford, York, England, pub owners Steve and Rebecca Eccles planned a fun event for families: Santa and two of his reindeer would appear at the pub’s beer garden on the Saturday before Christmas.

But Freedom for Animals, an animal rights group, had other ideas. On Nov. 2, the Daily Mail reported, the group rallied its supporters to contact the owners and ask for the event to be “animal-free.” One post that the Eccleses received threatened to burn down the building, with the owners inside, if the event went ahead. When they contacted police, officers advised them to cancel the event, which they did. “After everything we have done to support the local community in the nearly two years we have been here, we now have to seriously consider ... whether or not we feel safe enough to stay here at the pub,” the Eccleses wrote. “I hope you’re happy with what you have done.”

Americans Behaving Badly The Colosseum in Rome, always high on the list of sites to see in the Italian capital, closes at 4:30 p.m. But that didn’t deter two American tourists, 24 and 25 years old, who were spotted around 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 15, sitting on the second tier of the relic, casually having beers. A passerby alerted police, who fined them 800 euros, the Guardian reported. Fortunately, no damage was reported.

Least Competent Criminals Can’t we all just follow the rules? Three people in Massachusetts were arrested on the evening of Nov. 11 after they shot a deer decoy with a crossbow, msn.com reported. Massachusetts Environmental Police officers spotted a truck with a spotlight shining on the “deer” just before the shot was taken. The hunters realized it was a decoy and took off, but they were apprehended, and officers found “deer legs within the truck bed in plain view.”

They were arraigned on multiple charges including hunting with artificial light, hunting with the aid of a vehicle and hunting after hours.

Inexplicable Keeta Neville, 34, was detained on Nov. 6 for trespassing in Norfolk, Virginia, The Smoking Gun reported. She was charged with disorderly conduct and assault on officers during her arrest -- but that’s not the most interesting thing about this incident.

Neville’s head and face were covered with a cream-colored “paintlike substance” when she was apprehended, although the nature and source of the substance aren’t known.

Neville remained in custody until her December court date.

8 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

guest opinion

by Isiah Smith, Jr. As the birthdays accumulate, piling up like so many layers of dry leaves freshly fallen on fallow ground, one can’t resist the urge to ask, for the 73rd time, “What’s next?” It’s both a micro question, like “What to write next?” and a macro one: “What to do with the rest of my life?”

In essence, what of importance do I have to say, to write? What haven’t I done that I said I would do? What have I contributed, if anything, to the greater good?

As autumn turns to winter, and the bluebirds bow out until next spring, many Americans of all ages, creeds and colors are asking something similar: Is the game over? Am I simply running out the clock?”

Having survived (barely) the greatest assault ever on American democracy, many of us have openly pondered this: “What does it all mean?”

Our faith in the future (and therefore ourselves) has been profoundly shaken.

Witness the massive explosion in the number of Americans seeking assistance from psychologists and psychiatrists. The Centers for Disease Control reports that 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in the 12 months during the pandemic, at the rate of 275 per day!

The darkness that descended upon our nation in these last few years has yet to recede. Nonetheless, I remain positive and optimistic in the face of mounting pressures. How? Books.

As James Baldwin wrote, “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.

It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”

The books I turn to are those about the ancient Romans and Greeks, and how they dealt with adversities and the effects of the aging process. Specifically, in the present instant, it is to Cicero, the famous Roman orator and statesman, to whom I turn.

By any measure, 45 B.C. was a cruel year for Cicero. He was in his early 60s and totally alone. He had been married to his first wife for 30 years but had foolishly divorced her to marry a woman half his age. Turns out, marrying a much younger person isn’t the secret to eternal youth (it might even accelerate the aging process). Predictably, that marriage failed. Making matters worse, Cicero’s beloved daughter, Tullia, died at the beginning of his annus horribilis, leaving him deeply depressed.

A horrible year indeed. A mere four years earlier, he had been at the forefront of Roman politics. Then Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River, forcing the Roman

Republic into a war it didn’t want and was incapable of winning. Unable to support Caesar, Cicero had fled to his country estate. Now, far from the center of action and glory in Rome, the old man felt useless, superannuated, obsolete.

Unlike his friend Cato, however, he did not commit suicide. And unlike some presentday politicians, he didn’t seek revenge against his perceived enemies. He didn’t seek attention, beat his chest, or boast about imaginary achievements. In the account of what Cicero did after all his losses, both personal and professional, we find a path to enlightenment and achievement.

When life seems dark, formidable, and too difficult to contemplate, Cicero’s method of coping is a lesson we all need now, in these rancid times of deep divisions and national polarization.

After taking a personal inventory, Cicero concluded that writing was the best contribution he could make to his countrymen. An avid student of Greek philosophy, he decided to explain to his Roman countrymen the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, and other thinkers. Drawn naturally to the stoic philosophy of virtue and order rather than the Epicureans lifestyle of pleasure and indulgence, he disciplined himself to the practice of writing and thinking.

Writing from early morning until the late hours of the night, Cicero produced treatises on government, ethics, education, religion, and friendship, as well as lessons on morality and duty to country.

Important to our theme here, he wrote a short treatise, De Senectute, about old age.

Even if he had not written this latter piece, the example he set by living the remainder of his life in the manner he did would provide the only roadmap we need for living a meaningful and positive life at any age.

As the end of our national annus horribilis dawns, and we confront the inevitable aging process, let’s take solace in Cicero’s writings. Even more compelling, consider using his life as a template for our own lives.

It’s never too late to be a positive example and meaningful contributor to society.

Moreover, never give in to the twin devils of despair: anger and resentment. Don’t blame others for your own missteps or look back at what you’ve lost; instead, look forward to what you still have to give.

As the scripture teaches, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

Isiah Smith, Jr. is a retired government attorney.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I read about wolves. Wolves in myth. Wolves becoming extinct. The wolf pack on Isle Royale. The wolves reintroduced to the Rocky Mountains. The female wolf written about in Smithsonian magazine who traveled 3,000 miles to find a mate. She had a chip in her; that’s how they knew.

Wolves nurture and teach their pups, just like people do. They play with them. They teach them how to hunt. People and wolves hooked up sometime long ago, and wolves became dogs.

Look at the body language of your family dog someday. See how your dog will paw the ground as an invitation to play, roll on its back to show submission, wave its tail in greeting, and circle around, trying to find the right place to lie down, all the while lining up with the earth’s magnetic field.

I had a big white wolf-dog once; he would breathe in sync with me as I was falling asleep.

I’ve heard of other wolf pets doing this.

Wolves sit deep in the human subconscious.

Some men want to kill them, to have that trophy. Others want to study them because in wolves’ ways of working together and loving each other, they are like us. They live and die for each other.

Death. Five million people have died from the novel coronavirus. In “Journal of the Plague Year,” from the 1600s, Daniel Defoe writes about the carts coming through the streets to collect the dead, the sound of the huge wooden cart wheels on the cobblestone roads, echoing through the empty town; the cartman, calling out, in a ringing, sonorous voice, “Bring out your dead.” Defoe writes about “the brutal courage of the poor” and how they take the worst jobs, eagerly and without complain, to feed their families.

My friend’s mother died. A schoolmate’s wife died. Five million. We all know someone. But it isn’t just the deaths from the pandemic. It’s the pilot who is now driving a bus. It’s the single mother of three who had a stroke and had to put her

“This is the time for reflection. What kind of world do we want?” writer Isabel Allende asks rhetorically during COVID, and then she answers her own question: “We want a world of beauty, we want a civilization based on mutual respect, and respect for other species and for nature. We want the kind of world where peace, empathy, decency, truth, and compassion, prevail.

Above all, we want a joyful world. Together we can achieve it.”

One rainy evening a friend and I escape the plague, finding our way through the pines to Interlochen’s Dendrinos Chapel, the one with all the organ pipes. The conductor is lively, moving like an athlete. The student singers on the stage are in black attire and black masks. How can they sing in their masks? They do. Their youth alone is a song. They sing “Heaven Unfolding,” and “Our Light in Our Night,” and “Veni Sancte Spiritus,” songs to give us hope. Hope is a form of love.

SHOW

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We don’t understand love, except to know that it’s real. It seems to be the mysterious core of us. But what is its purpose?

So that’s the water in my grieving mind’s image, frozen, and the tracks will lead to land. In Native American mythology, in some of the tribes, the wolves are a brother to man. In other groups, ancient ones, the wolves were the link between life and death. In the European legends, the wolf was the one Little Red Riding Hood needed to fear.

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The first wolf I ever saw was in the line outside the Vermeer exhibit in Washington, D. C., in 1996, the boon companion of a male scientist. The man says once he’d had to go on a research expedition and left the wolf with his mother. His companion stopped eating while he was gone and was near death when he came home. He never left her again.

You think you’re reading Revelations, but it’s the daily newspaper. We are all going through all the stages of grief all the time: shock, anger, depression denial, bargaining, acceptance. Not always in that order, but always in waves. That’s how grief comes. In waves. Everyone describes grief this way, as coming in waves.

SN

In my mind I see footprints through the snow, out across the ice to the island. I think they are wolf tracks, but how would I know? My mind works, most days, by what poet Walt Whitman calls “the law of divine indirections.”

children in foster care and is herself now in adult foster care. It’s the migrants and their children in the forests of Belarus, freezing.

It’s the children in Yemen, starving. It’s the Haitians and their children drowning in the river. It’s the wildfires, the droughts, the floods, the famines.

SH

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An essay by Kathleen Stocking There’s a faint bluish cast to the day, a Delft blue, like the blue of the sky in Vermeer’s paintings, blue like moonlight, but in the day.

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Looking for the Invisible Infinite in the Footprints of Wolves

SNOW SHOW

an exhibit of OAB members’ artwork inspired by the phenomenon of snow and the subtle colors of winter.

Exhibition open to the public: December 4 – 19, Daily 11 am – 3 pm Free admission

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“It is an unnameable (stet) boon love hauls down, that people rightly prize as the best of life,” Annie Dillard writes in a story set on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in winter. “Not only will a cave-dwelling pair cull food and kill so kids thrive, but their feeling for each other, not to mention for the kids, brings something beyond food people need.”

We are smarter because someone loves us and takes care of us, like wolves, a little.

But we live longer. There are neurons we are born with that are only activated if another person picks us up and holds us and talks to us and takes care of us. We have about 25,000 genes, most of which have something to do with the brain.

Love makes the brain work better. All those endorphins. All those neurons. Or whatever is up in there. But you don’t need to understand the science to know that love is good, all kinds: brotherly love, God’s love, romantic love, love of beauty. Out of love we make music, make art, make families, build planes, make poetry, make meaning, make what is best about us.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13TH @ 7:30

JAKE SLATER | ELVIS TRIBUTE ARTIST General Admission is FREE

Preferred Seating: $20/person | Call (231) 360-5821 for Tickets

Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 9

By Brighid Driscoll

In Pursuit of the Perfect Cup

Chuck Korson offers the coffee obsessed — and curious — more than a taste of his expertise Photos by Raquel Lauren

10 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

Chuck Korson’s quest to craft the best possible cup of coffee began in, perhaps, a not-unexpected place. He was working at Morsels, a petite coffee shop in Traverse City known for its bitesized baked goods, espresso, and brewto-order coffee.

Among those of us who rely on coffee as six so-what ounces of highoctane necessity, the intricacies of what ultimately goes into the making of your morning cup is hardly meaningful; it’s little more than a liquid vehicle for quickly and painlessly transporting caffeine into your veins.

But for those whose devotion to coffee’s design has become a lifelong experiment you never tire of refining (or tasting), that morning cup can be a kind of map, and its contents’ journey from tree to mug an obsession.

Korson was (and remains) one of the obsessed. And while his laboratory, so to speak, has evolved over the years, from Morsels to his own garage to his own full-service coffee shop to, most recently, his own roastery and tasting room — Korson’s dedication to the craft of creating extraordinary cups of coffee remains.

Luckily for fans saddened by the fall 2020 closure of his 2015-founded full-service café BLK/MRKT, Korson is offering more than just a taste of his expertise. He’s hosting guided, handson classes for both the coffee obsessed and coffee curious. The classes are held inside his Fortunate Coffee roastery and tasting room, which occupies the same sunny space as BLK/MRKT did but focuses on his primary passion — the roasting process — and selling bagged coffee directly to customers and restaurants.

