Join us on our outdoor patio for our
casual Sunday supper menu featuring
wholewheat flatbread pizzas and
handcrafted gourmet burgers.
Now offering Summer Cooking Classes,
sport." Crane doesn't think air guitar
is stupid. It helped him quit his boring
computer job a few years ago. And his
cocky stage persona is an empowering
alter ego for a guy who says he can be
mellow and easily embarrassed.
"As a kid, I was mortified when my
older brother would walk in on me air
guitaring," Crane says. The penalty for
catching Dan in the act: "My brother
would beat me up."
"In the eighth grade he continues,
"I got spit on by a punk guy at a Black
Flag concert, who said I looked too
preppie to like the music. He was big-
ger than me and had a mohawk, so I
just let it go!"
The fictional Turoque would not
have tolerated such impertinence.
"Bjorn is like my protective shield
from the torments of the world:' Crane
says, feigning melodrama but imply-
ing a partial truth.
"He probably has some Jewish
blood because he's always the under-
dog:' Crane adds. "It's perfect that he's
the chronic second-place guy, and that
he keeps on persevering, just as the
Jews did throughout history"
Crane's mother, Nancy Conrad, says
her son has been air guitaring since
age 2, when he began entertaining the
family at Jewish holiday gatherings
(and jumping on his bed so fiercely
that the wooden slats fell out of the
frame). "Instead of asking 'why is this
night different from all other nights'
on Passover, I would have liked to
perform Elton John's Saturday Night's
Alright (For Fighting)," Crane quips.
Conrad says Crane dutifully attend-
ed religious school, "chanted his bar
mitzvah Haftorah beautifully:' earned
early admission to Wesleyan's film
program and good money in the com-
puter field — while performing real
guitar in various bands.
But by the time Crane was in his
early 30s, he loathed his day job so
much that he descended into a pre-
mature midlife crisis. Then, he says,
a friend told him about the air guitar
circuit in 2003 — "and the late-night
partying in hotel rooms and the air
groupies, which fed into my childhood
rock-star dreams!'
The software producer immedi-
ately began practicing for the New
York regional competition: "I'd turn
my song up loud — during the day,
because I respected my neighbors
— and I'd sometimes videotape
myself in my underwear so I could see
all the muscles rippling!' He perfected
the Jimmy Page high-kick, the Pete
Townshend windmill and the Keith
Richards cigarette toke — as well as
expressions such as the "Oh my god,
I rock!" face (this involves a sudden,
eye-bulging look of surprise at one's
musical prowess).
In what sounds like deliberately iron-
ic stoner philosophizing, Crane says his
style borrows from Nietzsche and the
minimalist sculptor Richard Serra.
"Air guitar is the most abstract, the
most minimal of all art forms, because
how much more abstract can you get
than an invisible guitar?" he says. "And
Nietzsche suggested that the more
abstract the art form, the more thor-
oughly you must seduce the senses
to accept it. So air guitar is the most
abstract of all art forms, and therefore
the most seductive. You must seduce
the audience to accept that you're play-
ing the guitar."
Crane has parlayed his assorted
seductions into a book, To Air is
Human: One Man's Quest to Become
the World's Greatest Air Guitarist
(Riverhead; 2006); into a budding
career as a film composer (he wrote
the original music for Air Guitar
Nation); and as a journalist for pub-
lications such as the New York Times.
He's now retired from competitive air
guitar, although he remains a staunch
supporter of the genre.
"To err is human:' he says, briefly
morphing into the swaggering
Turoque. "To air guitar, divine."
As part of its first-ever Film and
Music Festival, running through
July 29, the Detroit Institute
of Arts' Detroit Film Theatre
screens Air Guitar Nation 7 p.m.
Thursday, June 21; 7 and 9:30
p.m. Saturday, June 23; and 4
and 7 p.m. p.m. Sunday, June
24. Tickets are $7.50/$5 DIA
members, students and seniors
and are available at the DIA box
office or by phone at (313) 833-
3237.
In addition to the first-run
movies on Thursdays, Saturday
evenings and Sundays, the festi-
val features double-feature mon-
ster movie family Saturday mati-
nees at 2 p.m. ($5) and 8 p.m.
Friday evening contemporary
music concerts ($20/$16.50 DIA
members, students and seniors).
For a complete schedule of
events, go to the Web site
www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp.
Call for details.
J
www.jeremyrestaurantandbar.corrt
(248) 681-2124 • 1978 Cass Lake Rd. • Keego Harbor
Open for Dinner at 5:30 Tuesday-Sunday • Closed Monday
Restaurant of the Year, Detroit Free Press
Salon Matisse Welcomes Jessica Tama!
COW in and experience great service in a rdazing environment
Walk-ins always welcome!
fr
....
FREE
11 11`
I I VI OFF
r
I I
II
I I
I flair Cut g NOW Pry " flair Cut fr flow Pry
I with any Color Service over $40 I I
$35 VALUE
(Includes High or Low Lights)
I
I I
New Clients Only • Jessica Only
New Clients Only • Jessica Only
I Expires 7/31/07 • Offer good at Salon Matisse with I I Expires 7/31/07 • Offer good at Salon Matisse with I
coupon • Cannot be combined with other offers.
I= INN NMI INN MN NW MI MR
coupon • Cannot be combined with other offers.
.11 Is
Not
am
S ALON Adage
ma am
I
OFF
All Facial Waxing
New Clients Only • Jessica Only
Expires 7/31/07 • Offe r good at Salon Matisse with
coupon ••Cannot be combined with other offers.
1 it
Ask for Jessica
248.669.1910
At Bloomfield Avenue Shoppes on Haggerty Rd. (Across From Meijer Gas Station)
tij
OPEN TUESDAY - SATURDAY
DINNER RESERVATIONS WELCOME
BANIBET FACILITY AVAILABLE
FOR SPECIAL EVENTS
ERNDALE
RESTAURANT &BAR
* THE PATIO IS NOW OPEN *
TOES THRll MRS ;
A Variety of
Special Menu Options
V
Priced at s15-82I1
'HO Martini's
TUESDAY
Half Off
All Bottled
Wines
344 WEST NINE MILE FERNDALE 249.336.9938
WEDNESDAY
Prime Rib Dinner
'20 1 L'Irsligenr
WWW.VIANOVERESTALIRANT.COM
June 21 • 2007
45