Russell Banks Its been said that a person living on the right cross streets in downtown New York in the 1950s could get a university-level education just by hanging out in bars. If that’s true, then someone could get a Sorbonne-level education by hanging out in a bar with Russell…
Sam Borkson and Arturo Sandoval Jr. make up Miami art collective FriendsWithYou, which have been injecting the world with childish fun and color. So is it any surprise that Scope has commissioned the duo to create an interactive experience for fairgoers? “Fun House” will take over the lounge area at…
Comic artist Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman- the Michael Jordan of literary comics- headlines this year’s book fair. The artist who created the hugely popular Holocaust comic tome Maus is here touting two new works. The first is Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!, a re-release of a…
If the dream of every comic is to have his humor live on long after he has left the stage, then the late Bernie Mac has exited this world on a high note. Soul Men, a comedy completed shortly before Mac’s untimely death in August, is no classic, but the…
Paul Rudd wears the constant look of glazed-eye amusement; everything seems to tickle him, even that which annoys or frustrates or disappoints him. He is frat-boy handsome and therefore almost anonymous when he stands in a movie-star lineup; in Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things (2003), Rudd received a supposedly…
The Guitar Hero series has finally hit a sour note. The fake rock rampart — which started out as a goofy way to live vicariously through Jimmy Hendrix, and ended up being the most improbable cultural phenomenon since the spawn of Billy Ray Cyrus — has been comfortably picking and…
There are several ways you can tell when the holidays are coming up in South Florida. The first cold spell is always a signal — the moment the thermometer hits 60 degrees, it’s officially time to pull your leather jacket out of the closet. Also, you might want to buy…
Home-field advantage has its privileges. When the Dolphins were down 16-7 in the second half two weeks ago against the Buffalo Bills, Miami fans began to get that old familiar feeling. That same feeling you get when your flight is about to hit an onslaught of turbulence. You see, in…
That Colonel Sanders was full of big talk, bragging about his chicken being finger-lickin’ good. KFC is greasy goodness, sure — but we don’t lick our fingers for just any delicacy. Nay, we prefer to save our salivation for nobler, juicier foodstuffs. Such as ribs. Mmmm, ribs. So tender, so…
The Big Orange isn’t known as a bicycle-friendly town. Mayor Manny Diaz is looking to change that — at least for this Sunday’s Bike Miami event. The good mayor and his city have closed Flagler Street from the courthouse to Bayfront Park, along with portions of South Miami Avenue, in…
We’ve noticed an increasing number of fabulous ladies’-night-out events taking place around town, and Miami’s men are getting jealous. Why should women be the only ones feted with complimentary cocktails and sample-filled gift bags at these after-work events? Here’s why: Most are totally about shopping. We’ve whizzed through them all…
Don’t confuse the new show at ArtCenter/South Florida with an autopsy of the presidential election or why the Dow Jones Industrial is undergoing death by a thousand cuts. Instead, Propaganda 2008 is a printmaking installation that satirizes mass consumption, communication, and sexuality in pop culture. Cooked up by the Propaganda…
We might not have mounds of coppery leaves and pumpkin patches to alert us to the arrival of fall, but we can count on Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s Ramble-A-Garden Festival to let us know summer is finally over. And if anything is for sure, this 68-year-old fest is. It brings…
Whether or not you agree with the Fed’s strategy to bail out Wall Street, you must admire the charitable nature of the move. We could all stand to throw a few dollars to our fellow man, but with a few less zeros. Local group Hands On Miami gives back to…
During a fight a couple of years ago, Edison “Pantera” Miranda broke a man’s jaw in two places and head-butted his opponent in the same match. The Colombian national lost the contest on points but proved that mixed martial arts has nothing on boxing when it comes to nastiness. These…
The 24 Hour Theatre Project is an Olympic event for thespians in South Florida. A bunch of playwrights will gather at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables at sundown this Sunday. They’ll be tasked with writing a play based on a random title (at last year’s project, one of the…
It is no easy task to fill in for a talented musician such as Ramsey Lewis (the pianist announced he will be suspending all performances owing to an undisclosed “medical issue”), but one cannot deny that Dave Brubeck — one of the biggest living legends on the national jazz scene…
It’s been eons since man was forced to ride his steed to the general store, clippity-clopping down a dirt road and tipping his hat at the townsfolk. Now the only horses in the streets are under the hood of the modern dude’s Saab. And the tipping of the hat? Yeah,…
The key to rescuing the world from this recession lies in placing unemployed workers in high-paying jobs that require no particular skill set or intelligence. For instance, sports columnists, the governors of certain outlying states, and whoever is responsible for translating titles of American movies into French. Home Alone became…
Rock Band™ has become an unstoppable musical video game phenomenon. Across the country kids are strapping on plastic axes and wailing in their parent’s living rooms. Tonight the action steps off your big screen TV and hits the stage for the Rock Band Live tour, where headline acts Panic At…
Back in the days of the Wild West mining prospectors would go down into dark dangerous mines hoping to come out with bits of gold. A Grubstake was when someone would give supplies to such a risk taker in exchange for a share of the treasure. Well, pardner, here in…
Crying about gas prices while still cruising around in your SUV is lame. Get over it. The interactive nightlife promoters of I Am Your Villain are encouraging two-wheeled mayhem washed down with dollar beer specials. You should be there when the Loose Cannons on the Run bike race leaves from…
