Down on the Farm

Remember those long walks through the fields with Grandpa, eating fresh strawberries, learning about the lay of the land? No, you don’t, you city kid. But today you can experience a little of Florida’s farming and outdoors at the new open-air Mayfair Farmers Market. This old European-style market will bring…

Looks Like New

If you are a fan of thrift shopping but prefer not to hunt for name-brand gems buried beneath used thongs, consider perusing twentieth-century fashions at the Miami Vintage Clothing Show. Today and Sunday, high-quality dealers will feature vintage clothing and accessories from the Twenties to the Eighties. Items range from…

Make Art, Not War

Vietnamese artist Huong knows about the grim realities of war. She was forced to flee her ravaged homeland in 1975 and has since devoted herself to recovering from memories of her war-scarred youth by painting images of peace. During the past ten years, Huong has been working on a 300-foot…

We Want Our Baby-Back

Country music and ribs are a combination as identifiably American as baseball and Cracker Jack, or apple pie and vanilla ice cream. The event organizers of Ribfest 2006 know the patriotic significance of their musical and culinary pairing, and this year’s event promises to sate even the best of the…

Taste and Baste

We do not mean to alarm you, but the holidays are sneaking up. Since you forgot to make plans to flee the country and convert to another religion to avoid the hassles of shopping, baking, and visiting in-laws, it is time to begin making your lists. Vodka? Check. Wine? Check…

Toast to the Breast

Few among us need a particular reason to savor a glass of wine on a cool Friday evening. Had a rough week? That calls for a bottle of Pinot Noir. Broke a nail? Some rosé will turn that frown upside down. Despite the physical and psychological benefits vino can provide,…

Bringing Sexy Back

In South Beach’s fabulous Nineties heyday, the drag queens became the city’s unofficial mascots, representing long-legged glamour and over-the-top decadence. Now that SoBe has become more like an open-air shopping mall and less a venue for quirky boutiques and late-night clubs, dragtastic glitz seems to be mostly relegated to sponsored…

Out of This World

The year 1966 was big in space exploration. Among other fun stuff, an unmanned Earthship made the first soft landing on the moon, and the Enterprise’s maiden voyage was documented on prime-time television. But for Miamians the biggest leap into the cosmos happened at the Miami Museum of Science when…

So Frackin’ Cool!

It’s Friday night and you live in one of the hottest spots in the world. The clubs, parties, and drinks are yours for the taking. But how do you actually spend your evening? The only way a respectable geek would — by watching the latest episode of Battlestar Galactica. But…

Animal Magnetism

In H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr. Moreau, a nut-bag scientist upsets the balance of nature by grafting animal parts onto human beings, creating a schizzy breed of mutants that made the reader’s hair stand on end. Students and faculty of the Miami International University of Art & Design have…

They Built This City

The view of our skyline full of cranes and skeletal structures dotted with sweaty construction workers is as commonplace as the soaring buzzards around downtown Miami. But we are not here to salute hardhat-clad men and women, teetering on scaffolding 100 feet in the air. No, this month is about…

Radical Chick

When a red-blooded, macho, flag-waving, Bush-voting American country-music fan looks at a gorgeous blond who also happens to make his kind of music, one doesn’t normally expect him to pay particular attention to the actual substance of her conversation. Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines didn’t think anyone would either,…

History Lessons

There’s a scene about halfway through Catch a Fire during which freedom fighters — men and woman, boasting nicknames such as “Pete My Baby” and “Hot Stuff” — are being trained at an African National Congress safe house in Mozambique. Their ranks consist of South Africans who’ve been politicized by…

Cannon Fodder

It’s no secret that, in a country where national service is decidedly not everyone’s duty, it is often the poorest who find in the armed services a sane career choice. It beats making sandwiches at a fast-food joint. Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue, Quiara Alegria Hudes’s play about three generations of…

Stage Capsules

Fahrenheit 451: Cast in the, er, glow of the recent public school book-banning controversy (Vamos a Cuba) and fresh off of its selection by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts as this year’s “Big Read,” Fahrenheit 451 lights up GableStage in its Southeastern premiere. Adapted for the stage by…

Razor Light Show

In a blood-red work Bruce Nauman created in 1970, the word war is spelled out in neon tubing, with several cables snaking to a black transformer box on the floor. The piece seems to detonate like a bomb, the letters popping in reverse, countdown style. First the r flashes on…

Art Capsules

Asian Art from the Bass Museum Collection and Treasures from the Bass Museum of Art: With a bushel of blue-ribbon shows, the Bass has embarked on perhaps its busiest programming season. Deciding on which shows to see among the museum’s expansive menu might be as slippery as handling a hog…

Amy Sedaris

How do we love Amy Sedaris? Let us count the ways. First, she won our hearts with facial contortion and druggie humor as Jerri Blank in Strangers with Candy. Second, she always steals the show: Her post-interview tumbling session on the Colbert Report has to be seen to be believed;…

Like Riding a Bike

Miami might be the land of the beautiful, but let’s face facts: One in five Floridians is obese. Despite the myriad of reasons to exercise (plentiful sunshine, 24-hour gyms, and yoga/pilates/pole-dancing classes), many of us never get off the couch. Well, here’s a good excuse to do just that: The…

Opera Is in da House

On the banks of the Nile sits the Ethiopian princess Aida. Enslaved by the Pharaoh, she longs in song for home and for her captor’s military commander, with whom she has fallen in love. Thus begins Verdi’s Aida. The popular opera has lent its “Grand March” to Europe’s football chants…

Domo Arigato, Asad

While recently indulging in a pedicure, I spoke with the aesthetician about one of our favorite topics: libations. We discussed our love of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (try the 2005 White Haven — it is heavenly), dry ciders, and cocktails. She then suggested I sample the new bar menu at…

Dress Like a Clown

Undercover sluts and closeted cross-dressers, rejoice! Your favorite day of the year has finally arrived, bringing with it a plethora of events where you can dress up for maximum eye-popping impact. Yup, it’s Halloween in Miami, and tonight the freaks will fly their flags at full mast. But what about…