Rest in Peace Adrian Ellis was a good man: Regarding “The Life and Death of Adrian Ellis” (November 15) by Calvin Godfrey: First let me say that Adrian was a wonderful father to our children. He wasn’t perfect, but he was a man who wanted the best for his family…
Earlier this year, Back Door Bamby took a vacation and forgot to come back. The 10-years-running Monday-night party was the last of its kind on South Beach, a holdout from the days when freaks of all stripe — gay, straight, and in between — still partied together. This past spring,…
“My mother was Italian — a Catholic — and my father was a German-Jew,” explains Henrietta, her blue eyes wide under two pencil-thin brows. “Back in those days, when I was a kid, people didn’t believe in mixed marriage. So when I came along and I was a gay boy,…
A Pat on the Back for Patrick And a swat in the behind for the principal: I’m not surprised to read about all the discriminatory acts in Francisco Alvarado’s November 8 story about Patrick Williams, “Good Teacher, Bad Principal.” I recently graduated from Turner Tech and have personally been through…
On a recent cool Saturday night, things were status quo on South Beach: People were dressed up, paying, and putting on airs for the powers that manned the doors at packed clubs. Less savvy partygoers waited in line, thereby eliminating any chances they had of getting in. The only people…
This structure (14th St., and N. Miami Ave.) sits near the railroad tracks that separate “Mid-town” from “Overtown.” No matter what you call it, it is still “Dirty Dade.” — Jason Handelsman…
It’s hard to believe it’s been 19 years since the Queen of the Forehead, AKA Sade released her stellar Stronger Than Pride album. It’s still the anti-break record of the century in my opinion as it has a way of talking to you regardless of where you’re at romantically. The…
Here’s another local music mystery… A reader writes: “Hi, I’m trying to figure out the name of a local progressive band from the late 90s, (1997-2000). I know they were signed to a major label, and were influenced by bands that sounded like the Cure, and that the entire band…
There he is: a guy in a chicken suit, flailing around in a pseudo-mock mosh pit on the rain-slick concrete floor of Churchill’s back patio theater. As a punk band screams in the background, someone hurls a plastic cup of shitty beer, beaning him on the side of the head…
The streets around the University of Miami were quiet on a drizzly pre-Halloween Sunday night. Most of the campus’s inhabitants had hunkered down for the week ahead and the only trace of sound was the rhythmic hum of a blinking yellow traffic light on Ponce de Leon Boulevard. From the…
Rawlins Rocks And so does Walter Mosley: “Easy Does It” (by Raina McLeod, November 1) is as engaging as it is informative. As an incurable fan of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, I am pleased in having read that Walter Mosley has both intentionally and consistently referenced the invisibility of black…
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating an alleged slot-machine theft ring by employees at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino. This is the first potential scandal for the fledgling industry, which is both heavily regulated and heavily taxed by the state. And I’m the one bringing you the news…
Speaking of Jay-Z, some of us who are fans would probably rather remember him from his Reasonable Doubt days rather than the sub-par material he’s putting out currently. I’m not even trying to dis Hov, just calling it how it is. But there was definitely a time when he wore…
Like grains of sand in an hourglass, they squeezed from one side to the other. People — lots of hungry, slightly drunk ones — bottlenecked into the narrow entrance of Books & Books (265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; 305-442-4408). What pulled them was not gravity, but a force equally strong:…
For a second, there’s a relative quiet at the Gramercy Theatre. Onstage at this swanky rock theater on Manhattan’s East Side are the South Florida hometown heroes of Torche, and they’ve just finished ripping through one of their trademark smart, heavy jams. They’ve made it onto a killer bill as…
The Anti-Immigrant Song We need more like her: “Joyce Kaufman Hates Immigrants!” (by Amy Guthrie, October 25) is a great story! In a market where local radio content is almost unheard-of, Joyce Kaufman is a breath of fresh air, and her show is the only worthwhile one on WFTL-AM. Get…
Pooka is 23 years old. She’s a petite girl with strawberry blond (emphasis on the strawberry) hair and bangs pulled back and pumped up into a Gwen Stefani pompadour. She looks at a piece of paper on which someone has drawn a crude picture of a giraffe, complete with a…
Thanks to the gentrification of central Miami and the wacky ingenuity of local artists, the monthly Wynwood Gallery Walk has become a colorful addition to the otherwise formulaic local party scene. On the second Saturday of every month, those looking for stimulation in a place other than their pants can…
A Sugar Babe Babbles … viciously: I am a vivacious, slender, curvy, big-breasted beauty of 25 years, who always has older men panting after me, drooling like Great Danes with a Milk-Bone, and slobbering all over themselves like English bulldogs (less the manners) at the mere thought of getting into…
When infamous Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee rolls into town Saturday night, he won’t be here to check on Rok Bar, the currently under-renovation high-glam-trash-rock spot in which he’s partner. Nor will he rehash the past like former Crüe bandmate Vince Neil, who recently played a gig at Dolphin Stadium…
I came across this video a few weeks ago while surfing on YouTube and fell in love with John Lee Hooker’s eerie songwriting ability all over again. I’m not sure what this clip is from; presumably it’s one of Hooker’s early television appearances, but exactly what show it’s from is…
Gonzalo Guillén is on the lam. His wife and son are in hiding. Colombian President Álvaro Uribe publicly belittled the reporter. Strangers repeatedly threatened to murder him. His bodyguard disappeared. “I got a call at my home … a guy said, ‘We can kill you,'” Guillén recalls from Lima, Peru,…