Korson offers two levels of instruction: a tasting class and a brewing class. The tasting option is intended for folks who enjoy and appreciate good coffee but don’t have a grasp of how the beans’ origins or different choices made in the roasting and preparation process can impact the end result. Korson says the course an experience for the senses and is intended to help students understand the differences in coffee.

“We try all of the coffee that I’m offering and just think critically about what we’re tasting and smelling,” Korson says. “I just want to give people an opportunity to make an informed decision about why they like or dislike a certain coffee, or a beer or wine, or a tea, or whatever. This is a great way for people to evaluate coffee without any preconceived notions and find what they like.” Attendees also do a blind taste test to discover what kind of tasting notes most pleases their palate.

The brewing course is for those who want to nerd out a bit more. In this class, Korson leads students through the four key components of making a perfect cup of coffee; grinds, water ratio, temperature, and brewing methods. He covers a range of different methods, from French press to Mr. Coffee Maker.

“We focus on how to take a coffee that you like and get the most out of it.

We experience the coffee at different stages of brewing. We smell it when it’s dry coffee grounds, when water is first added to it, after the complete brewing time. I manipulate different variables for brewing coffee, and then we focus on dialing in a specific recipe [so] you

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“At a certain point, you just want more control with the end product,” says Korson, pictured far left, inside Fortunate Coffee, which focuses on his primary passion, roasting. “Like when someone else is roasting the coffee, you’re dealing with their set of parameters and how they interpret the coffee, and you can make it taste good, but you may have your own ideas what coffee can taste like. For a serious person who likes to experiment, [scaling the business from fullservice cafe to roastery] was just a logical step for me.”

can [on creating] a recipe for making a repeatable cup of coffee that you really enjoy at home.”

Each class is 90 minutes long and designed for up to four people at a time. He finds that keeping the groups small encourages more participation, inquisitiveness, and fun.

“I’ve tried doing bigger classes, and I just feel like people don’t have enough time to ask questions. With four, there’s a good amount of interaction that happens,” he says.

As for Korson’s favorite coffee and brewing preference? True to his fascination for tinkering with the myriad options the craft of coffeemaking allows, his preference for what kind of coffee he wants and the way

he decides to make it isn’t ever static; what he liked two months ago is unrecognizable from what he enjoys today.

“I love a paper filter pour-over. Right now, I’m in love with Kona Coffee. Typically, I always gravitate towards Colombian and Ethiopian coffees,” he says. “But I also like the coffees of Mexico. I think they’re the most exciting coffees we’ve had this year as far as variety of flavors.”

Korson typically runs the courses on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but he corresponds with attendees through email when they book to determine the best day and time. Tasting classes are $25 per person, and brewing classes are $35 per person.

Classes can be booked online at www. fortunate.com/events.

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Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 11

FORREST – A FOOD STUDIO Everyone knows what an artist’s studio is, but what about a food studio? For Forrest and Nicole Moline, it’s a creative hub for the culinary arts. Swap out paintbrushes, canvas, and a gallery showroom for chef’s knives, a stove, and a dining room, and you have the same concept — simply with different mediums and materials.

By Janice Binkert Continuing that analogy, just as an artist’s studio can be home to various art forms, Forrest – A Food Studio offers a variety of enticing options in the realm of food (and drink). “We started our business with private chef services but quickly adapted to cooking a wide range of menus and accommodating many different dining and dietary requests with an expanded palette of unique, personal, and memorable culinary experiences,” says Nicole Moline.

Among these experiences, Forrest and Nicole Moline just announced the return of Friday and Saturday dinners to the Food Studio, beginning this New Year’s Eve (see sidebar). And on Thursday nights, they will continue to host walk-in guests for small plates and wine pairings. They also manage their own in-house natural and organic wine shop from noon to 6pm Tuesday through Saturday, take carry-out orders for Forrest’s house-made pasta, and still have a high demand for their private chef services.

And through it all, these hard-working and talented young entrepreneurs exude calmness, efficiency, and genuine warmth.

Forrest, originally from Southern California, and Nicole, who grew up in Midland, met 15 years ago when they were both living in Cleveland. “I was finishing my

MS in nutrition and dietetics at Case Western Reserve University, and Forrest was cooking at three different local restaurants,” says Nicole. “We lived in the same neighborhood for about a year, but we had never met because we had very different schedules.

Then one day, we crossed paths at a local wine bar, and Forrest offered to come over to my apartment to cook for me sometime.

We’ve been married now for nine years, and we still share the same passion for great food, culinary adventures, and hospitality!”

Nicole spent the majority of her postcollege career working for start-up wellness companies that were later acquired by large corporations before moving to Traverse City, where the two launched Forrest – A Food Studio in 2019.

A TRUE PARTNERSHIP While the business bears its chef ’s name, Forrest will be first to tell you none of its multiple facets would be possible without Nicole. “As a former senior manager of operations at a Fortune 500 company, she brings invaluable expertise in accounting, organized scheduling, customer service, and corporate management to the table,” he says.

While Nicole does help with some tasks in the kitchen, she primarily drives the business side of the Studio and leaves the cooking to her husband, the chef. “We have

12 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

very different strengths and skills, so there is a clear and easy definition of roles and responsibilities,” she says.

Among his long list of culinary credits, Forrest has worked with Iron Chef Michael Symon in two of his restaurants, as well as with renowned Detroit chef/restaurateur and James Beard Award-nominated cookbook author Brian Polcyn. Forrest describes his style of cooking as seasonal with an innovative Californian influence and says he especially enjoys creating sauces, cooking fresh fish, and making pasta from scratch.

A sampling of recent and upcoming Thursday small plates offers a glimpse into the kind of food that one can expect to come out of Forrest’s kitchen. Each month’s menu always includes a meat dish, a fish or seafood dish, a pasta dish, and a vegetable dish. November featured beef short rib with ricotta gnocchi, truffle jus and chives; crab and avocado toast with garlic focaccia, artichoke, spinach, lemon, and basil; buttercup squash agnolotti with burnt cream, lemon and pine nut crumble; and a medley of Second Spring Farm cauliflower, roasted, pickled and pureed, with zhug sauce, seeded crackers, and microgreens.

For December, the menu will be a grassfed beef cutlet from Up North Heritage Farm, with green peppercorn sauce and pickled chili; black cod with parsnip, roasted mushroom,

Clockwise from top left: Forrest and Nicole Moline, owners of Forrest - A Food Studio (photo by J.Zevalkink); Second Spring Farm white puréed cauliflower, yellow roasted cauliflower, red beet-pickled cauliflower, zhug sauce, seeded cracker, and spicy microgreens; Culurgiones, Up North Heritage Farm pork-rib-stuffed dumplings, pork rib brodo, parsley oil, and microgreens; seared scallops, stewed cannellini beans, salsa verde, tomatillo aguachile, and brûléed avocado; the food studio, on Union Street in Traverse City’s picturesque Old Town district; and tuna aguachile, chili-lime vinaigrette, cucumber, and avocado with cilantro oil.

and Blis Sherry; ricotta agnolotti with veggie Bolognese sauce; and rutabaga with poached pear, gingered yogurt, and fresh herbs.

FROM THERE TO HERE “Nicole and I always had the intention to open some sort of food business,” says Forrest, “and when we moved here, we saw this building and said, ‘Someday we’re going to have that space.’” Their vision came to life in March 2019, when it finally came up for sale. The couple began renovations immediately — doing almost all of the work themselves.

“From the start, we knew we wanted the Food Studio to feel like home, both for us and our guests,” says Nicole. “A place that would allow Forrest to have a safe and healthy environment to dream, practice, and create masterpieces, and a place for our guests to feel welcome and comfortable.”

The kitchen — like any commercial kitchen

only insofar as it meets all health code and safety requirements — boasts a large storage island with a marbled quartz prep countertop, white subway tile walls, colorful Spanish-tiled floors, and a show-stopping Blue Star gas range with bright red oven doors. The same homelike aesthetic extends to the dining room, with its warm woodgrained floors, white beadboard and shiplap accents, mismatched upholstered dining chairs, and custom live-edge tables made by Steel Appeal in Empire (who also made the unique sinks in the guest bathrooms).

The grand opening of Forrest – A Food Studio took place on Nov. 1, 2019. Then, just a few months into 2020, the pandemic hit.

“Luckily, the size of our operation was kind of a silver lining because we cater to small groups,” says Forrest. “We had a flood of requests for small private gatherings in people’s homes – they felt safe there and really appreciated having the restaurant come to them. And we felt comfortable doing that, since we’re both certified in safety and sanitation, and we, of course, wear masks.”

Offering a wide variety of carryout, ready-to-heat meals also helped pay the bills during that first year, as did opening the wine shop sooner than planned. And 2021 has been a very successful year for Forrest – A Food Studio, according to its owners, who

Left to right: Berbere-spiced hangar steak with charred zucchini, rosemary-goat cheese potato croquettes, and confit tomato ketchup; duck sausage tortellini, pumpkin purée, hazelnuts, cippolini, and currants (photo by J.Zevalkink); and the in-house natural and organic retail wine shop.

are more convinced than ever that they are right where they were meant to be.

“We love working together,” says Nicole.

“For the first part of our relationship, Forrest worked long hours in fine dining kitchens — including nights, weekends, and holidays — and I had the polar-opposite schedule with my Monday through Friday, 9-to-5 corporate job.

Now, in this new line of work and being small business owners, we enjoy all the time we get to spend together and the flexibility to make our own hours. Unlike most start-up companies that are looking to scale up, grow, and expand, we want to just keep doing what we’re doing in this wonderful space, serving the freshest, highest quality food and interesting wines we can, all while providing a fun and enjoyable dining experience for our guests.”

Find Forrest – A Food Studio at 408 S. Union St. in Traverse City. For more information, including weekend dinner reservations, booking a private in-home dinner or other off-site events, or ordering wine or pasta for pickup, visit forrestafoodstudio.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.

WEEKEND DINNERS ARE BACK!

Beginning New Year’s Eve, weekend dinners (Fridays and Saturdays) are returning to Forrest – A Food Studio. Reservations are required and will open one month in advance for the following month. January reservations will go live on forrestafoodstudio.com starting Wednesday, Dec. 1, with the first reservation actually being for the Friday, Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve dinner. Check the website and social media for upcoming details, including menus.

Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 13

14 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

The Harmonic Egg

Saltwater Float pod

MUST-TRIES FOR THE MODERN MID-LIFER Fun and funky wellness trends to make you feel 15 years younger (or at least better)

By Lynda Wheatley Blame Clark Stanley for giving snake oil a bad name. The self-named “Rattlesnake King” launched commercial sales of the stuff‚ initially a mix of rattlesnake fat and herbs, at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He told the audience he had learned of the concoction’s healing powers from a Hopi Indian tribe in Arizona. Over the next few decades, Stanley sold loads of his purported healing oil — until federal investigators took a closer look in 1917 and discovered its contents contained no snake at all; it was made up of mineral oil, beef fat, red pepper, and turpentine Just because Stanley was a swindler doesn’t mean snake oil deserves its lousy reputation. A full century later, modern medical journals point to the proven efficacy of snake oil sourced from Chinese water snakes, which is high in mega-3 fatty acid and shown to relieve pain and inflammation for people suffering from arthritis and bursitis. The point? Just because something sounds weird doesn’t mean it won’t work.

With that in mind, we set out to find three progressive and peculiar but popular approaches to easing our aching bods and tired minds — a must before (and after!) the hyperactivity of the holiday season.

Here’s what we found:

THE HARMONIC EGG

Pure Essence Wellness Center Late 1880s inventor Nikola Tesla once said, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” In 2020, former Detroit-area engineer Gail Lynn took Tesla’s theories about that trifecta and the numbers 3,6, and 9 — which Tesla believed held secrets of the universe — and went further.

Combining research into bio-resonant frequencies, sacred geometry, heliotherapy,

chromotherapy, and more, Lynn sought to create a natural wood chamber whose shape was determined by a mathematically perfect combination of angles and ratios.

She enlisted sound and light engineers and professional musicians to create music at frequencies said to target specific kinds of healing and enhanced by the acoustics of that chamber.

The result: The Harmonic Egg, “a sacred geometric chamber” that uses sound and light therapy with a resonant frequency to detect the vibration of your body and correct any imbalance by bringing it into harmony via the exact opposite frequency.

There’s only one in Michigan, and you can find it Up North, at Pure Essence Wellness Center in Traverse City.

It works like this: You describe what’s ailing you — anxiety, injuries or chronic pain, brain injuries, learning disabilities, diseases like cancer or Parkinson’s, guilt and fear, etc. — and staff will select light and sound frequencies from 60,000 possible combinations to support your body’s own natural healing process. Then you enter the chamber and sit in the light and music for 50 minutes.

