Opinion & Commentary

The first time I saw Armando Santelices, the noisy experimental sound artist known as Peasants with Feathers, he was almost invisible under a black hooded cloak. Huge bear claw slippers swaddled his feet, and in his hands (which were covered in black gloves with long fake fingernails attached) he gripped…

Jacob Katel On 27th Street, between North Miami Avenue and NE 2nd Avenue, in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District, a set of railroad tracks faces the completely bombed wall of the Miller Machinery and Supply Co. building…

via Bravo Season two of Shear Genius, the hair cutting competition on Bravo that most people watch because they’re too lazy to change the channel after Project Runway, wraps up tonight. Dee, a Miami-based stylist, is among the final three who could walk away with the gold-plated bottle of mousse…

So today is jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis’ 48th birthday. I figured a good way to kick off this week’s Throwback Tuesdays is to feature one of his tunes. We don’t showcase jazz nearly enough on this blog, which is something that needs to change. And as far as a slow…

Consider the band that once performed in Poland surrounded by impaled sheep heads, later unleashing a literal bloodbath of the fluid collected from the animals. Or ponder the ex-member of that band who dwells near a remote fjord with no plumbing and was once accused of torturing a man who…

Get Her a Container You lazy bureaucrats: In regard to Lee Klein’s August 14 story “Kick the Bottle”: I have lived in North Miami Beach on 178th Street since January 2007. I have never received recycling containers to save the plastic bottles. Maybe someone will see this letter and take…

Winning Hand Lucky or not: I applaud Michael J. Mooney for a well-written article (“Royal Flushed,” August 7). His complete description of amateur poker pros is right on! Most of the advice from the players he spoke to is correct, in its own crude way, not as articulate as some…

Last Friday’s performance at The Vagabond by 3 One G, the Winter Haven-based Joy Division tribute band, was jammed to the rafters. Surprisingly high-energy and weirdly thrilling, it also raised a number of philosophical questions, among them: 1. If someone wears a Joy Division T-shirt to a show by a…

I’m keeping this one short and sweet this morning. Since Isaac Hayes passed away over the weekend, it’s only fitting to kick off this Throwback Tuesday with my favorite song of his–“Walk on By.” To me, it’s the best song he ever sang, even though I know it’s originally a…

Nude Attitude Not so much: “Naked Lunch” (Janine Zeitlin, July 24) shocking? Maybe for the reporter. I realize New Times is supposed to be the “cool paper,” where you can curse and print the kind of sex stories that don’t make it into the mainstream. But stripping in the middle…

Marisol, a lovely Latina with sleek brown hair, blended bangs, and skintight jeans, saunters down a quiet hallway when, suddenly, she stumbles. Perhaps it’s because she’s wearing stilettos. Or maybe it’s that her husband is dragging her by the wrist. No. Most likely it’s due to the fact that she’s…

“So I’m about to call up Peter Hook and hopefully also talk to Ian Curtis,” I recently told two friends. “That’s amaaaazing,” they cooed back — and then we all laughed, because we knew I was lying, sort of. Because if it looks like Ian Curtis, sings like Ian Curtis,…

Did anybody see N.O.R.E. this past weekend at the Rock the Bell’s concert over the weekend? Dude needs to lay off all that mofongo and pollo a la plancha!! Naw, I’m kidding. Although N.O.R.E. definitely looked way heavier than he needed to be, he definitely came out and rocked it…

Back on April 2, I wrote about Gregory “Silk” Thomas, a colorful character living on Miami Beach who’s had more than his fair share of run-ins with the city’s PO-lice. Thomas, a tall man with graying dreadlocks and gold teeth, reached out to me after he was fired from his…

Nude Can Be Profitable Thanks to Tootsies: Regarding “Naked Lunch” by Janine Zeitlin (July 24): I am an African-American woman with a joyous smile and athletic body type. I have been dancing at strip clubs on and off since August 2005. I work in retail and I dance when I’m…

I’m cawing like a crow, quietly at first, and with my eye on the front door. “Caawwww?” I try a little louder. Then I’m imitating a car. “Pirrrratessss are waaaaiting!” I finally yell, the r’s rolling and gurgling somewhere in the space around my soft palate. Peeking through my blinds…

So with this upcoming Rock the Bells concert around the corner, perhaps the biggest, WTF act on the line-up this year is the Pharcyde. It’s been 11 years since the California-based group last performed together as a foursome. Lot’s of personal issues (money, drugs, and internal fistfights) caused the group…

So with the large scale hip-hop extravaganza, Rock the Bells, coming up this Saturday, it seems fitting to kick off this week’s version of Throwback Tuesdays with an artist performing at the concert. But which one to choose? There’s so many, and most of them have careers that run back…

When election time rolls into gear, the union representing Miami-Dade County fire fighters doesn’t waste time getting into action. According to campaign financial disclosure reports, Dade County Firefighters Local 1403 contributed $500 each to the reelection campaigns of Bruno Barreiro, Audrey Edmonson, Carlos Gimenez, Barbara Jordan, Joe Martinez, and Natacha…