Email Author Greg Baker

2007 Stories by Greg Baker

• Just Look Up

  published December 27, 2007

  So you packed your lawn chairs, binoculars, bug repellant, picnic dinner, and companions into the jalopy and headed out to the beach or the... More >>

• Tribal Celebration

  published December 20, 2007

  Maybe it’s good that the Miccosukee nation is gaining recompense from its oppressors at their big casino on Krome Venue. But it has that many... More >>

• Speed Demons

  published December 13, 2007

  In many (southern) areas, including Homestead, the Monday-morning drive to work following a Sunday broadcast of stock-car racing takes on added... More >>

• Peepshow Surprise

  published December 6, 2007

  When you step into a booth at a sex shop, you expect to be titillated by tits, amazed by ass, and sucked eyes-first into a steamy world of sex... More >>

• The Promise of a New Day

  published December 6, 2007

  Ricky Burdett carries extremely impressive credentials. He’ll need ’em in a place like Miami. Heck, he’ll probably need... More >>

• Culture Vultures

  published November 29, 2007

  More than 150 published definitions of the word culture exist. It’s a human thing -- other animals don’t do culture. Hell, they... More >>

• Fast as You Can

  published November 15, 2007

  People of Appalachia have long had an, uh, independent streak -- the area remains a top pot-growing region – and that independence is perhaps... More >>

• That’s a Lotta Candles

  published November 8, 2007

  Traditionally the annual anniversary party at Tobacco Road – which, turning 95, becomes older than all of Miami’s other live... More >>

• Haitian Sensations

  published November 1, 2007

  On the surface, it seems like Caribbean music’s answer to the Bible’s Isaac and Ishmael: konpa versus rara. The rhythmic battle... More >>

• Double Time for Jazz Fiends

  published October 18, 2007

  As with many significant musicians, classification is pointless when it comes to James Blood Ulmer. Yeah, blues, sure ... but there’s... More >>

• Contemporary Classics

  published October 4, 2007

  Damn, Miami really is bursting at its cultural seams. Even without the historical and emotional cachet of last year’s retirement sendoff for... More >>

• Museum Madness

  published September 27, 2007

  The British guy who willed the money that would be used to open the Smithsonian Institution in 1835 decreed it to be “an establishment for... More >>

• Iranian Treasure

  published September 13, 2007

  What the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts could use is a really big show by a superdiva -- Celine or Streisand or even Madonna. Instead the... More >>

• Get Crackin’

  published September 6, 2007

  Linguists, scholars, writers -- hellfire, even crackers -- have attempted to pin down the provenance of the term Florida cracker. Some... More >>

• Bang a Gong

  published August 23, 2007

  In Western minds there is some odd connection between Buddha and ninjas. Uh, they’re both, um, not Western? Actually another connection is... More >>

• Southern Cousins

  published August 16, 2007

  Latin America is rich in the vestiges of grand traditions and vibrant with modern cultural creativity. Unfortunately, indulging in a visit to... More >>

• Stranger than Fiction

  published August 2, 2007

  It’s been tackled in films, on television, in memoirs, diaries, novels, and nonfiction. And despite all of those words and perspectives,... More >>

• Time Is of the Essence

  published July 26, 2007

  They once stood as an alternative to the Hollywood bad-moviemaking industrial complex. Now it seems every city, town, village, and intersection... More >>

• We Want Blood

  published July 19, 2007

  Miller Lite tried its best, but still Miami FC continues to lack whatever would help this struggling-in-the-wins-department soccer club... More >>

• Avast, Ye Fruits

  published July 12, 2007

  There’s a rumor Johnny Depp is in town desperately going door-to-door and begging people to see his awful new Pirates of the Caribbean... More >>

• Bring Your Triangle

  published July 5, 2007

  Good TV shows air Sunday nights because people tend to stay home then. Music clubs consider Sunday a dead night. Smart club bosses – you can... More >>

• Add This to Your List

  published June 28, 2007

  The sins of Fidel Castro have been cast throughout the Caribbean, ricocheting, of course, most notably off the humble burg called Miami. Yes, of... More >>

• Shake It and Shop

  published June 21, 2007

  Never mind the retailing. For that, smaller malls -- or, God bless ’em, stand-alone stores -- will suffice. Dolphin Mall is more city that... More >>

• Bebop for Plain Folks

  published June 14, 2007

  The best jazz tends to be accidental. Past midnight in a pizza shop in the Grove (back when a pizza shop was about the only thing open past... More >>

• Vote for Jim

  published June 7, 2007

  Populist party candidate Jim Wurster is a shoo-in for U.S. president in the 2008 elec.... Sorry, we are referencing Wurster’s... More >>