“It’s not invasive, you’re fully clothed, you sit in a zero-gravity chair … and it doesn’t matter if you’re awake or asleep,” says Pure Essence Wellness Center coowner Janet Kiehl.

She’s quick to add that she can’t make specific health claims; the Harmonic Egg is not approved by the FDA. “Everybody has their own results and responds differently,” she says. But she points to a customer who has been struggling with migraines for 15 years as one who’s had success since the wellness center opened the Harmonic Egg to its first client Oct. 10. “The first time she came in, [her migraines] lessened some.

The second time, more … . She has her fifth session soon and has had no migraines [since her third] session.”

One session inside the Harmonic

Egg is $99; increasing discounts are applied when you purchase packages of three or 10 sessions. Find the Harmonic Egg at Pure Essence Wellness Center at 1240 E Eighth St., Traverse City, www. pureessencewellnesscenter.com.

bladder control and sexual function.

Curious which, if either, are right for you? An initial consultation with Dr. Lo is free. Learn more at regencen.com.

PRF & RF THERAPY

Solitude Float & Wellness Spa So Solitude Float and Wellness Spa isn’t new — it opened in Traverse City in Jan. 2020 — but, like all spas, had to close its doors when the pandemic hit. That’s a real pity, seeing as Solitude’s float pods offer some of the best, most peaceful methods of social distancing we know. Back open and recently expanded with in-house massage therapy services, this place is the go-to for any stress ball looking to get gone.

Each float pod, filled with about 1,000 pounds of fresh and filtered magnesium-rich Epsom salt water, is set inside its own private room. You simply select the music that moves you, cue the lighting of your choice (we love the fiber-optic starlight twinkle set into the pod’s ceiling), then climb on in.

The high salinity of the water keeps your body effortlessly afloat, relaxing muscles, mind, and central nervous system in short order. Whether you choose to keep the lid closed and the scene dark and silent for some majorly meditative sensory deprivation or prefer to keep the lid open, pod lights on, and music playing, you will emerge feeling better than you did when you sank in 60 minutes before.

Like any other wellness practice, floating is considered most beneficial when part of a recurring routine, not a one-and-done effort.

The spa’s growing membership — who’ve reported alleviation of chronic pain, better sleep, increased mindfulness and creativity, and even reduced PTSD symptoms — would seem to agree. Nevertheless, first-timers can start with a single float for $59.25. Learn more at solitudefloatspa.com or stop in at 111A E. Front St.

Regen Cen, Cosmetic Skin & Laser Center Do you pee a little when you laugh?

Does it hurt your hands to text and type?

Is your hair thinning? Are your knees throbbing? Erections coming, well … not so easily? Dr. Gustav Lo believes regenerative medicine can help you give aging’s associated side effects the big (nonthrobbing) middle finger.

The U of M and Michigan State University School of Medicine graduate has used regenerative medicine to treat orthopedic conditions throughout his 30year career as a primary care physician, and now he’s brought it to RegenCen, a new division of northern Michigan’s Cosmetic Skin and Laser Center, which boasts locations in Traverse City and Petoskey.

Dr. Lo offers two types of therapy. One is platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) therapy, in which PRF — think: a bunch of white blood cells, fibrin, and a few stem cells — is extracted from your own blood, spun to separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff, then the good stuff is skimmed from the top and put back in to rejuvenate aging tissues, joints, ligaments, tendons, and more. The treatment has long been used to speed up post-surgical healing; here’s it used to stimulate hair growth, heal painful orthopedic conditions, and improve action in the bedroom.

The second therapy: Radiofrequency (RF) treatments, which use the energy of radio frequencies and electronic muscle stimulation to strengthen and rebuild the body’s aging and damaged soft tissues — primarily muscle and skin. It’s often used to strengthen pelvic muscles and improve

SALTWATER FLOATING

Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 15

Russell captured one of 2014’s most impressive natural phenomena, ice caves — and the many curious explorers they drew — to Leelanau’s Lake Michigan shoreline.

50 YEARS IN FOCUS

Local photojournalist John Russell captures his catalog of work — and our corner of the world — in new book

By Ross Boissoneau Have you ever given someone a gift that changed the trajectory of their life? John Russell’s girlfriend did. A half-century ago, when Russell was a mop-topped 19-year-old at Michigan State University, his girlfriend — “my first serious girlfriend,” he says — gave him a 35-millimeter camera for Christmas.

At the time, Russell was studying to become a landscape architect.

But once he got that camera in his hands, its small shutter button under his index finger, everything changed — Russell included. He began roaming and snapping and suddenly saw his campus, his city, and his future much differently. No longer did he dream of a career at an office drawing board; he wanted the world as his canvas.

For the last 50 years, Russell has kept a camera in his hands, and though the cameras and photography itself have changed countless times, his dedication to making both a life and career of photography haven’t wavered since that Christmas decades ago.

This Christmas, Russell is giving fans of photography and local history a gift of his own: “My Office Today: 50 Years of Northern Michigan Images,” a book showcasing 200 of his best and favorite images shot over his half-century as a photojournalist. The coffee table book, whose images and accompanying stories catalog so much of life Up North, from the early 1970s to today, drops Nov. 30.

SEEING THE LIGHT (AND DARK) Russell, now with a head and beard of

gray hair but the spirit of a 19-year-old, says that gift from a half-century ago might be responsible for what he still refers to as his “present obsession” with photography, but he credits his mother with making him a photographer.

She was an artist herself, he says, and from the time he was a child, she taught him to carefully observe the world around him.

“Sight is a gift; seeing is an art,” he says.

Not long after receiving the camera, Russell began putting his eye for the art of seeing to work as a freelance photographer at MSU’s student-run newspaper, The State News. He wasn’t allowed to join the staff initially; only journalism students were allowed. But Russell’s quickly developing skills and passion for the work soon convinced the paper’s advisor to break the rule; Russell became the first non-journalism student to join the paper’s staff.

It wouldn’t be the first barrier he pushed through. Not long after, he managed to nab assignments with the venerable United Press International, shooting for Dennis Kinsella, then chief editor at the Lansing bureau.

Emboldened with his success, Russell abandoned his plans for a career in landscape architecture and set about building a career in photojournalism.

And what a career it’s been. At age 23, Russell began a 30-year tenure at the Traverse City Record-Eagle and in that time has shot for a host of other outlets: Newsweek, TIME, National Enquirer, New York Times, PBS, NBC, London Sunday Times, and Chicago Tribune, to name just a few.

16 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

STORYTELLER How did a small-town kid gifted with a 35-millimeter camera go on to capture so much for so many around the world?

Russell’s ever-friendly, energetic demeanor is no doubt part of what makes the artist stand out as a go-to shooter; but his philosophy of the art of photojournalism can’t be overlooked.

He says his goal from the beginning has always been for his pictures to tell a story — whether the photos captured mere moments at a sporting event, illustrated a bit of hard news, or captured the magnitude of nature’s power. As such, many of his published photos ran as standalone images, with nothing but a brief caption accompanying the tale his picture told. Other times, his images have been part of a lengthy feature written by someone else, or even by Russell himself.

And with some photos — no matter how big or beautiful the moments he froze in time — the story he tells of their capture are just as memorable. The great blizzard of January 1978 is one. The two-day storm, which dumped more than 30 inches across much of northwest Lower Michigan in 24 hours and killed more than 20 people in the state, provided Russell one of his greatest tales (not to mention a bevy of great photos, including one that ran in TIME magazine).

While snowplows carved paths so Traverse City firefighters could inch through the snow-piled streets to respond to emergency calls, Russell went out into 70 mph winds with his camera around his

neck and skis strapped to his boots. When the drifts became too big, he traded the skis for snowshoes. “I was the only photographer on staff at the Record-Eagle, he says proudly, “snowshoeing or skiing everywhere for images.”

Another time, in 1993, his pager sounded an alert as he and his wife were having lunch: the controversial right-to-die advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian was Up North and had just assisted two people in committing suicide. Could Russell get to Leland quickly? Russell raced to the location and was the first photographer on the scene, where Stanley Ball, who had terminal pancreatic cancer and was one of two people who had died by suicide that day, had been granted his wish to end his life.

SNAPPING WITH THE CHANGES Over the course of Russell’s 50-plus years shooting photos, much has changed locally and in the world. The population of Grand Traverse County has practically tripled since Russel began chronicling the North in pictures. The nation’s newspaper industry has been upended, and though some local newspapers, like Russell’s longtime hometown paper and employer Traverse City Record-Eagle, have withstood the test of time, ownership has passed through many hands, and readership and page counts are rarely what they once were. Opportunities for assignments for print publications or wire services are far more limited for aspiring photojournalists than they were when Russell started out. But none of those changes compares to the way photography

The photographer in his element, 2018.

Marty Lagina stands on the frozen pier at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy on January 29, 1978, viewing the capsized training vessel Allegheny, which capsized from ice buildup during the blizzard of ’78. Russel shot this image for TIME magazine, which had seen a black and white image Russell had shot on the UPI wire and wanted one in full color.

itself has been revolutionized by the move from film to digital.

“We shot black and white film, which either we developed or a photo lab did the work. We had few choices as to speed of film and carried a heavy bag of prime-focus lenses.

When film was sent out to newspapers or magazines, we never saw the images prior to publication and never had the film returned.”

That was then, and this is now. Today’s digital cameras include fast lenses and autofocus capabilities, while cell phones and laptops enable him to send images minutes

after they are created. “Control is completely in the hands of the photographer. And we have the original images with caption information on each frame.”

While the changes mean Russell doesn’t have to labor in a darkroom mixing chemicals anymore, the advancements come at a steep price. “Today a photographer has to maintain computers, cameras and lenses, and digital equipment. Most have at least a laptop and a mainframe computer system, cell phone, and iPads,” Russell says.

Equipment and software are constantly being

improved by manufacturers and developers, and the cost rises accordingly.

Nevertheless, Russell believes the improvements are worth the price. “I look back and marvel at how we worked 50 years ago. Trying to send images from the road involved a suitcase-sized transmitter and the ability to process and scan film, and a good phone line,” says Russell. “Today we can sit in our vehicle and send images in minutes from remote parts of the world.

In 10 minutes with a digital, you can do two-thirds of the workload. It’s not instant

gratification, but it’s close to it,” he adds.

Russell quit the daily newspaper grind 17 years ago but is far from being retired.

He keeps a camera on him at all times, no matter where the day and road takes him.

In fact, the title for his book comes from his experience of working wherever, whenever.

Says Russell: “Anywhere I am is my office.”

“My Office Today” will be available at Horizon Books — where Russell will host a book signing Dec. 9 — and The Camera Shop in Traverse City, as well as at amazon.com.

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18 76 Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 17

nov 27

saturday

HOLLY BERRY ARTS & CRAFTS FAIR: 9am-3pm, Frankfort High School. Featuring over 100 artists.

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BLACK FRIDAY & SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY: Downtown TC, Nov. 26-27. Support local merchants!

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CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE ARTS & CRAFTS SHOW: 10am-4pm, Northport Village Arts Building. Two venues for the arts & crafts show: Village Arts Building at 301 N. Mill St. & Willowbrook Mill at 201 N. Mill St. northportartsassociation.org

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GLEN ARBOR HOLIDAY MARKETPLACE: 10am-3pm. Shop from a selection of artisan made gifts, held inside the Town Hall, Glen Arbor. Goods available include: pastel paintings, cards & postcards, logo merchandise, fine art photography, scarves & gloves, & much more. visitglenarbor.com/ event/holiday-market-2021

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HOLIDAY IN THE VILLAGE: A FAMILY DAY & HOLIDAY STROLL: Downtown Suttons Bay. Highlights include Caroling on the Corner, Santa arriving via fire truck, story time with Mrs. Claus, tree lighting, mail letters to Santa, gifts from Santa, extended business hours & more.

