There’s pasta, and then there’s Italian pasta, just as there are kingpins, and then there are Italian kingpins. For some reason, certain things are just done better inside the boot, and one of them is organized violence. Another is cinema about organized violence, or at least that was true back…

Has it ever occurred to you that, several thousand years from now, 99 percent of what we consider “culture” will be lost forever? And what if, by sheer circumstantial luck, one of those very few surviving works of art is a VHS cassette of Wrestlemania III? Might our descendants rationally…

“In our culture,” novelist Jennifer Haigh says, “a woman’s appearance has everything to do with how she is perceived and treated, the opportunities that come to her, her career and personal relationships, the way she views herself.” But what, Haigh asks in her newest book, The Condition, if that woman…

Here’s a nice challenge for local shutterbugs. In celebration of their Arnold Newman exhibits, the Lowe Museum is hosting a photography contest.  The prize is a free membership and the posting of your work on the front page of the museum’s website.All you have to do is take a picture of…

As a kid, Miami Beach freelance writer Kendall Natvig went to his first Elizabeth Taylor movie–Giant–with his father. He’s been hooked on the legendary actress ever since. In the last 35 years, he’s collected at least one original poster from every E.T. flick (of which there are more than 50), plus multiple…

Since Frank Sinatra’s passing in 1998, a lot of young jazz vocalists have been vying for the vacated title belt of “Chairman of the Board.” A couple — Harry Connick Jr., Michael Bublé — have come close, but none has yet matched that irresistible combo of dashing and dangerous. The…

sterior deltoids. What do those muscles add up to? Powerlifting glory. If you want to see some impressive weightlifting, head over to the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency this Friday and Saturday for the 2009 IBSA Blind Powerlifting World Championships. You might see some white canes along the sidelines,…

It’s Independence Day again, which means it’s time to celebrate our nation’s born-on date by shooting deadly weapons into the sky, grilling gigantic racks of charred pig flesh, and drinking American-size quantities of American-made beer. Or, for a more local approach, try following our Fourth of July Roundup, the perfect…

Poor Pittsburgh Pirates. Their city is two-for-two in sports championships this year. The Steelers romped through the NFL Playoffs, and the Penguins completed an improbable (and epic) comeback to top the NHL. The Steel City hasn’t been this ecstatic since, well, it was actually making steel. And wouldn’t a trifecta…

In 1959, Brazilian artist Carybé was commissioned to paint two 50-foot-long murals in the American Airlines terminal at Idlewild Airport (which became JFK) in New York. But when the terminal outlasted its usefulness, officials planned to demolish the half-century-old murals. After all, they were in pretty bad shape and had…

With Al Gore already hard at work on his next great invention — the hybrid shuttle — space is no longer the final frontier. Sorry, Spock, but death has taken over as the new wilderness. What happens after the body takes its well-deserved dirt nap? Does the soul go to…

Imagine, if you will, how it felt to be the first person in history to combine rice and beans. Or if that’s not your thing, ketchup and French fries. Ice cream and bacon? Vodka and Red Bull? Paris Hilton and night vision? Well, some clever City of Miami employee knows…

I used to spend a lot of time and money purchasing slick vinyl re-issues of “forgotten” or “lost” eras in American music: albums with titles like New Orleans Funk, Vol. 1: The Original Sound of Funk, 1960-1975 and Miami Sound: Rare Funk and Soul from Miami, Florida 1967-1974.Listening to the artists,…

It’s not your average prodigal son story.When exotic dancer Jessica “Jesse” Brown discovers that her father- — the head of one of the oldest and most respected churches in Atlanta — is terminally-ill, she returns home to a family who doesn’t want her back. Except her father, who tells her…

Last night, Miami International Aiport in cooperation with American Airlines and Miami-Dade County (and thanks to the efforts of the Odebrecht Corporation), unveiled two 50-foot long murals by acclaimed Brazilian artist Carybé.Despite the ceremony feeling like a scene out of The Wire (too many speeches and too many of them…

When we get drunk over here at the New Times, we tend to throw on some Jimmy Buffett and reminisce about the good ole’ newspaper days of the late 1760’s, when reading the “pape” was not only expected, it was required by Divine Order of the King. (Damn, I miss…

Not all film festivals are created equal. Winning the Golden Turkey at the Live Oak Movie Hoedown is nice and all, but it probably won’t help get your film into distribution. Receiving a Special Jury Mention at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival, however, is nothing to sneeze at…

Arnold Abner Newman never got to graduate from the University of Miami — his parents ran into financial trouble and couldn’t afford the tuition — but the lack of a degree didn’t slow his success. Newman’s iconic portraits of people such as Pablo Picasso, John F. Kennedy, and Igor Stravinsky…

Just like the old days, record collections are growing fast. And mimicking the communal spirit of the late ’60s, crate diggers are eager to share and share alike, trading LPs and mutual goodwill. If this sounds good to you, check out the Cinema Paradiso Record Swap. The night starts off…

Sushi is difficult to eat with chopsticks. It’s even more difficult when birds are swooping out of the sky, trying to peck your eyes out. Don’t worry about the latter. It will only be depicted on the wall of Moonchine Asian Bistro during the new Tuesday series, MiMo Classic Film…