We admit it – we’re always a little skeptical when the Internet gets abuzz about some hot new indie rock band out of Florida. Not skeptical because of the pool of talent our state has to offer, but because we’ve noticed a trend of bands getting attention, dropping one EP,…
One day in January 1981, a light dusting of snow fell on Miami. The bizarre weather wasn’t significant enough to affect the city in any major way, but it was just enough to give each resident the bragging rights to a South Florida anomaly — a white winter. And just…
With all the buzz about little brothers Damian and Stephen, some folks might forget Ziggy Marley started the whole talented-progeny thing in Bob’s clan. He even pops up at the tail end of Stephen’s video for “The Traffic Jam,” wearing a jacket with his name emblazoned on the back, just…
Shortly after the Miami Heat honed losing into a true art — with a second loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on November 13 — team president and coach Pat Riley was ready to school Shaq, Jason Williams, and whatever other warm bodies had been stuffed into red-and-black jerseys. “I guarantee…
Most people are afraid of film festivals, and with good reason. The prospect of sitting through a two-hour experimental feature, shot with a cell phone, wherein a group of Swedish-speaking professors debates the existence of God, is all too likely. And that’s what’s great about the MSFF, also known as…
While you’re complaining about the chills that accompany our joke of a fall season, our northern brethren are huddling around fireplaces, sipping hot toddies, and planning to party indoors for the next five months. We should feel damn lucky all we have to do is throw on one extra layer…
Comedy always seems to work better in pairs – think of Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Sonny and Cher. All right, maybe not the last, but one new comedy duo is making the YouTubers giggle and the old ladies blush. Yamil Piedra and Johnny Trabanco are Miami’s very own…
When your mom told you that your singing voice is painfully off key, you just assumed she didn’t want to lose her baby in a corrupt world of fame and fortune. Then you went on American Idol and heard the producers tell you they loved you, only to later find…
So did your fork feel heavy as you laid waste to Thanksgiving dinner yesterday? Had to unbutton your pants a little to make room for dessert? There’s no shame in being a glutton on Turkey Day, but in the harsh light of day, you can’t escape the consequences of your…
He’s been the chief flag waver at parties all over the world, making crowds jump and wave from Trinidad to Canada to Notting Hill and back for 25 years. Mind you, Machel Montano’s career began when he was only 11 years old. Tonight the main celebrator will host a fiesta…
Thanksgiving weekend means two things unique to Miami: First, Hispanic families serve their turkeys with arroz, and tres leches for dessert; and second, the gays skip the fat and carbs altogether so they can show off their abs at the various parties during White Party Week. The largest annual fundraiser…
So you and your honey have carved butt-prints into the couch from rampant DVD-watching, and all of the polyester-vest-wearing teens at your local megaplex know you by “large Coke Icee, pack of Twizzlers, and extra-buttery popcorn.” We think it might be time for you two to get a new hobby,…
For the past 365 days, you’ve been plotting on Aunt Jean’s cranberry stuffing and framing up your attack on Mom’s candied yams. Last night you cased the family kitchen, searching for some wayward morsel or a casserole corner that wouldn’t reveal your culinary burglary. But no luck; the fridge is…
It’s Thanksgiving, and finally we can channel Little Richard in that Geico commercial we love: “Mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce! Wooooo!” Yeah, today is all about gathering in familial bliss to celebrate the ties that bind, but we gotta keep it real. All anyone really looks forward to on…
Artist Manolo Millares was known for dark paintings on torn sackcloth that captured the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War and the postwar years. His ripped and resewn works reflected an existential anguish that spoke of a need to destroy so that, through “a radiant wound of health,” something better…
As the snowbirds begin to land, our subtropical winter wonderland jams with traffic – and holiday cheer. Family and friends will not want to miss Santa’s Enchanted Forest. We can already hear Aunt Mildred saying “Holy cannoli!” when she looks up at the theme park’s 92-foot Christmas tree, as tears…
South Beach is always depicted as this glowing neon nonstop party, with tropical music blaring from candy-painted cars and an endless parade of hot, scantily clad ladies looking for a good time with the wrong kind of guy. Beach officials may be trying to attract the family demographic, portraying SoBe…
Give Kendall a chance. And while you’re at it, give open mikes a chance too. They’re both the underdogs of Miami’s entertainment world. Kendall has been deemed a sleepy suburban hole by cultural elitists, while open mikes are often considered the poor man’s American Idol. But one ambitious production company…
You’ve seen the sign: No shirt, no shoes, no service. But each Friday at the Mandarin Oriental, they get a little tolerant of the “no shoes” part. Well, not the whole hotel — don’t tell them we told you to walk unshod through the gorgeous lobby. Only at the Moroccan-theme…
Whispered to the guard: “Do you have nightmares?” The buzzing contraption, The Killing Machine, looks part dentist chair, part kitschy, dreamy death sentence experience with the disco ball that flicks lights across the walls. Tiny TV screens blink in grey and white. Him: What did you get from that? Me:…
“Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami,” a documentary about the Greatest’s years in Miami, airs tonight at 8 on WLRN Public Television. When I got an invitation to attend the premier screening at the Byron Carlyle Theater last Thursday, I called up ex-boxer Grady Ponder, who came to Miami as a…
Margaret Cezair-Thompson’s sophomore novel The Pirate’s Daughter is a rare combination of literary genres – a historical romance that bristles with the particular prejudices explored in the most insightful Caribbean literature, a sprawling family epic touched with ruined Hollywood symbolism. It’s been receiving critical acclaim from the likes of People,…