Northport Band & Village Voices performing at Mitten fireplace. 5:55pm: Santa arrives at Christmas tree. 6pm: Tree lighting at Mitten Brewery. 6:30-11:30pm: Live DJ & karaoke at Northport Pub & Grille. northportomenachamber.org/christmas-in-the-village

nov/dec

BENZIE COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY FESTIVAL OF TREES: 12-6pm, Benzie Area Historical Museum, Benzonia. Runs Nov. 26-28. Featuring over 100 items. Volunteers decorate both real & artificial trees & wreaths as well as table decorations. All decorations & trees are given a minimum bid with visitors bidding in an online auction for the piece – or pieces – they enjoy most. benziehabitat.org/festival-of-trees

send your dates to: events@traverseticker.com

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HARBOR SPRINGS HOLIDAY EVENTS: 12:30pm: Santa will be outside the Lyric Theatre to meet & greet kids. 6pm: Christmas Tree Lighting on Main St., downtown Harbor Springs. Gather with your friends & neighbors to sing carols. Following, will be an ecumenical chili dinner in the Holy Childhood Parish Hall at 150 W. Main St. Also enjoy homemade cookies & hot cocoa. harborspringschamber.com/events/details/ christmas-tree-lighting-2021-8046

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SHOP SMALL BUSINESSES IN EAST JORDAN: Let your kids shop for their loved ones & get a free ornament. Jordan River Arts Center will have extended hours today from 1-4pm & 5-8pm.

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FREE SHOWING OF “THE POLAR EXPRESS”: 1:30pm, The Bay Theatre, Suttons Bay.

HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGE RIDES: 10am-noon, Frankfort High School. Also visit with Santa & Mrs. Claus. Free.

SHOP SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY, DOWNTOWN BELLAIRE: 10am-10pm.

Participating merchants will offer one day sales, & drink & food specials.

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SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY, GAYLORD: Support small businesses by shopping local. Sales at Saturn Booksellers from 10am-6pm. saturnbooksellers.com/event/ small-business-saturday-dont-miss-it

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MEET SANTA & MRS. CLAUS: 11am-1pm, Crystal River Outfitters Recreational District, M22 Glen Arbor Wine Patio, Glen Arbor.

Share holiday wishes & pose for family pictures. Free. crystalriveroutfitters.com

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NORTHPORT CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES: 11am-1pm: Letters to Santa & Storytime at Leelanau Township Library. 12:30-2:30pm: Cookie & gingerbread house decorating at Northport Pub & Grille. 3:30-6:30pm: Wagon rides in front of the Christmas tree.

4-6pm: Meet Santa’s reindeer at Around The Corner. 4:30-5:15pm: Caroling throughout downtown with the Village Voices. 5:30pm:

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“MINGLE & JINGLE”: East Jordan. 4pm: Tree lighting on the corner of Spring & Hammond streets. Following will be caroling around the tree. Afterwards head to The Boathouse for the “Jubilee of Trees for 501C3’s,” featuring 25 decorated trees donated by local businesses, organizations & individuals for this unique silent auction. The Jordan Valley Community Band will perform at 4:30pm. The East Jordan Co-Op Nursery’s Holiday Bake Sale will take place from 4:308pm at The Boathouse. Remember to get your shopping passport card. ejchamber.org

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MEET SANTA’S REINDEER: 4-6pm, Around the Corner Food and Fun, Northport.

Enjoy some holiday treats as well. Free.

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LIGHTS SPECTACULAR: 5-8pm, Treetops Resort, Top of the Hill. Enjoy wagon rides, Elf on Stilts, light display on the top of the slopes, a bonfire with Smores, the new tubing area on display, photos with Santa & more. Register: 866-348-5249. Free. treetops.com/events/lights-spectacular

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18 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

Hustle over to Rasho Farm, TC for the Farmland 5K & Free For All Bike Ride on Sat., Dec. 4. Featuring a classic European-style turf grass course with knee high barriers including straw bales, fallen logs, and wood and stone fences, the 5K Run starts at 11:30am, immediately followed by the Free For All Bike Ride at 12:30pm. The bike event has cyclists taking to the running course for 7 laps of fun competition (approximately 12.75 miles total) on any bike you choose. Each event is $35. If you are ambitious and do them both as a combo, the cost is $50. runsignup.com/farmland5k

ALDEN’S OLD-FASHIONED CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION: 5:30pm, Alden Village Center. Featuring Santa, refreshments, tree lighting, caroling & treats for the kids.

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LIGHT UP THE NIGHT - HOLIDAY PARADE DOWNTOWN PETOSKEY: 6pm.

Floats, walkers, trucks, the Petoskey High School Marching Band & Steel Drum Bands, & Santa will make their way from Petoskey High School to downtown. Bring the little ones to Pennsylvania Park to experience Gingerbread Lane. Family-friendly activities include live music by the Northern Michigan Chorale, hot cocoa, a family photo backdrop, & cookie decorating from 5–6pm. petoskeydowntown.com/downtown-events/light-upthe-night-holiday-parade

THE VILLAGE TREE LIGHTING: The Village at GT Commons, historic front lawn, TC. Enjoy hot chocolate & Christmas music while awaiting the 6pm countdown. thevillagetc.com

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COMEDY WITH BILL BUSHART: 7pm, TC Comedy Club, TC. Bill has performed at the Odd Ball Comedy Fest, headlined Michigan’s Brew HaHa & Laughfest in Grand Rapids & was named funniest comic in Detroit by readers of the Metro Times. $15-$25. etix.com/ ticket/e/1022666/bill-bushart-traverse-citytraverse-city-comedy-club-at-grand-traverseevent-center

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DAVE CALENDINE CONCERT: 7pm, The Music House Museum, Williamsburg.

Enjoy an evening listening to holiday favorites played on the Mighty Cinderella

Wurlitzer by Red Wings Associate Organist Dave Calendine. $25. mynorthtickets.com/ events/come-enjoy-a-nice-relaxing-concertof-christmas-favorites-performed-on-themighty-cinderella-wurlitzer-by-red-wings-associate-organist-dave-calendine-11-27-2021

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FRANKFORT COMMUNITY TREE LIGHTING: 7pm, Rotary Park, Frankfort.

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“THE SAVANNAH SIPPING SOCIETY”: 7:30pm, Old Town Playhouse, TC. Filled with laughter & misadventures, middle-aged women successfully bond & find the confidence to jumpstart their new lives. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays from Nov. 18 - Dec. 4, starting at 2pm on Sundays & 7:30pm on all other days.

Adults: $28; youth under 18: $15 (plus fees). tickets.oldtownplayhouse.com/TheatreManager/1/login&event=357

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CHRISTMAS WITH THE ASSOCIATION: 8pm, Odawa Casino, Ovation Hall, Petoskey.

Enjoy a holiday show with this successful band from the 60’s, who has sold millions of records, tapes, CDs & DVDs, as well as earned a number of achievements including a Golden Globe nomination in 1970 for Best Original Song - “Goodbye Columbus.”

In 1967, The Association made history being the first band anywhere to open a rock festival - the now historic Monterey Pop Festival. $20. etix.com/ticket/p/8976796/christmaswith-the-association-petoskey-ovation-hall

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COMEDY NIGHT WITH DWAYNE GILL: 8-10pm, Treetops Resort, Convention Center, Gaylord. A Marine, A Cop and A Comic!

Dwayne’s topics range from current events, men & women relationships, to the crazy situations he’s encountered as a police officer. As an actor, he has appeared in the ABC crime drama “Detroit 1-8-7,” & the movie “Crave.” He recently shot a pilot for a new sitcom starring him called “Joe vs Joe.” Dwayne has shared the stage with Louis Anderson, Tim Allen & has opened for Aretha Franklin. Show opener tonight will be Nate Armbruster. $25/person; $40/couple; $30 at door. treetops.com/events/comedy-night

nov 28

sunday

BENZIE COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY FESTIVAL OF TREES: 12-3pm, Benzie Area Historical Museum, Benzonia. Runs Nov. 26-28. Featuring over 100 items. Volunteers decorate both real & artificial trees & wreaths as well as table decorations. All decorations & trees are given a minimum bid with visitors bidding in an online auction for the piece – or pieces – they enjoy most. benziehabitat.org/ festival-of-trees

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“THE SAVANNAH SIPPING SOCIETY”: (See Sat., Nov. 27)

nov 29

monday

OTP AUDITIONS: 7pm, Old Town Playhouse, Schmuckal Theatre, TC. For “Cinderella.” This musical has roles for adults of all ages & youth aged 10-14. Auditionees must prepare 16 bars of a song of their choice & bring the sheet music; an accompanist will be provided. They will also be asked to learn a short dance combination so they should dress comfortably with suitable dance shoes. Performances will be Feb. 17 - March 19. oldtownplayhouse.com/getinvolved/auditions.html

nov 30

tuesday

LADIES OF LOVE SOUP FUNDRAISER: 11am-2pm.

Celebrating Giving Tuesday, Real Estate One & their Charitable Foundation is hosting this event. Pre-order lunch online: Your choice of soup/chili, bread, dessert & water. Lunch pick up on Nov. 30 at Real Estate One office, 1349 U.S. 131 S., Petoskey (lower parking level). Minimum donation of $5. Additional generous donations gladly accepted. All monies collected during this fundraiser will benefit local Habitat for Humanity. Every lunch sold, & donation made, has double the impact with a 100% match by the Real Estate One Charitable Foundation. support.reocharitablefoundation.org/event/ladles-of-love/e374618

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“THE WOMEN OF COPPER COUNTRY” BOOK DISCUSSION: 4pm, Bellaire Public Library. Enjoy discussing this year’s Michigan Read, “The Women of Copper Country,” by Mary Doria Russell. In-library event. bellairelibrary.org

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GIVING TUESDAY FOR TART TRAILS: Today Traverse City Tourism will match up to $5,000 of donations to TART Trails in recognition of Giving Tuesday. Any donation made either in person or online is part of the match. In addition, Silver Spruce Brewing will host a special TART Trails happy hour from 4-7pm. TART staff will be on hand collecting donations & talking trails. Grab a cider or brew & $1 from each pint will be donated back to TART. traversetrails.org/event/ giving-tuesday

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AUTHOR TALK & BOOK SIGNING: 6pm, Otsego County Library, Gaylord. With Major Jon & Samantha Turnbull, authors of “Zero Percent Chance.” saturnbooksellers.com/ event/author-talk-and-book-signing-major-jonand-samantha-turnbull-otsego-county-library

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FREE HIGH SCHOOL PORTFOLIO PREP - SO YOU WANNA... ?: 6-7:30pm, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Theater, Petoskey. For 8th12th graders. This fun & informative session surveys a wide range of careers in art & design. Learn what to expect from art school, & get tips for building a competitive portfolio.

Reserve your spot. Free. crookedtree.org/ class/ctac-petoskey/high-school-portfolioprep-so-you-wanna

--------------------OTP AUDITIONS: (See Mon., Nov. 29)

dec 01

wednesday

STATE OF THE COMMUNITY BREAKFAST: 7-9am, Otsego Resort, Gaylord.

Featuring the community’s leaders as panelists. Registration required. $25. gaylordchamber.com/ state-of-the-community

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WINDOW NIGHT: 4-8pm, Central Lake.

Santa arrives at 5:15pm. Tree Lighting at 5:30pm at Alden State Bank. Following, Santa & Mrs. Claus visit at Pavillion. Various activities & sales at participating businesses.

Craft bazaar, cookie decorating, Christmas Sing Along & food drive at The First Congregational Church. There will be reindeer at Sage Park & The Grinch wandering the streets. facebook.com/CentralLakeChamber

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DECEMBER RECESS OF GIVING: 5-7pm, Fox Grand Traverse, TC. This after work happy hour features appetizers from The Towne Plaza including roast beef crostini, chicken lettuce wraps, prosciutto & melon

skewers, & avocado toast, as well as a selection of beverages. Attendees will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win great prizes, including: A Weekend Test Drive in a New Ford Bronco; Full Car Detail Package ($250 value); & $100 Gift Basket. Admission is either a new unwrapped toy or $10. All toys & admission proceeds will benefit Toys for Tots, & Fox Motors will match all monetary proceeds from the event. facebook.com/eve nts/804283993704565?acontext=%7B%22e vent_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surfa ce%22%3A%22page%22%7D]%7D

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ARTS ACADEMY INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS PERFORMANCE: 7:30pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Phoenix Theatre.

Enjoy a showcase featuring individual works & collaborative projects that transcend the boundaries of artistic disciplines. Free. interlochen.org/events/arts-academy-interdisciplinary-arts-performance-2021-12-01

dec 02 922-1600.

live

stand-up

thursday

CHRISTMAS CRAFTS WITH MISS BETSY: 10am, Sweet Pea, TC. Enjoy crafting, writing letters to Santa & making out your wish list.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS IN TIME MANAGEMENT & BEST PRACTICES: 11:30am-1pm, Otsego Grand Event Center, Gaylord. Enjoy lunch & listen to guest speaker Elizabeth Singler from Singler Design. $20 members; $25 non-members. gaylordmi.chambermaster.com/eventregistration/register/5522

MICHAEL

HARRISO

december 3-4 Michael Harrison has become a favorite at clubs all over North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe! With an engagingly relatable and energetic style, Michael’s humor garners accolades in any venue.

december 12-13

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LADIES NIGHT IN GLEN ARBOR: 4-7pm.

