To folks with an Eastern European background and a knowledge of Yiddish, the word “klezmer” literally means “musician.” To folks who are clueless about Eastern Europe, Jewry, or Yiddish but claim a little knowledge of music, the word “klezmer” means the dynamic clarinet-led and violin-embellished style of song that itinerant…

Thursday 10/16 Duende, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is the ability to attract others through personal magnetism and charm. It’s an appropriately neat and tidy definition for the antiseptic modern American world. But the true concept of duende lives in the fiery ways of Gypsy culture. It’s not always…

SAT 10/11 The always-edgy minds at GableStage may have outdone themselves this time. Edward Albee’s The Goat or Who is Sylvia? is the shockingly amusing tale of an architect named Martin (Bob Rogerson) whose happy life, complete with loving wife and gay teenage son, is changed by the admission that…

THUR 10/9 Every year when National Depression Screening Day rolls around, your interest is piqued but you just can’t seem to get off your ass and get to one of their free and anonymous screenings. It’s not that you’re lazy, maybe just … depressed? Depression does spread its ominous cloud…

SAT 10/11 In a world where high-schoolers need to be schooled on the overuse of the N-word, it’s no wonder getting old-school manners means going back to school. The Kid’s Village Youth Etiquette Camp gives youngsters the cues they need to gracefully navigate through precarious social events like greeting our…

NOW 24/7 Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a miracle of another feather. It’s the 60-by-60-foot labyrinth on the parking lot blacktop of the Unity on the Bay church. The cheeky diva of Miami’s holy houses has spawned a veritable “happening” with this blue-on-black meditative walking…

THURSDAY 10/9 Hosting the House of Terror Amusement Park during George Dubya’s war against terror is sure to be somewhat of a marketing challenge. In the initial days after the September 11 terrorist attacks, we were sure the producers of Miami’s most commercial haunted house would change its name. But…

SUN 10/5 Oye, it’s time for the second annual Urban Latin Music Festival and you know what that means. Lots of rump-shakin’, bass-thumpin’ Latin and hip-hop music. All the musical bases are covered with the bachata band Aventura, Huey Dunbar doing tropical and salsa, the Spanish hip-hop of Majic Juan,…

MON 10/6 Food. You love it. But is it better enjoyed alone in the privacy of your home? Or with a group of, say, 15 other possibly lonely, possibly gregarious, possibly gluttonous food lovers just like you? For the last couple of weeks Ortanique on the Mile (278 Miracle Mile,…

There’s no question that the construction of a major museum is a big deal. Often it involves acclaimed architects from all over the world competing for the right to design it; millions of public and/or private funds (or billions in the case of California’s J. Paul Getty Museum); and time,…

THURSDAY 10/2 Whiskey and chewing gum: We certainly can’t dream up a better combination, except maybe beer and Fruit Loops. But someone thought the former was a good idea because among the many sponsors of the Latino Comedy Series is the Jack Daniel’s brand and Chiclets gum. Sounds comical to…

NOW 24/7 There’s a huge difference between professional architectural photographs and those random snapshots of fascinating buildings that caught your eye when you were on vacation in some swanky European capital or small American town. Or is there? Both types of works are liable to give people a fresh perspective…

Thursday 9/25 Joey Galvan, Mark Stuart, Deane Cote, and Clark Stacer are all Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash. Don’t be alarmed: It’s not what you’re thinking. We don’t intend to be disrespectful. Nor do we mean to insinuate that over the years the late great Man in Black was doing…

SUN 9/21 Yeah, baby! She began as an icon in swinging ’60s London; had a nude scene in Michelangelo Antonioni’s controversial film Blowup; lived in Paris with her incomparably hip husband, musician Serge Gainsbourg; and was immortalized as the breathy vocalist in the scandalously sexy song “Je T’aime Moi Non…

FRI 9/19 Remember the good old days when our greatest fear was not terrorists but communists? Compared with what’s gone on in the world lately, domestic agitators like the Weather Underground and the Black Panthers seem almost innocuous these days. Our preferred kick-ass activist of the past? Angela Davis. She…

THUR 9/18 Excuse us, but where the hell has Grover been? You know, the blue Muppet with the big round head, skinny body and limbs, and unidentifiable accent. A popular fixture on the kiddie show Sesame Street for many years, Grover, overshadowed by newbies like Zoe, Rosita, and the third-person-obsessed…

NOW 24/7 “Don’t turn right on Grand,” insists the passenger as the car hits the intersection of Grand Avenue and McDonald Street in Coconut Grove. To the left are the drunks and the din of CocoWalk. To the right lies that amorphous entity known as the West Grove. The Black…

When we last heard from perpetually active married couple Maud Dillingham and Cesar Becerra, it was December 31, 1999, and they were rolling into Miami in their flag-festooned 1979 Chevy Malibu Classic station wagon, after logging about 50,000 miles on a road trip across the United States they called Motoring…

Thursday 9/18 Born in Haiti, photographer Carl Juste (at the Miami Herald since 1991) has seen the world through his lens, covering events in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, to name a few countries, and racking up prestigious prizes such as the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. See a varied selection…

Key Biscayne’s long-time diner the Donut Gallery might be a tiny, unassuming place, but it’s the kind of joint where you can meet lots of big-name people. Former Key Biscayne resident and President Nixon crony Bebe Rebozo was said to be a frequent patron. Federal prosecutor Dick Gregorie has been…

Thursday September 4 She’s a weird chick, that winsome and wispy Tori Amos. She’s a preacher’s daughter who sings about an unreliable god, self-crucifixion, and murder. In other words, we love her. Currently touring in support of her album Scarlet’s Walk, Amos promises to satisfy the droves of her fans…

Saturday 8/30 A creature stalks the swamps of the Everglades’ Big Cypress National Preserve, nestled between Naples and Miami. He wears hip boots and a hat and carries a large-format camera. His name is Clyde Butcher. Eleven years ago the swamp was a place he and his wife Niki went…