Sorry State of Affairs

Re-reading Ian McEwan’s Atonement last weekend, my first thought was: I hope to God that Joe Wright — whose broadly grinning Pride & Prejudice made a mess of Jane Austen two years ago — doesn’t screw up this wonderful novel about lust, love, loss, and what art can do to…

Musical Melting Pot

The Carnival Center for the Performing Arts strives to be an epicenter of all things culturally enriching. Just this year alone, it has featured everything from Irish tap dancing and traditional Mexican ballet to Haitian hip-hop theater and Indian folk music. But what if your goal is complete multiculti immersion?…

Be a Doll

As a child, you had an affinity for dolls — whether Barbie or G.I. Joe – that was encouraged and accepted. As an adult, not so much. But it’s totally cool for anyone to love Pablo Cano’s life-size marionettes and rod puppets made from found objects, which include fanciful creations…

Let’s Get High

You might have noticed the huge white balloon coasting above the Biscayne Bay shoreline and wondered, Is it a bird? Or a plane? No, dummy, it’s the Miami Skylift. And though we bet you’ve been high plenty of times when you’ve seen Miami, now the Skylift is here to show…

Peepshow Surprise

When you step into a booth at a sex shop, you expect to be titillated by tits, amazed by ass, and sucked eyes-first into a steamy world of sex until the timer has shot its load, so to speak. But visitors to South Beach’s Pleasure Emporium can expect their two…

Ho Ho Ho!

Attention, Scrooges! We know Black Friday holiday shopping (and the post-Black Friday holiday shopping hangover) has already gotten you down. (Just who was lucky enough to grab that $400 laptop?) It definitely did not get you feeling much like Christmas — with 80-degree weather, who can blame you? Praise be…

The Promise of a New Day

Ricky Burdett carries extremely impressive credentials. He’ll need ’em in a place like Miami. Heck, he’ll probably need major tranquilizers too. Miami is to downtown what Jackson Pollock is to Realism. Burdett, a leading figure in the exciting world of urban planning – i.e., how to make it possible for…

Come On-A My House

It’s strange for us Miamians to openly welcome people into our homes. We’re used to barricading, blocking, barring, and walling. But perhaps that era is ending. Witness the first annual Buena Vista East Historical Home Tour and Pineapple Festival. Situated between 42nd and 48th streets between North Miami Avenue and…

Sippin’ on Liqueur

It’s been up and running since November 9, but have you visited the house that Casa Décor built yet? Well it’s not a house so much as a parking garage transformed into an interior design Shangri-La. This year’s exhibition includes outdoor installations, too, one in the form of the Cointreau…

Basel-tastic Bashes and Blowouts

Are you a fan of overpriced art? Look-at-me-aren’t-I-interesting hipsters? No? Well how’s about free cocktails and ho-hum gift bags? Excellent — you’re totally psyched for this year’s Art Basel. Of course, the really chi-chi parties (where you get the good gift bags) are by invitation only, and the most ballyhooed…

Praise Ye Jah

The burdensome workweek and nonstop barrage of pretentious arty parties got you down? Need a respite from the typical watering holes? We’ve got a suggestion. It’s all about Reggae Wednesdays at The Office, where DJ Firewood boldly promises “the best reggae this side of Kingston.” DJ Firewood starts chopping it…

Holiday Fun for a Reason

Feeling like those Bah, humbug!s are just waiting to roll off your tongue this holiday season? With parties like the Get Scrooged Holiday Bash hosted by the Historical Society’s Tropees and the 11th Judicial Circuit Historical Society around the corner, searching your soul for some holiday spirit seems like the…

Teetering at Tipsy

Let us school you on one fact: Tipsy-dialing can be kind of sexy, because you’re just a little bolder and slightly more confident than your sober self. But once you’ve crossed that “drunk” threshold, the call becomes plagued with tears and screams. Not so sexy. Let us walk you through…

Fresh New Kicks

Holiday gift-giving is around the corner, and you’re too old for Toys-R-Us and too young for a gift-wrapped pair of argyle socks. If you’re anything like us, nothing could kick off your Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa with more style than a fly pair of sneakers. Luckily you don’t have to…

Unleash Your Enthusiasm

Jeff Garlin just might be the most famous dropout of the University of Miami. “Actually I’m the second,” the ebullient comedian, costar of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, and auteur of the new indie rom-com I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, explains. “Sylvester Stallone is probably the most famous UM…

You Don’t Know Jack (About Miami History)

Mention South Florida and certain things come to mind. Like pre-Columbian architecture, the carvings of Everglades folk artist Rob Storter, and influential names like Tuttle, Flagler, Brickell, and Collins. Are you scratching your head? No? Then you’re just the type of history buff the Historical Museum of Southern Florida is…

Eight Crazy Nights

Hanukkah is just a minor Jewish holiday elevated to major status by consumerist American culture, but hey, it’s still a lot of fun. Whether you are Jewish or not, you can celebrate the sixth day of Hanukkah by joining The Feldman Dynamic at Camposition Studio tonight at 8 for Hanukkah…

Opera Rockin’

You don’t have to be a student playing hooky to enjoy the University of Miami’s Bill Cosford cinema. Named for the dearly departed former professor and film critic, the Cos lives up to its moniker as Miami’s grooviest art house, where big-screen fanfare and cushioned seats put some glamour back…

Park Life

Our national parks are protected from the intrusion of bulldozers as much for the benefit of the indigenous plants and wildlife as for the enjoyment of all who wish to frolic upon the grounds. But those good intentions are worthless when cans, condoms, and contraband litter these oases. The National…

Let’s Get Physical

For those of you feeling a bit sluggish lately, today is the day to get a much-needed adrenaline rush. At the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Holiday Run, yours won’t be the only heart you’re saving. Head to the Palmetto Bay Village Center (18001 Old Cutler Rd., Palmetto…

What Is He Smoking?

Hallelujah! Finally a local wing-nut has put together a multimedia art exhibit based on conspiracy theories and paranoia. Artist Victor-Hugo Vaca is showing “Crackhead Jesus Is Coming” at The Fifth. “People have been contacting me and giving me true information that the media will not report,” Vaca explains via phone…

Just Like Cuba, Except Funny

Some things just go together. Peanut butter and jelly. Cookies and milk. The Captain and Tennille. And, apparently, comedy and cigars. Each and every Wednesday night at 10, Aromas of Havana Cigar Lounge will host Professional Standup Comedy nights. The shows are headlined by comics from BET’s Comic View and…