A night of shopping & dining for the ladies.

Participating businesses will offer pours of wine, sales & specials.

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MERRY MARKETPLACE: 4-8pm, Crooked Tree Arts Center, TC. This will run three consecutive weekends, & each weekend will feature a different group of artists & artisans.

There will be fun holiday workshops where you can make your own ornaments, holiday decor & gifts. Free. crookedtree.org/event/ ctac-traverse-city/merry-marketplace

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VICTORIAN SLEIGH BELL PARADE & OLD CHRISTMAS WEEKEND: 5-7pm, Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts, Ballroom, Manistee. Dec. 2-5. Today includes the Manistee Area Business After Hours. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres, holiday music, the Lakeside Club’s Festival of Trees, 50/50 raffle & more. Register. $15 members; $25 non-members. facebook.com/event s/913347772925598?acontext=%7B%22eve nt_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface% 22%3A%22page%22%7D]%7D

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DIGITAL SLIDE TALK: 6:30pm, Darcy Library of Beulah. Local author Bob Downes will present a digital slide talk on “First Contact: When the Indians and Europeans First Met.” The talk will include Native encounters with the Vikings, Spanish conquistadors, English colonists & French voyageurs with a focus on the Anishinaabek. Signed copies of Downes’s new historical novel, “The Wolf and The Willow,” will be available at the talk. darcylibraryofbeulah.org

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“THE SAVANNAH SIPPING SOCIETY”: (See Sat., Nov. 27)

dec 03

friday

MERRY MARKETPLACE: 10am-2pm, Crooked Tree Arts Center, TC. Featuring a different group of over 20

N

Jeff Horste

Jeff Horste covers lighthearted topics such as book bags, candy corn, and racial inequality. His comedic ability is blessed by whatever God you believe in so as to not offend you. Jeff has showcased his talents on Comedy Central twice and has appeared on “Laughs” on both Hulu and Fox and performs at top comedy clubs and venues across the country.

DECember 30-31 WRY, WITTY, CUNNING, AND CRASS. Detroit native Mike Stanley is all of these things AND none. Yeah, he's pretty hilarious but, more than just coarse anecdotes about life and sex, there's an enviable amount of heart and warmth behind Stanley's humor. He’s been named "Best Chicago Stand-up Comedian" in a Peoples Choice poll done by the Chicago Reader and “Best Detroit Comedian”

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Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 19

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artists & artisans each week. There will be fun workshops to create ornaments, decor, & gifts. crookedtree.org/event/ctac-traversecity/merry-marketplace

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HAVE A HEART ART MART & FUNDRAISER: 12-8pm, Arts for All Studio, TC. Browse handmade & one-of-a-kind art & gifts created by 25+ local artists at Arts for All’s own pop-up art market, the Have a Heart Art Mart & Fundraiser. Artists donate 50-100% of their profits sold to Arts for All. Also, Real Estate One’s Charitable Foundation is doing a 50% match to all profits made. Arts for All of Northern Michigan provides arts & cultural experiences to connect people of all abilities. artsforallnmi.org fb.me/e/2do73aoKO

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VICTORIAN SLEIGH BELL PARADE & OLD CHRISTMAS WEEKEND: Manistee, Dec. 2-5. Today includes the Sleighbell Holiday Food Truck Court, Christmas Portrait Event & Grand Opening, Letter to Santa Craft, Lakeside Club Festival of Trees & Decor, Cocoa-to-Go with Special Guest, & Downtown Sleigh Scavenger Hunt. facebook.com/ManisteeSleighbellParade/ events/?ref=page_internal

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MANISTEE FESTIVAL OF TREES & HOLIDAY DÉCOR: 1-8pm, Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts, Ballroom, Manistee. Presented by the Lakeside Club. Proceeds benefit the Manistee County Humane Society’s Homeward Bound Animal Shelter & the Youth Armory Project. manisteechamber.com/?mc_ cid=c19b7e58c2&mc_eid=93b2834b7d

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CHRISTMAS JOURNEY: 5:30pm, New Hope Community Church, outside, Williamsburg. Watch scenes come to life as a guide leads you through a woodland path filled with actors, scenery & live animals. Free. newhope.cc/christmasjourney

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DOWNTOWN ALDEN’S HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE: 6-8pm. Refreshments, gift wrapping, visit with Santa. Donations of non-perishable food items will be collected for the Alden Food Pantry.

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FREE COMMUNITY YOGA: 6pm, Dharamsala TC. All are welcome for this Vinyasa Flow Class. Please register in advance. dharamsalatc.com

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PETOSKEY HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE: 6-9pm. Santa Claus will fly into town to light the giant Christmas tree in Pennsylvania Park & greet children with a wave & wink. New this year is the Downtown Social District – carry your adult beverage with you when you walk from store to store. Streets close down & merchants open their doors. Entertainment by carolers & the Petoskey High School Steel Drum Band. petoskeydowntown.com/downtown-events/holiday-open-house

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SWINGSHIFT AND THE STARS: Nonprofits AC Paw, COGNiTiON & Love Thy Neighbor are participating this year for your donation. New this year… the virtual experience “Beyond the Competition” will allow you to watch, vote & donate to your favorite nonprofit from the comfort of your very own screen. Airing Dec. 3-4 at 7pm & a 3pm matinee on Dec. 5. Free; viewing donation requested. swingshiftandthestars.org

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“THE SAVANNAH SIPPING SOCIETY”: (See Sat., Nov. 27)

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BLISSFEST PRESENTS “AN EVENING WITH STEVE POLTZ”: 7:30pm, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey. Enjoy humor, storytelling & music. In 20 years since his full-length solo debut, “One Left Shoe,” Poltz blessed the world’s ears with 13 solo records, spanning the acclaimed 2010 Dream-

house & most recently, Shine On in 2019. $20 members; $25 GA. blissfest.org

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COMEDY WITH MICHAEL HARRISON: 7:30pm, TC Comedy Club, TC. Michael performs at clubs all over North America, Asia, Australia & Europe. He has also been featured on TBS, NBC, MTV & Bravo. He selfproduced, starred in & wrote several shorts, & shot his own nationally syndicated half hour comedy special. $15-$25. traversecitycomedyclub.com/michael-harrison

dec 04

saturday

43RD ANNUAL HOLIDAY CRAFT SHOW & BAZAAR: 9am-3pm, Boyne City High School.

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VICTORIAN SLEIGH BELL PARADE & OLD CHRISTMAS WEEKEND: Manistee, Dec. 2-5. Today includes a Holiday Craft Bazaar, Sleighbell Breakfast, Spin the Xmas Prize Wheel, Manistee Jingle Bell Jog 5K Run/Walk, Sleighbell Saturday!, Victorian Sleighbell Parade Day Fun at Downtown Delights, River Street Carriage Rides, Candy Cane Stilt Walkers, Santa’s Headquarters, Grinder Gordie w/ Meadow Breeze Farm, 32nd Annual Sleighbell Parade, & 18th Annual Jingle Bell Jam. facebook.com/ManisteeSleighbellParade/events/?ref=page_internal

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HOOP’S PET FOOD PANTRY HOLIDAY PET PORTRAIT FUNDRAISER: 9:30am-2:45pm, Square Deal Country Store, TC. Pet photographer Taylor Featherstone will be taking photos by appointment. To choose an appointment time, go to calendly.com/dickeyklee.

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CRAFT SHOW: 10am-3pm, St. Mary of Hannah Catholic School, Kingsley. Entry is a food item for the local food pantry.

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HOLIDAY MERCHANT OPEN HOUSE & HOT COCOA CONTEST: Downtown Charlevoix. Merchants will be armed with entertainment, samples, snacks, refreshments, special sales, raffles & more. From noon to 5pm, area restaurants invite you to sample & vote for your favorite hot cocoa. Cocoa stations will be set up at participating downtown stores & restaurants. charlevoix.org

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LAKE ANN HANDMADE MARKET: 10am3pm, Lake Ann Elementary School. Featuring many treasures crafted by locals.

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LIGHT UP THE NIGHT & SOUP COOK OFF: Downtown Bellaire. Kids scavenger hunt, Christmas carols, ornament making, free movie, craft show, parade of lights, live nativity, & Santa & Mrs. Clause. Soup tickets are limited. bellairechamber.org/light-up-the-nightsoup-cook-off/?utm_content=Jamie&utm_ s o u r c e = Ve r t i c a l R e s p o n s e & u t m _ medium=Email&utm_term=Light%20 Up%20the%20Night%20%26%20Soup%20 Cook%20Off%26nbsp%3B-%2

Sleigh rides are every half hour between 10am - 2pm & require reservations. Please email nmequine@gmail.com to reserve your spot. nmequine.org

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THIRD ANNUAL HOLIDAY OPEN GALLERY: 10am-4pm, Silly Sister’s Pottery, Rapid City. Featuring Denni Moline (the Silly Sister), Jan Toscano (the Silly Sister Wannabe), & Wendy Petera, The Traveling Squirrel, Exciting New Local Photographer.

Free. facebook.com/dennimoline

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“A MICE CHRISTMAS”: 11am, Bellaire Public Library. Enjoy family & children’s poetry & fun as you listen to “A Mice Christmas” read by local author Leland James.

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HAVE A HEART ART MART & FUNDRAISER: 11am-5pm, Arts for All Studio, TC. Browse handmade & one-of-a-kind art & gifts created by 25+ local artists at Arts for All’s own pop-up art market, the Have a Heart Art Mart & Fundraiser. Artists donate 50-100% of their profits sold to Arts for All. Also, Real Estate One’s Charitable Foundation is doing a 50% match to all profits made. Arts for All of Northern Michigan provides arts & cultural experiences to connect people of all abilities. artsforallnmi.org fb.me/e/2do73aoKO

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MANISTEE FESTIVAL OF TREES & HOLIDAY DÉCOR: 11am-8pm, Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts, Ballroom, Manistee. Presented by the Lakeside Club. Proceeds benefit the Manistee County Humane Society’s Homeward Bound Animal Shelter & the Youth Armory Project. manisteechamber.com/?mc_ cid=c19b7e58c2&mc_eid=93b2834b7d

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MEET SANTA: 11am-2pm, Jim Wernig Chevrolet, Gaylord. Drop off your Toys for Tots donation & get free photos with Santa, goodie bags, treats & crafts. Also register to try to win a new bike! facebook. com/events/577572473485951/?active_ tab=discussion

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VILLAGE TREE DECORATING: 11am2pm, Rec Center, 507 W. Central Ave., Mackinaw City. See Santa & his elf.

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TC TRACK CLUB FARMLAND 5K & FREE FOR ALL BIKE RIDE: 11:30am, Rasho Farm, TC. Featuring a classic Europeanstyle turf grass course with knee high barriers including straw bales, fallen logs, & wood & stone fences. The bike event is held immediately following the run & has cyclists hitting the running course for several laps on any bike you choose. 5K Run & Free for All Bike Ride: $35. Farmland Run & Bike Combo: $50. runsignup.com/farmland5k

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HOLIDAY WREATH MAKING: 1pm, Beaver Island Community Center. Deck the halls with your own handmade Christmas wreath.

Greens & basic supplies provided. Bring your own bows & any decorations you may want. Reservations appreciated. Free. wvbi. biccenter.org/calendar-2#event=68584487;i nstance=20211204130000

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MEET SANTA AT MASONIC CENTER CRAFT SHOW: 1-6pm, TC Masonic Center.

Enjoy a craft show & bake sale, kids activities, visiting alpacas & more. Santa will be on hand to receive your holiday wishes as well. Proceeds will benefit Bethany Christian Services. $10 suggested donation.

MERRY MARKETPLACE: 10am-3pm, Crooked Tree Arts Center, TC. Featuring a different group of over 20 artists & artisans each week. There will be fun workshops to create ornaments, decor & gifts. crookedtree.org/event/ctac-traverse-city/ merry-marketplace SLEIGH RIDES TO THE NORTH POLE: SOLD OUT: 10am-2pm, Northern Michigan Equine Therapy, Boyne City. Take a sleigh ride to the North Pole on a horse-drawn sleigh to meet Santa & enjoy hot cocoa, cookies & crafts at Santa’s Workshop. Meet the therapy horses, NMET staff & volunteers. Tickets are $15 per person & must be purchased before the day of the event.

