A kiss on the hand seems quite continental, but is a diamond still a girl’s best friend? The gemstone that DeBeers marketed into a must-buy symbol of love seems so played out. The baubles that catch our eye these days are vibrant and bright — rubies and emeralds and sapphires,…

The front steps of Casa Casuarina are undoubtedly the most infamous and morbid landmark on Ocean Drive. Every day tour groups stop at the site where iconic fashion designer Gianni Versace lost his life. They snap photos as their guides recount the macabre details of July 15, 1997, one of…

If you work hard for an ungrateful taskmaster, if you feel underpaid and unappreciated, if your lot in life makes you want to shake your fist at the stars and howl out a theatrical “Whyyyyyy?” — we’re thinking you could benefit from some laughter. Rumor has it, it’s the best…

Frederick “Toots” Hibbert has a powerful voice — gruff, soulful, and steeped in gospel. That voice helped create a sound that remains as fresh and energetic today as it was in the early Sixties. The music of Toots and the Maytals has been covered by a who’s who of influential…

In the two years since Don Carter’s Kendall Lanes closed, you’ve been in a gutter of grief. Your bowling shoes have a layer of dust on them and your ball has lost its gleam. Since then, the closest you’ve been to knocking down pins is the virtual alley of your…

Man’s best friend might be a furry, slobbery animal, but we know what girl’s best friend is — and we’re not thinking about diamonds. Who needs a shiny rock when there are spa treatments to be enjoyed? While a diamond does nothing but sit on your finger, look pretty, and…

In the Fifties, the blonde bombshell competition was stiff. Marilyn Monroe was and will always be the frontrunner, but hot on her heels were Mamie Van Doren, Kim Novak, Diana Dors, Cleo Moore, Barbara Nichols, Sheree North, and — va-va-voom — Jayne Mansfield, who had the most out-there and over-the-top…

Miami’s stage performance scene is studded with mainstream Broadway aspirants, edgy hip-hop-inspired companies, and award-winning thee-ay-tah types who sometimes take themselves too seriously. And then there are the Crystal Parrot Players, an intimate nonprofit troupe that treats performance as a labor of love. Founded by artistic director Sandra Riley and…

Sun, sand, surf, blah, blah, blah. Live here long enough, and you’ll realize it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Summer in Miami is too damn hot and humid to truly enjoy most of that outdoorsy stuff. The weather is stifling, the kids are at camp, and in these…

Is there any Miami movie bigger, badder, or more beloved than Scarface? The insurmountable framed evidence seen via MTV’s Cribs on every rapper’s living room wall tells us no effing way. It’s been a quarter-century since Al Pacino and Steven Bauer introduced us to the dangers of violating the 10…

There used to be stiff competition on Miami’s karaoke scene before 1998. In those dark ages, would-be singers who yearned to belt out “I Will Survive” someplace other than their shower had to seek out hole-in-the-wall bars or darkened corners of Asian restaurants for their fix. Thankfully, those days are…

Is there any biblical figure more reviled than Judas Iscariot? The name of the disciple who hath betrayed Jesus with a kiss is universally synonymous with all that is evil, self-serving, and traitorous. The Christian world sees Judas as little more than a two-dimensional character, best known for carrying Jesus’…

When a killer whale and a bottlenose dolphin happen across each other in the ocean’s dark depths, one of three things can happen: (1) They pass like two impressive ships in the night, (2) murderous mayhem erupts, turning the waves scarlet, or (3) an illicit, unexpected act of love takes…

The Olympics are here! The Olympics are here! And with them comes our favorite spectacle of sport: the high dive. There are so many things to love — the poetry of movement, the incredible show of physical skill. And let’s not forget hot dudes in Speedos — lots of them,…

Fresh-faced jazz chanteuse Esperanza Spalding cuts a striking figure, with her oversize Afro and petite frame. She looks positively teeny next to the upright bass she plucks, and her voice is sweet and strong. When she made her network television debut on Late Night with David Letterman, he gushingly called…

Snobby locals love to sip their haterade and talk out the side of their mouths about Tobacco Road. It’s only understandable that Miami’s oldest bar has gone in and out of vogue during almost a century of existence — hit the Road on an off night and you might walk…

Of all the Latin music/reggaeton-inspired car commercials, “Ride It Like a Ford” remains our favorite by far — yes, even more than the inescapable Esserman commercials. The 2006 ad was everything we love and loathe about Miami. Baby-oiled bikini babes, garishly painted vehicles parked near the lapping ocean, and some…

For years the hair-product marketplace was suffused with potions for straight-haired folks. If you had wavy, kinky, or coily locks, you were fresh outta luck — Pantene, V05, and Herbal Essences didn’t want to hear that. Silky-straight ladies now have to make way. The curly hair market is a booming…

At one point in his life, Ralphie May weighed more than 800 pounds. And still he was making jokes about it. “I beat anorexia!” he’d declare in his stand-up act. May makes fun of himself constantly. Thanks to gastric bypass and the rigors of Celebrity Fit Club, he’s now clocking…

Even while she was growing up before our eyes as Gwendolyn “Winnie” Cooper, doe-eyed love interest of Fred Savage’s character in the poignant coming-of-age sitcom The Wonder Years, behind the scenes, young Danica McKellar was no slacker. Instead of building a reputation as an up-and-coming party girl, she kept her…

Bryan Adams sang fondly about the summer of ’69, but folks who lived through the era know that not everything was groovy patchouli. Back in those days, Elliot Tiber was unhappily deep in the closet and struggling with his own emotional issues. He’d moved back home with his parents in…

There’s something about a woman who tells it like it is that really rankles the powers-that-be, especially in the political world. A man can be as biased and ill-informed as he’d like, but let a female politician say the quote-unquote wrong thing, and she gets branded with that five-letter word…