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He's big, strong, a double-double rock of muscle and hustle in the center of the Miami Heat's tenacious defense. He has a soft touch on his jumper and adds a dimension of assets that can't be measured by stats. The iron man (with the forgivable iron hands) can even fish fairly well, his favorite off-season hobby. But it's those natty dreads (with a Bob Marley tattoo for emphasis) which remind all that the NBA presses on with a Quaker's sense of individuality. His hairstyle grabs attention the way he grabs rebounds, to the point that the Heat sells Brian Grant dreadlock headbands so that everyone who's six-nine, built like a mountain, and one of the most reliable players in the NBA can be just like him. Sort of.

Clearwood's performance in Stop Kiss as a restless New Yorker who finds herself falling in love with another woman was a significant creative achievement and a highlight not just of the Sol Theatre Project's offerings but of the entire theater season. Clearwood delivered a grounded, honest performance, and had to do so within a mind-boggling, nonlinear narrative, alternating scenes before and after a horrible crime. In so doing, she managed to reveal a fully human heroine -- dazed, confused, hilarious, and heartbreaking.

Built by crazy dreamers who turned swampland into gold, Miami truly is a magic city. Henry Flagler was one of the greatest of our early alchemists. Merely on the sweet scent of a fabled orange blossom sent to him by Julia Tuttle, old Henry built a railroad to nowhere and fathered a unique American city. So it's fitting that the most obvious tribute to him should stand like a phallic beacon on an artificially created island in a dredged-out bay. Monument Island sits midway between Star Island and Rivo Alto Island, which straddles the Venetian Causeway connecting Miami and Miami Beach. While the memorial obelisk itself is fenced in and inaccessible, the island's shoreline is a popular spot for weekend boat parties. Flagler would have approved.

Built by crazy dreamers who turned swampland into gold, Miami truly is a magic city. Henry Flagler was one of the greatest of our early alchemists. Merely on the sweet scent of a fabled orange blossom sent to him by Julia Tuttle, old Henry built a railroad to nowhere and fathered a unique American city. So it's fitting that the most obvious tribute to him should stand like a phallic beacon on an artificially created island in a dredged-out bay. Monument Island sits midway between Star Island and Rivo Alto Island, which straddles the Venetian Causeway connecting Miami and Miami Beach. While the memorial obelisk itself is fenced in and inaccessible, the island's shoreline is a popular spot for weekend boat parties. Flagler would have approved.

Here's a lobbyist pushing age 60 who not only works hard and plays hard, but for years was lucky enough to get away with mixing the two. That is, until Miami cops busted Sisser in Coconut Grove this past September and charged him with possession of crack cocaine and a glass pipe. Thanks to our county's nurturing Drug Court, however, this elder statesman of the local lobbying community got a good deal, though not as nice as the one that earned him four million dollars for persuading school board members to choose a financially troubled company to provide health insurance for school district staff. Nor as nice as the deals he worked out with convicted embezzler and former teachers union boss Pat Tornillo to finance the campaigns of the very school board members who later voted for that juicy insurance contract. The Drug Court judge dropped charges against him on condition he suffer through a 30-day detox program in Arizona, after which he was to urinate for the court twice a week. But at an appearance before the judge in early January, Sisser confessed that his pee wouldn't be clean that week, for he had been playing too hard again. The judge threw the book at him: More detox, but this time 60 days!

Here's a lobbyist pushing age 60 who not only works hard and plays hard, but for years was lucky enough to get away with mixing the two. That is, until Miami cops busted Sisser in Coconut Grove this past September and charged him with possession of crack cocaine and a glass pipe. Thanks to our county's nurturing Drug Court, however, this elder statesman of the local lobbying community got a good deal, though not as nice as the one that earned him four million dollars for persuading school board members to choose a financially troubled company to provide health insurance for school district staff. Nor as nice as the deals he worked out with convicted embezzler and former teachers union boss Pat Tornillo to finance the campaigns of the very school board members who later voted for that juicy insurance contract. The Drug Court judge dropped charges against him on condition he suffer through a 30-day detox program in Arizona, after which he was to urinate for the court twice a week. But at an appearance before the judge in early January, Sisser confessed that his pee wouldn't be clean that week, for he had been playing too hard again. The judge threw the book at him: More detox, but this time 60 days!

The multitalented Moreland has long been a South Florida favorite, but her performance as the boozy, deliciously nasty Miss Hannigan in the Actors' Playhouse version of Annie was a revelation. Moreland's comedic skills are tops, but she also discovered the character's dark, desperate side with disturbing clarity. Moreland didn't just re-create the role, she redefined it.

The renowned Bikel has been a major figure in American theater for so long, it's easy to take him for granted. But stage acting doesn't get any better than his turn in The Chosen at the Coconut Grove Playhouse. As an anguished rabbi, Bikel was both a deeply emotional character and a short course in understatement: What he didn't say and do was as powerful as what he did.

Every view of Miami Beach or downtown Miami is studded with this symbol of that most recurrent theme in Miami's history -- the land boom. In the early years it was all about selling swampland to speculators and suckers. The only difference today is that the sprawl is vertical instead of horizontal. Folks, don't be left behind! Line up here for your chance to buy that shoebox in the sky!

Every view of Miami Beach or downtown Miami is studded with this symbol of that most recurrent theme in Miami's history -- the land boom. In the early years it was all about selling swampland to speculators and suckers. The only difference today is that the sprawl is vertical instead of horizontal. Folks, don't be left behind! Line up here for your chance to buy that shoebox in the sky!

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®