20 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

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A VISIT FROM SANTA: 1:30-4:30pm, Classic Motor Sports, TC. Before he arrives at 2:30pm, there will be time for Letter Writing to Santa & Make-and-Take Activities. Elves will provide hot cocoa & cookies. Free.

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CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE: 2-4pm, Heritage Village Chapel, Mackinaw City.

Hosted by Mackinaw Area Historical Society.

Enjoy a historic journey through Christmas of the past. Hear the story of the Chapel & share in a traditional service as it was back in the late 1800s. Refreshments after the service.

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IN STORE BOOK SIGNING: 2-4pm, Horizon Books, TC. Lynne Rae Perkins will sign her book “The Museum of Everything” & others. horizonbooks.com/event/store-booksigning-lynne-rae-perkins-museum-everything-and-others

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POET JENNIFER SPERRY STEINORTH: 2pm, Leland Township Library, Leland. Enjoy a reading & discussion of Steinorth’s book, “Her Read: A Graphic Poem”; a hybrid text of poetry & visual art. Steinorth will describe the format of erasure poetry & invite attendees into conversation about issues in the book.

Free. lelandlibrary.org/programs-events

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LIVE HOLIDAY CONCERT: The Bay Theatre, Suttons Bay. “Strings of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra” performs holiday favorites. Join a festive sing-along at the end of the show. 3pm: Matinee concert with Santa. 7pm: Evening concert. Adults, $25; 12 & under, $12. thebaytheatre.com

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ORNAMENT MAKING: 4pm, Bellaire Public Library. Create ornaments for your Christmas tree to take home. Materials will be provided. Free.

--------------------CHRISTMAS JOURNEY: (See Fri., Dec. 3) ---------------------

ANNUAL MERCHANTS HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE: 6-9pm, Harbor Springs. Enjoy shopping, refreshments & holiday treats.

Main St. will be closed to allow the community to stroll between stores. Live music by the Petoskey High School Steel Drum Band.

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COMEDY WITH MICHAEL HARRISON: 7pm, TC Comedy Club, TC. Michael performs at clubs all over North America, Asia, Australia & Europe. He has also been featured on TBS, NBC, MTV & Bravo. He selfproduced, starred in & wrote several shorts, & shot his own nationally syndicated half hour comedy special. $15-$25. traversecitycomedyclub.com/michael-harrison

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FRANKFORT COMMUNITY TREE LIGHTING: 7pm, Rotary Park, Frankfort. Also sing along as the community sings Christmas carols, visit with Santa & Mrs. Claus, & enjoy many more activities throughout town. Enjoy free coffee & hot cocoa at Petals & Perks before &/or after the event. 231-352-7251.

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SWINGSHIFT AND THE STARS: (See Fri., Dec. 3)

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“THE SAVANNAH SIPPING SOCIETY”: (See Sat., Nov. 27)

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IAA JAZZ ORCHESTRA & JAZZ COMBO WINTER CONCERT: 7:30pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Dendrinos Chapel & Recital Hall. $9-$12. interlochen.org

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NMC JAZZ BAND WINTER JAZZ ENSEMBLE SHOWCASE: 7:30pm, Dennos Museum Center, Milliken Auditorium, NMC, TC. A swinging evening of music with director Laurie Sears & guest soloist Bill Sears, featuring the music of Basie, Ellington, Kenton, Jobim & more. $12 adults/$7 students & seniors in advance. mynorthtickets.com/events/nmcjazz-bands-presents-winter-jazz-ensembleshowcase-12-4-2021

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TOGETHER AGAIN: 7:30pm, United Methodist Church, Petoskey. Presented by the Little Traverse Choral Society. Featuring Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” & songs of the season. $15 adults; $5 stu-

dents; free 12 & under. littletraversechoralsociety.org

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WINTER SONGS & CAROLS: 7:30pm, Grace Episcopal Church, TC. Manitou Winds’ annual concert celebrates the entire season of winter with songs of Advent, winter solstice, & Christmas intertwined with poetry & prose. Free. manitouwinds.com/ upcoming-performances

dec 05

sunday

SLEIGH RIDES TO THE NORTH POLE: SOLD OUT: (See Sat., Dec. 4)

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THIRD ANNUAL HOLIDAY OPEN GALLERY: (See Sat., Dec. 4)

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HAVE A HEART ART MART & FUNDRAISER: 12-4pm, Arts for All Studio, TC. Browse handmade & one-of-a-kind art & gifts created by 25+ local artists at Arts for All’s own pop-up art market, the Have a Heart Art Mart & Fundraiser. Artists donate 50-100% of their profits sold to Arts for All. Also, Real Estate One’s Charitable Foundation is doing a 50% match to all profits made. Arts for All of Northern Michigan provides arts & cultural experiences to connect people of all abilities. artsforallnmi.org fb.me/e/2do73aoKO

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VICTORIAN SLEIGH BELL PARADE & OLD CHRISTMAS WEEKEND: 12-3pm, Beyond the Mirror, Manistee. Today includes the Ladies Holiday Bazaar. facebook.com/ManisteeSleighbellParade/ events/?ref=page_internal

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SWINGSHIFT AND THE STARS: (See Fri., Dec. 3)

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TOGETHER AGAIN: 3pm, First Presbyterian Church, Harbor Springs. Presented by the Little Traverse Choral Society. Featuring Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” & songs of the season. $15 adults; $5 students; free 12 & under. littletraversechoralsociety.org

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CHRISTMAS JOURNEY: (See Fri., Dec. 3)

ongoing

FRIENDS OF IPL HOLIDAY MITTEN TREE: Interlochen Public Library. Donate new or handmade mittens, gloves, scarves & hats to the Friends Holiday Mitten Tree, Nov. 29 - Dec. 31, during regular hours. interlochenpubliclibrary.org

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RED DRESS DISPLAY: From Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to Dec. 10, Human Rights Day, the Zonta International 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to spur action to end violence against women & girls around the world. The Zonta Club of Petoskey Area will participate in this campaign with a red dress display in the lobby at Petoskey District Library. Check the library’s web site for hours & holiday changes. petoskeylibrary.org

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15TH ANNUAL PRECISION FURNACE MAKEOVER: Nominate a deserving family & explain why they need a new furnace system.

Deadline: Midnight on Sun., Dec. 12, 2021. precisiontc.com/nominate/precision-cares

art

ANNUAL ART TREE & SMALL GIFT SHOW: Higher Art Gallery, TC. Featuring over 20 artists, all which will have small objects of

art displayed on the tree. Other small functional items will be available as well. Runs every day during regular open gallery hours from Nov. 17 - Jan. 1. higherartgallery.com

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BIRDS FLY IN: A HUMAN REFUGE: Runs through Jan. 2 at Dennos Museum Center, NMC, TC. A cross-cultural art collaboration focusing on themes related to Migration & Intuition. Artist Ellie Harold was surprised by birds who “flew” onto her canvas after the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. As intuitive messengers, they brought not only an entirely new way of painting, but comfort during confusing times. Later, as migration issues came to the fore, she felt birds were a metaphor for the universal human desire to move toward greater freedom & love. Following her intuition, Ellie met Mexican composer David Mendoza, creator of the soundtrack music, & German architect Wilfried Schley who designed the Refuge Space. dennosmuseum.org

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CHARLEVOIX CIRCLE MARKET: Charlevoix Circle of Arts, Nov. 19 - Dec. 30.

Featuring local handmade items, original art, & locally produced specialty treats. Closed on Sundays. charlevoixcircle.org

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HOLIDAY GIFT MARKET: Nov. 14 - Dec. 19, Jordan River Arts Center, East Jordan.

Check out many handmade items created by local artisans. jordanriverarts.com

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CROOKED TREE ARTS CENTER, PETOSKEY: - KINDRED: TRADITIONAL ARTS OF THE LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY BANDS OF ODAWA INDIANS: Held in Gilbert & Bonfield galleries. Historic & contemporary examples of Odawa arts & crafts will be on display, including quill boxes, beadwork, regalia, basketry, & ceramics. Through these finely crafted objects, thematic threads are woven together to explore the economic drivers, environmental factors, & challenges inherent in sustaining tradition, creative practice, & identity. Runs through Nov. 27.

There will be a free educational program connected with the exhibition every Thurs. at 10am. crookedtree.org/event/ctac-petoskey/ kindred-traditional-arts-little-traverse-baybands-odawa-indians - THROUGH OUR EYES: CROOKED TREE PAINTERS’ STUDIO EXHIBITION: The Crooked Tree Painters’ Studio meets weekly at CTAC in Atrium Gallery to share their love of painting. This year’s exhibition features original paintings by 18 artists. Runs through Dec. 18. crookedtree.org/event/ ctac-petoskey/through-our-eyes-crookedtree-painters-studio-exhibition

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GLEN ARBOR ARTS CENTER, GLEN ARBOR: - PAPER CONSTRUCTIONS: DENISE SAMUELS: Held in the Lobby Gallery. Samuels exhibits sculptural, geometric constructions with recycled papers – cereal boxes, common cardboard & other heavier fibers she sometimes paints & alters – & stitches each hand-cut piece together with wire.

Runs through Dec. 17. glenarborart.org/ events/exhibit-denise-samuels - SMALL WORKS HOLIDAY EXHIBITION: Annual showcase of 2D + 3D work that offers small, original art at affordable prices, $150 or less. Runs through Dec. 16, & features the work of 19 artists working in mixed media, collage, paper, painting, glass, wood, pastel, clay, charcoal, watercolor, & digital imagery. A Holiday Open House, with music & refreshments, takes place Dec. 9, 5-7 pm at the GAAC. Exhibition visitors can also enjoy the GAAC’s holiday forest, a group of decorated trees that line the driveway & GAAC front yard. glenarborart.org/ events/2021-small-works-holiday-exhibition

Give the gift of Stafford’s.

Always a perfect fit!

Stafford’s gift cards can be used at any Stafford’s location - Bay View Inn, Crooked River Lodge, Perry Hotel, the Pier or Weathervane Restaurants.

Use them for dining, lodging, gift shop purchases and more. Order online at staffords.com and your Christmas shopping is done!

Alanson • Charlevoix • Harbor Springs • Petoskey staffords.com

Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 21

HOLIDAY GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE For every $100 purchased, receive $20 extra in value Offer Expires: 12/31/2021

231-642-1453

belfast

If awards season has taught me anything, it’s to be wary of terms like “deeply personal” and “passion project.” And those are two phrases that could not be more apt to describe Kenneth Branagh’s apparent Oscar frontrunner, Belfast, which I can easily see taking home Best Picture — not because I liked it and definitely not because I thought it was even particularly good.

Much like surprise 2018 Academy Award Best Picture winner Green Book, Belfast is the epitome of middle-of-the-road prestige filmmaking. It’s an unchallenging crowdpleaser that offers the illusion of artistry.

A self-serving remembrance of Branagh’s childhood growing up in Northern Ireland during The Troubles (that’s somehow also a love letter to the movies), Branagh could’ve benefited from some distance to the material, or at least from taking off his rose-colored glasses. Belfast is 100 percent awards bait, but for all the film’s pseudo-seriousness, I’m not biting.

blacklaceandpaperflowers.com

Take, for example, how the film is shot in black and white for no compelling reason other than to read as “old” or “memory.” Like so many of the artistic choices, that approach here seems very surface level, resulting in an uneven film that unsuccessfully moves between weighty concerns and saccharine nostalgia.

Set in the titular city during the late 1960s, we watch as wee Branagh stand-in Buddy (Jude Hill) goes from an idyllic existence playing with his neighbors to the conflict between Catholics and Protestants at his literal doorstep when an angry mob takes to his street.

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22 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

Now if you’re not familiar with this period in Northern Ireland, I suggest you do a quick Google on “The Troubles,” because the film does little to illuminate the actual Ethnonationalist conflict, painting the story in very broad strokes and through a child’s eyes. And for a film set against such a large conflict, there’s actually very little dramatic conflict present. The focus is much more on standard coming-of-age tropes — a first crush (who is, of course, a Catholic), getting in trouble for stealing candy, etc.

The biggest attempt to add dramatic interest comes from Buddy’s parents (Caitroina Balfe and Jamie Dornan). Pa is recruited by a Protestant gang leader to join anti-Catholic activities; Ma struggles with the idea of moving and leaving the only home she’s known.

