“History is written by the victors,” Winston Churchill said. According to The Last Ember, the debut novel of Hollywood-born Daniel Levin, it is also rewritten by the victors. A page-turning thriller that takes place over the course of 24 hours, The Last Ember uses the real-life controversy over the Waqf…
“Stars! Laughs! Songs! Spectacle! And Beauty!” Or so says the original theatrical trailer for 1949’s Neptune’s Daughter, a musical comedy shot partially in Central Florida’s Weeki Wachee Springs. The exclamation points aren’t an exaggeration. Filmed in ’30s-style Technicolor, the flick features enormous set pieces, ham-handed physical comedy, a full orchestra,…
Orchid lovers are obsessive to a degree that surpasses any other group of collectors. Show them a rare Bornean and they practically wet their pants with appreciation, and who can blame them? With a beauty unmatched in nature and literally countless possibilities in blending species, orchids are the puzzle designed…
It’s a punk rock extravaganza going down at Culture Room on August 8. Four Year Strong, Set Your Goals, Polar Bear Club, Fireworks, and Drive A are set to take the stage on August 8 starting at 7:30. Four Year Strong is a pop-punk band from Massachussets, Set Your Goals…
The recession, construction on I-95, the oppressive heat–there are plenty of reasons to be stressed out this summer in Miami, and that’s why it’s nice to be able to escape to that tiny, air-conditioned oasis on 125th street we know as the Luna Star Cafe. Run by inimitable Alexis Sanfield,…
The dark cloud of global financial collapse hung over last year’s Art Basel Miami Beach. Complimentary caviar was a rare commodity. Gift bags filled with limited edition designer doo-hickees were in short supply. Party hosts had to opt for the economy sized gold-plated fondue fountain. And, oh, yeah, not as much art sold. But it’s…
Google Image search “Bruce Weber,” and it might be easy to dismiss the photographer as a bit obsessed with nudity in black-and-white. After all, Weber is responsible for just about every softcore porn-style image associated with Abercrombie & Fitch, not to mention a few Calvin Klein underwear campaigns. But the part-time Miami…
In most circles, Modesto Maidique has a sparkling reputation. The 23-year president of FIU helped transform a depressing abandoned airfield into a top-notch research university. He also brought the school a ton of federal grant money, which never hurts. So, you’d think his farewell ceremony yesterday would have been all…
Just got back from the Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Town Hall Meeting at the Miami Science Museum, where close to 300 people showed up to voice their dissatisfaction with Mayor Alvarez’s proposed budget cuts of $11.168 million in public arts funding.The 240-seat auditorium was completely filled and patrons were standing…
Bar fights get messy because the participants are usually sloppy drunk, Friday Night Fights at the Seminole are messy because the fighters are hardcore. Tonight, watch Julio “the Kidd” Diaz and Victor Manuel Cayo get it on for twelve rounds. Click here for info. Bassist Diogo Brown gets electric at…
In perhaps the most predictable award ever given, Benicio del Toro accepted an accolade from the Cuban government for his work in Che. Sure is nice they can hand out awards to celebrities but not present their own citizens with basic rights, isn’t it? What is kind of weird is that…
Does that headline make any sense to you? We’re feeling a touch of the surreal today, so we went with that over “Standard Hotels Teams with Quicksilver,” which is indeed what this is all about. André Balazs’ Standard boutique hotel chain teamed up with Quicksilver, titan of the mall surf store industry, to…
Leonardo DiCaprio made it look easy when he painted Kate Winslet’s character in the buff on the doomed cruise ship the Titanic. But in real life, unless the setting is as intimate as theirs, things can get awkward when one person is nude and the other is gawking, fully dressed…
After dark, Paul Gaeta, AKA PG-13 and the founder of Circuitree Records, can be found blistering local clubs with hip-grinding electronic and hip-hop beats. But by day, the lanky DJ/producer struggles to teach his inner-city grade-school students art without a budget at Frederick Douglass Elementary. This Wednesday at 10 p.m…
During club nights at chichi South Beach venues, ladies wear dresses that resemble sausage casings, fellas don bedazzled T-shirts, and everyone waits outside, hoping to be one of the chosen few. This seems even more ridiculous during summer than the rest of the year. Who wants to stand behind a…
The silver lining around the Pig-Pen-like cloud of humidity that descends over Miami is that Miami Spice — the citywide festival that offers gourmet food at incredible discounts — is back. So even if you have to change your shirt after walking from the car to the restaurant, at least…
Since debuting the Wildcat formation last September in a defining win against the Patriots, Tony Sparano and company have been guarding the recipe like Fort Knox gold. What new wrinkles will it have this season? True Dol-fans will have a chance to find out when Miami Dolphins Training Camp opens…
At the first annual Sunset Spa Soiree benefit this Saturday, your little black dress and stilettos won’t be required. Host organization the Miami Light Project asks only that you be pampered while you support its Here & Now Artist Initiative, a program that advances the careers of upcoming local contemporary…
Our daddies taught us two important lessons in life: Never start a land war in Asia, and never play dominoes against a guy with a Puerto Rican flag tattooed on his arm. We’ve done pretty well avoiding the first, but this Saturday at the second annual AT&T North Beach Tropical…
Azúcar! If your hips start moving at the mere mention of Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa, put on your dancing shoes and get on over to the eighth annual Miami Salsa Congress at the Miami Beach Resort and Spa. This Saturday, the mad, hot ballroom events will include salsa cardio…
The third annual Red Bull Manny Mania is a contest including 50 local amateur skateboarders who compete for $7,000 in prizes as well as national glory. But here’s the catch: Skaters can ride on only two wheels. No, the kids won’t be dropping from a helicopter or jumping over the…
The Village People have made it so that we can’t go to our local purveyor of free fitness and (we hope) judgment-free locker-room sex without humming the legendary tune. Hell, we can’t even call a guy “macho” without repeating the word and tacking an elongated “maaaaaan” onto the end. So…