And while Hill is certainly a cutie, he’s too precocious, cannot carry the film to the extent required, and is present in nearly every scene.

What he lacks is especially apparent when compared to outstanding child actor Woody

Norman, who stars in the season’s other black and white child-centric awards contender, C’mon C’mon. Pro tip: Don’t watch these two in close succession.

Yet the other performances from the adult cast prove first rate. Branagh is truly an actor’s director. Caitroina Balfe is absolutely luminous as his loving mother. And Jamie Dornan is bouncing back like nobody’s business after the disastrous Wild Mountain Thyme with a year of performances that shows he not only has comedic chops (see Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar) but also actual dramatic talent. If only his character here wasn’t so flat, because he truly is the highlight of the film when he serenades his wife to “Everlasting Love.” I swooned. And I wanted to immediately buy another ticket if only to watch this moment again.

Similarly, one of the other most genuinely emotional scenes comes from heavyweight actors Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench, playing Buddy’s grandfather and grandmother, when Hinds tenderly croons to Densch “How to Handle a Woman” from the 1967 musical film Camelot.

It’s no surprise that two of the film’s most powerful scenes come from musical moments.

Music often serves as a kind of emotional shorthand for Branagh, and he lets it do a lot of heavy lifting here. The aforementioned are also two of the few songs in the film not by Van Morrison, whose plaintive howling proves both interminable and also on-the-nose.

Nuance is not Branagh’s specialty. Young Buddy can be seen reading a Thor comic, alluding to the fact that someday this little boy will grow up to direct Marvel’s Thor. Also woven throughout the film are these moments of, I suppose, “inspiration,” which must’ve meant something to Branagh: characters watching films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, or a stage production of “A Christmas Carol” — each presented in vibrant color.

As a portrait of Branagh’s childhood, it is entirely unclear what Belfast is trying to say about either his craft or his past other than run-of-the-mill loss of innocence. There’s no specificity to a story with a lot of specifics.

But there are an abundance of strange camera shots and odd blocking. Branagh never met a canted angle he didn’t like, and this haphazard direction proves distracting and meaningless.

Yet for those who are charmed by Belfast, it’s easy to see why. It has its share of sweet moments and worthwhile performances; it’s just not quite all there. Dull and trite, it lacks a compelling point of view in favor of a hazy, dreamy romanticism where the politics and history remain confoundingly

nitelife

nov 27 - dec 05 edited by jamie kauffold

Send Nitelife to: events@traverseticker.com

Grand Traverse & Kalkaska

BAHIA, TC 10: 11/27 -- DJ Ras Marco Vinyl Set 12/4 -- Jazz Cabbage FANTASY’S, TC DJ FRESH COAST BEER WORKS, TC 12/3 -- Rhett & John, 6-9 LIL BO, TC Thurs. – Jazz w/ Larz Cabot, 6-9 Fri. – Live music Sun. -- Karaoke - Shooting Star Entertainment, 8 ROVE ESTATE VINEYARD & WINERY, TC 12/3 -- Live Music Holiday Series Feat. Miriam Pico, 5-8

TC COMEDY CLUB, TC 11/26 – Comedy with Bill Bushart, 7:30 11/27 -- Comedy with Bill Bushart, 7 12/3 -- Comedy with Michael Harrison, 7:30 12/4 – Comedy with Michael Harrison, 7 THE PARLOR, TC 7-10: 11/27 -- Jazz Cabbage 12/1 -- Wink Solo 12/3 -- Mitch McKolay 12/4 -- Blair Miller THE WORKSHOP BREWING CO., TC 11/27 -- Jack Pine, 7 11/29 -- Big Fun Jam Band, 7 Tues. -- TC Celtic, 6:30-9

Weds. -- Live Jazz, 6-8:30 12/3 -- James Jerome, 7 12/4 -- Jakey T Solo, 7 THIRSTY FISH SPORTS GRILLE, TC PATIO, 6:30-9:30: 11/27 -- TC Knuckleheads 12/3 -- TC Guitar Guys 12/4 -- The Pocket UNION STREET STATION, TC 11/26-27 -- Soul Patch & Rolling Dirties, 10 11/28 & 12/5 -- Karaoke, 10 11/29 -- Jukebox, 10 11/30 -- Open Mic Comedy, 8-9:30; Electric Open Mic, 10-2 12/1 -- DJ Ricky T, 10 12/2 -- Skin & Marshall, 10 12/3-4 -- Glostik Willy, 10

Antrim & Charlevoix BIER’S INWOOD BREWERY, CHARLEVOIX 12/2 -- Open Mic Night Hosted by John Eaton, 7-9 HELLO VINO, BELLAIRE 12/3 -- Rick Woods, 6-9

SHORT’S BREW PUB, BELLAIRE 11/27 -- Brewski Bash w/ The Smokin’ Dobroleles, 8:30 TORCH LAKE CAFÉ, EASTPORT (US 31/M-88) Weds. – Karaoke, 8:30

Hippy metal band from Indiana, Glostik Willy is made up of brothers Jay Moe and Ralf Mowf, with lifelong partner in rock, Buddha Aguilar. They jam at Union Street Station, TC on Fri. and Sat., Dec. 3-4 at 10pm with special guest Brothers Crunch.

Thurs. – Nick Vasquez, 7 Fri. – Sat. – Leanna Collins & Ivan Greilick, 8 12/5 -- Sunshine String Band, 2

Leelanau & Benzie DICK’S POUR HOUSE, LAKE LEELANAU Sat. -- Karaoke, 10-1

ST. AMBROSE CELLARS, BEULAH 11/27 -- Jesse Jefferson, 6

LAKE ANN BREWING CO. 11/27 -- The Jameson Brothers, 2:30-5:30

Otsego, Crawford & Central ALPINE TAVERN & EATERY, GAYLORD 11/27 -- Nelson Olstrom, 6 BENNETHUM’S NORTHERN INN, GAYLORD 11/30 -- Pete Kehoe, 5-8

BIG BUCK BREWERY, GAYLORD 6-9: 11/27 -- Pete Kehoe 12/3 -- Lou Thumser 12/4 -- Nelson Olstrom

TREETOPS RESORT, GAYLORD CONVENTION CENTER: 11/27 -- Comedy Night with Dwayne Gill & Opener, Nate Armbruster, 8-10

Emmet & Cheboygan DICK’S POUR HOUSE, LAKE LEELANAU Sat. -- Karaoke, 10-1

ST. AMBROSE CELLARS, BEULAH 11/27 -- Jesse Jefferson, 6

LAKE ANN BREWING CO. 11/27 -- The Jameson Brothers, 2:30-5:30

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FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS

STORMCLOUD BREWING CO., FRANKFORT 7-9: 11/27 – Meg Gunia 12/4 -- The Still Wonder (Duo)

Tues NovThurs 30th--$2 OpenoffMic from 8-9:30 all Comedy drinks and then 10pm-2am Electric $2 Labatt drafts w/DJOpen RickyMic T Wed Dec 1 - DJ Ricky T

Fri March 20 - Buckets $8 (2-8pm) $2 domestic drafts & of $3 Beer craft starting drafts fromat9pm-close.

Happy Hour: The Chris Michels Band Then: The Isaac Ryder Band

Thurs Dec 2nd - Skin & Marshall

Sat March 21Fri- &TheSatIsaac Ryder Band (No Covers) Dec 3rd & 4th Sunday March 22 W/ BROTHERS CRUNCH GLOSTIK WILLY KARAOKE ( 10pm-2am)

Sun Dec 5th - Karaoke

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Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 23

lOGY

NOV 29 - DEC 05

BY ROB BREZSNY

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “All my days I have longed equally to travel the right road and to take my own errant path,” wrote Norwegian-Danish novelist Sigrid Undset. I think she succeeded in doing both. She won a Nobel Prize for Literature. Her trilogy about a 14th-century Norwegian woman was translated into 80 languages. I conclude that for her—as well as for you in the coming weeks and months—traveling the right road and taking your own errant path will be the same thing.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “The problem with

putting two and two together is that sometimes you get four, and sometimes you get 22.” Author Dashiell Hammett said that, and now I’m passing it on to you—just in time for a phase of your cycle when putting two and two together will probably not bring four, but rather 22 or some other irregularity. I’m hoping that since I’ve given you a heads-up, it won’t be a problem. On the contrary. You will be prepared and will adjust faster than anyone else—thereby generating a dose of exotic good fortune.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In her poem

“Is/Not,” Scorpio poet Margaret Atwood tells a lover, “You are not my doctor, you are not my cure, nobody has that power, you are merely a fellow traveler.” I applaud her for stating an axiom I’m fond of, which is that no one, not even the person who loves you best, can ever be totally responsible for fixing everything wrong in your life. However, I do think Atwood goes too far. On some occasions, certain people can indeed provide us with a measure of healing. And we must be receptive to that possibility. We shouldn’t be so pathologically self-sufficient that we close ourselves off from tender help.

One more thing: Just because that help may be imperfect doesn’t mean it’s useless and should be rejected.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn

author Susan Sontag unleashed a bizarre boast, writing, “One of the healthiest things about me—my capacity to survive, to bounce back, to prosper—is intimately connected with my biggest neurotic liability: my facility in disconnecting from my feelings.” Everything about her statement makes me scream NO! I mean, I believe this coping mechanism worked for her; I don’t begrudge her that. But as a student of psychology and spirituality, I know that disconnecting from feelings is, for most of us, the worst possible strategy if we want to be healthy and sane. And I will advise you to do the opposite of Sontag in the coming weeks. December is Stay Intimately Connected with Your Feelings Month.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In some

small towns in the Philippines, people can be punished and fined for gossiping. Some locals have become reluctant to exchange tales about the sneaky, sexy, highly entertaining things their neighbors are doing. They complain that their freedom of speech has been curtailed. If you lived in one of those towns, I’d advise you to break the law in the coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, dynamic gossip should be one of your assets. Staying well-informed about the human comedy will be key for your ability to thrive.

PISCES (Feb 19-March 20): “Originality

consists in thinking for yourself, and not in thinking unlike other people,” wrote Piscean author James Fitzjames Stephen (1829– 1894). Another way to say it: Being rebellious is not inherently creative. If you primarily define yourself by rejecting and reacting against someone’s ideas, you are being controlled by those ideas. Please keep this in mind, dear Pisces. I want you to take full advantage of your astrological potential during the next 12 months, which is to be absolutely original. Your perceptions and insights will be unusually lucid if you protect yourself from both groupthink and a compulsive repudiation of groupthink.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): It’s a favorable

time to get excited about your long-range future—and to entertain possibilities that have previously been on the edges of your awareness. I’d love to see you open your heart

to the sweet dark feelings you’ve been sensing, and open your mind to the disruptive but nourishing ideas you need, and open your gut to the rumbling hunches that are available. Be brave, Aries! Strike up conversations with the unexpected, the unknown, and the undiscovered.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A Tumblr blogger

named Evan (lotad.tumblr.com) addressed a potential love interest. “Do you like sleeping, because so do I,” he wrote. “We should do it together sometime.” You might want to extend a similar invitation, Taurus. Now is a ripe time for you to interweave your subconscious mind with the subconscious mind of an ally you trust. The two of you could generate extraordinary healing energy for each other as you lie together, dozing in the darkness. Other recommended activities: meditating together; fantasizing together; singing together; making spiritual love together. (PS: If you have no such human ally, sleep and meditate with a beloved animal or imaginary friend.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini author

Chuck Klosterman writes, “It’s far easier to write why something is terrible than why it’s good.” That seems to be true for many writers. However, my life’s work is in part a rebellion against doing what’s easy. I don’t want to chronically focus on what’s bad a n d sick and desolate. Instead, I aspire to devote more of my energy to doing what Klosterman implies is hard, which is to write sincerely (but not naively) about the many things that are good and redemptive and uplifting. In light of your current astrological omens, Gemini, I urge you to adopt my perspective for your own use in the next three weeks. Keep in mind what philosopher Robert Anton Wilson said: “An optimistic mindset finds dozens of possible solutions for every problem that the pessimist regards as incurable.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): An organization

in Turkey decided to construct a new building to house its workers. The Saruhanbey Knowledge, Culture, and Education Foundation chose a plot in the city of Manisa. But there was a problem. A three-centuries-old pine tree stood on the land. Local authorities would not permit it to be cut down. So architects designed a building with spaces and holes that fully accommodated the tree. I recommend you regard this marvel as a source of personal inspiration in the coming weeks and months. How could you work gracefully with nature as you craft your future masterpiece or labor of love? How might you work around limitations to create useful, unusual beauty?

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22): Author Melissa Broder wrote a preposterous essay in which she ruminated, “Is fake love better than real love? Real love is responsibility, compromise, selflessness, being present, and all that shit. Fake love is magic, excitement, false hope, infatuation, and getting high off the potential that another person is going to save you from yourself.”

I will propose, Leo, that you bypass such ridiculous thinking about love in the coming weeks and months. Here’s why: There’s a strong chance that the real love at play in your life will feature magic and excitement, even as it requires responsibility, compromise, selflessness, and being present.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo author

Andre Dubus III describes times when “I feel stupid, insensitive, mediocre, talentless and vulnerable—like I’m about to cry any second— and wrong.” That sounds dreadful, right? But it’s not dreadful for him. Just the opposite. “I’ve found that when that happens,” he concludes, “it usually means I’m writing pretty well, pretty deeply, pretty rawly.” I trust you will entertain a comparable state sometime soon, Virgo. Even if you’re not a writer, the bounty and fertility that emerge from this immersion in vulnerability will invigorate you beyond what you can imagine.

24 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

the ADViCE GOddESS Bark Ranger

Q

: I’m a divorced guy in my 40s using dating apps. I’m keenly aware of what I do and don’t want in a woman and make it clear in my profile. For example, I write, “If you’re in a weird co-dependent relationship with a five-pound dog,” we are not a match. A friend looked at my profile and was all, “Man, you have to delete that.” I see no problem with what I’ve written. Who’s right?

— Constructive Honesty

A

: Admittedly, when people advise women, “Find a man who’s like a dog!” they mean like a big loyal-to-the-death black Lab, not a purse-sized poodledoodle that spends a quarter of its life getting foofed up at Monsieur Marcel, the doggie hairdresser.

Of course, because a woman has a tiny ridiculous dog doesn’t mean she’s rife with psychological shortcomings. Including that bit in your profile — and especially as you worded it — says a few things about you, none of them lady-magnetizing. And sure, you wrote, “IF you are...” (in some sort of unhealthy relationship with your micro dog).

However, even women who are emotionally together (and maybe even dog-free) are likely to swipe left or knock your profile into the little trash can icon.

Most problematically, this remark and other similarly cutting ones in your profile suggest you’re an angry guy: a big flashing skull-’n’crossbones “STEER CLEAR!” for women.

“Anger-prone individuals are volatile and frequently dangerous” — to the point of violence, evolutionary social psychologist Andrew Galperin and his colleagues explain.

Women, on average, are smaller, physically weaker, and thus more physically vulnerable than men, which is likely why they err on the side of overperceiving signs that a guy might be a Mr. Angry. In fact, per the Galperin team’s research: “A single instance of angry behavior” in “new acquaintances” is enough to provoke this keepaway motive — even when their anger seems justified by the situation at hand!

Your sneering about behavior being “weird” and “co-dependent” is another red flag — suggesting you view life through pukecolored glasses and are quick to think the worst of total strangers. That’s Bigotry 101: using one infobit about an individual to leap to all sorts of ugly assumptions about them.

It’s toxic, irrational, and unfair — and, if it’s your go-to thinking, perhaps something to work on changing, lest you pay an

BY Amy Alkon unintended price (both in an ugly-first view of others and in others seeing you as a person to block, delete, and/or avoid).

By the way, “co-dependent” is an insulting term that’s in need of either retirement or scientific validation. It’s generally understood to describe two individuals in a persistent dysfunctional dance. The “enabling” individual temporarily eases the suffering of the other person (or pet!) — in ways that, in the long term, are harmful to both. “Codependence” was flung on the public by selfhelp authors — without any scientific basis: no evidence for the long lists of its supposed symptoms. It’s now promiscuously applied to shame people — to the point where showing none of the supposed symptoms gets used as proof of one’s co-dependence!

That said, you’re wise to try to proactively shoo off women who are wrong for you, as it could keep you from wasting your time and theirs on the phone (or worse, on a happy hour date that flies by like a week of medieval torture). However, there’s a way to tell the wrong women, “Yoohoo, move on!” without coming off scolding or demeaning (and in turn throwing out the babes with the bathwater).

Probably the best constructive yoohoo is subtle fact-stating, like mentioning you’re an atheist to discourage interest from those on Team God. Similarly, in the “who am I?” portion on a dating app, a 40-something, Johnny Depp-alicious hottie of a guy posted, “Living a plant-based life,” suggesting he doesn’t just eat vegan; it’s major in his identity.

If, like me, you are committed to “steak-based living,” you know to give a big sad pass to Mr. Pirates of the Cauliflower-ribbean.

It’s tempting to try to escape the emotional toddlers by announcing you’re seeking someone “psychologically healthy” or “emotionally solid.” Probably pretty useless.

Those who have an unhealthy relationship with their dog — or their mom, crystal meth, or tennis — are often the last to know or admit it.

Ultimately, you might simply accept that you’ll likely end up on a date or two with women you’d do anything to avoid. Keep first dates casual — like meeting for coffee for an hour — and your disasters will at least be Hobbesian: nasty, brutish, and short. Finally, I must say — while typing this with my tiny, “My Little Pony”-like Chinese crested curled up asleep in my lap: Five pounds of dog may elicit laughs — till it’s cleanup time and you need a single sheet of Kleenex instead of a backhoe.

For Traverse City area news and events, visit TraverseTicker.com

“Jonesin” Crosswords "All Rise"--it happens because it's scientific. by Matt Jones

ACROSS 1 Polish-born author Sholem 5 Abrupt sound at the beginning?

10 Serpentine warning 14 Cut back 15 Make a court statement 16 “Inner” prefix 17 Pentagon figure?

18 High school divisions 19 Conflict of characters, in Greek drama 20 Run-down 22 24-hr. bank amenity 23 Some Crockpot meals 24 “Sesame Street” character who mainly tweets numbers on Twitter 26 “Muy ___!”

27 Prefix meaning “ear” or “gold” 28 Stop temporarily 32 Sea near Palm Springs 35 Time changers (abbr.)

36 Level of a stadium 37 Smart ___ 38 “Alter ___” (Fox singing competition show) 39 When you may have to be out of an AirBnB 40 Neighbor of Nevada 41 Bowen Yang’s show, for short 42 British insurance syndicate 43 Early Beatles hit 45 “La mer” contents 46 “30 for 30” cable channel 47 Upscale hotel offering 52 Met dos 54 Track placement 55 React like a superfan 56 Apple on a desktop 57 Influential industry person 59 “What have ___ to show for it?”

60 Initiation procedure 61 California mission founder Junipero 62 “___ Kleine Nachtmusik” 63 Stag or doe 64 “No Logo” author Naomi 65 Person with a vision

DOWN 1 Secluded 2 Comedian Silverman 3 Largest of the Greek Islands 4 Exposes academic dishonesty, after the temperature conversion?

5 Observe covertly 6 Just-washed 7 Home of Shakespeare, after the temperature conversion?

8 Pleasant outside 9 YouTube interruptors 10 Old cereal slogan, after the temperature conversion?

11 Know-how 12 Store securely 13 People with Roman numerals after their names, usually 21 Concerned query 23 Snifter sample 25 “Ode on a Grecian ___” 26 “Butter” group 29 Response on the stand 30 Tournament placement 31 Seashore fliers 32 “Better Call ___” (AMC drama series) 33 Part of a sax ensemble 34 Stick around, then go 38 Tight position?

39 Feeling of dissatisfaction 41 China’s Sun Yat-___ 42 “___ the Right One In” (2008 movie) 44 Ottawa VIPs 48 Pong platform 49 ___ Boogie (“The Nightmare Before Christmas” villain) 50 Frontiersman who crossed the Appalachians 51 Head into 52 Brace (oneself) 53 Friend, in France 54 Jessica of “7th Heaven” 57 Rebuking noise that sounds even more pretentious with an “I” sound

December 4-5 December 5th 10am-2pm

December 4th 12pm-4pm Indoor Farmers Market- 10 am to 2 pm Carriage Rides - $5 per adult, $3 per child (under 3 is free)

Carriage Rides - $5 per adult, $3 per child (under 3 is free) Meet Santa and Mrs. Clause

Meet Santa and Mrs. Clause

Hot Chocolate and S’mores

Hot Chocolate and S’mores

Shopping Specials and Stocking Stuffers under $20

Shopping Specials and Stocking Stuffers under $20 Tunnel Walks - $5 per person or $10 per family (12 years up and older only)

at

www.thevillagetc.com

Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 25

N O RT H E R N E X P R E S S

OTHER SEWING, ALTERATIONS, Mending & Repairs. Maple City, Maralene Roush 231228-6248 _______________________________________ BUYING OLD WOODEN DUCK and FISH SPEARING DECOYS, call text 248 8770210 _______________________________________ DAN’S AFFORDABLE HAULING Hauling junk, misc, yard debris, estate sales, foreclosures. Free estimates. (231)6201370 _______________________________________ HANDYMAN WORK I am a dependable and honest handyman that can complete any of the following tasks: Mounting or hanging, minor plumbing tasks, property and patio work, minor electrical repairs or installations, Indoor / outdoor furniture assembly, and hardware help. I service Alanson, Brutus, Harbor Springs, Pellston, Petoskey, Charlevoix, and Indian River.

(847) 331-2307 _______________________________________ LOCALLY GROWN BEEF FOR SALE Locally grown grass fed No GMO corn finished Hereford Steer, Hindquarter for $7.50/lb and/or Front quarter $7/lb.

Available December 10th. Call 231-5902264.

CLAS SIFIE DS

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JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE OVERLAND - 2015 V8 5.7L HEMI Very Clean & well maintained. Rare 4x4 w/Gray Ext/Black Int. Loaded including: Heated seats, new radio, tow pkg, Blu Ray, 83.5K miles. $29,600 In TC. Call/text Mike 231-570-1111

COTTAGE FOR RENT Traverse City, 1 BR, Fully Furnished, Includes All Utilities, Washer/Dryer, Internet, Cable, Very Comfortable, Quiet, Month-to-Month to One Year, $1,400 per month; (231) 631-7512. _______________________________________ CAR INSURANCE Looking for PL/PD insurance for your car? or full? txt info to 231 463 5866! _______________________________________ HAIR AND MAKE UP ARTIST WANTED Local Photographer looking for hair and make up artist.231-642-1453 _______________________________________ OLD MISSION PENINSULA VACANT LAND Franklin Woods. Shared West Bay frontage. Close proximity to Downtown TC. 215K _______________________________________ INCUBATOR KITCHEN, GIFT BASKETS, ITALIAN DISHES Limited incubator kitchen space. Also offering holiday gifts. 231-4211569

easy. accessible. all online.

3464 N. U.S. 31 South, Traverse City 26 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly

UR

S! S E

O

Benefiting Toys for Tots of Northwest Michigan, $10 or a new unwrapped toy for entry. Fox Motors will match all monetary donations raised during this event.

Food provided by The Towne Plaza Prizes include: Weekend test drive in a new Ford Bronco Full Car Detail package valued at $250, $100 Gift Basket & more!

REC

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1 5PM-7PM

Y HAPP

H

Mike Annelin

Enthusiastic & Experienced

Call Mike 231-499-4249 or 231-929-7900 W NE

ICE PR

15,000 sq. ft. office space in Copper Ridge business development Well-maintained, versatile office space $2,495,000 MLS# 1883032

LD SO

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Stunning 4th floor condo, West Bay and Boardman River views - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1,1816 sq. ft.

Comes with 2 parking spaces $1,250,000 MLS# 1894116

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Two adjacent parcels with 190’ shared waterfront access Charming 4 bed, 3 bath, 2,336 sq. ft. farmhouse $1,250,000 MLS# 1895102

LD

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100’ feet of frontage on beautiful East Bay Truly special property with astounding views $1,100,000.

MLS# 1889701

0.72 acres, corner of Carver & Hastings Zoned industrial, empty lot $850,000 MLS# 1882613

LD

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5 bed, 3 bath, 3,191 sq. ft. craftsman home Beautifully landscaped, in-ground pool area $525,000 MLS# 1890349

0.75 acre lot for a new build, near Kingsley Open lot, nice countryside views $27,500 MLS# 1891371

Northern Express Weekly • november 29, 2021 • 27

28 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly