Since May 2, 1968, Miami has had a true radio alternative in the form of WVUM-FM. From reggae to rap to local bands, from the obscure to the ridiculous, WVUM, not constrained by commercial concerns, gives voice to so much music that otherwise wouldn’t receive airplay. What the station needs…
It’s a small town, pal. A small ugly town. Full of rats. Area troublemakers. Unprovoked attacks. Misinterpreted declarations. Fabulous writers profiling fabulous club owners/boyfriends. Nebulous celebrity investors. Wire cover boy Abe Hirschfeld actually portrayed as a viable human being, let alone a viable political candidate. A politician in tune with…
T.J. Callahan is absolutely correct. Lesbian and gay persons do want equal opportunity for life insurance, health insurance, job security, benefits, and estate upon death – just like he and every other citizen already enjoys. That’s all we want – equal rights. We don’t understand why we are routinely deprived…
The choice had to be made: become a cop killer or go into rehab. Decisions, decisions. The traumatic turning point came September 28 at, naturally enough, Churchill’s Hideaway. A new “band” – actually a loose amalgam that is open to membership changes with each show – called the Volunteers debuted…
I am the local-music-show DJ at WUFI (the FIU radio station), and I was appalled to read that someone who “supports” local music could be so outright prejudiced toward some of Miami’s newest bands that are also on the cutting edge. Aside from their beliefs and promotional ideas, these are…
The weather on the hot bottom of the earth begins to change, the cafard slowly lifts, and once again a parade of cultural/charitable gatherings gives a patina of meaning to an increasingly absurd social life. Having an uncanny instinct for doing the worst possible thing at any given moment, we…
Over the course of too many long years in Miami, we have learned a vital survival skill: actually appreciating the disgusting as a local art form. Sometimes it’s fun digusting, and sometimes its just plain disgusting, but whatever the case, the ability to revel in the offensive has allowed us…
THAT’S POOP,ALL RIGHT I must say that after reading your feature article concerning “George & Jane & Steve & Ellis & Kathy” (October 2) I became incensed. What kind of journalism is this? Why have you wasted your time and space? When are you going to do your jobs right?…
You have not always been the kind of guy who shows up at Boomerang at 3:00 a.m., but here you are, and you cannot say that the night has yet lost all its promise. You think back to all that had led up to this hour. That pleasant spat of…
SO THAT’S HOW SLUMS GET STARTED! Regarding your story about a trash heap in a police parking garage (“Unsolved Mysteries, Dateline Miami Beach,” September 25): Your tongue-in-cheek approach to the incident was uncalled for. Chief of Police Philip Huber, coming from Baltimore, is obviously accustomed to clean streets and clean…
Let me state just two things before I go so you won’t forget: The South Florida Rock Awards (the third annual) is going to be awesome this year and is going to be December 9. And I’ve heard a rumor that the sales side of the New Times corporation will…
Those people you berate in the Guardian Ad Litem program and HRS are trying to protect these children from further damage. They are operating under laws of confidentiality and can’t respond to the unfair allegations in the article. I’ve really lost much of the respect that I had for your…
Every once in a while we take a stab at grasping the meaning of the blues (both in this space and in real life). Try this: James Thomas was born in 1926 on a farm in Ya¯zoo County, Mississippi. Influenced by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup and Elmore James, he worked…
The upcoming socio-cultural season is taking shape, and gradually Miami is beginning to seem like a valid place to live, something more than just the hot bottom of the earth. Things are beginning to happen. The new Tony Chan’s Water Club restaurant at The Grand, in the space formerly occupied…
INSULTS FOR EVERYONE, EXCEPT DETECTIVE CHRISTOPHER Kudos and congrats on one of the most boring articles I’ve ever read by New Times (“The Case from Hell, Part One,” September 11). Maybe if Aimee’s mother hadn’t been such a devout Catholic and so worried about bad outside influences, none of that…
So many new things lately: 32 Grand in the Grove, the cinema/pub/theater complex with identity problems. The Century Hotel restaurant, which, according to co-owner Willy Moser, will shortly be in the throes of a soft opening. And then, as always, the gay South Beach beat, mushrooming steadily like some sort…
Once again, good people, we face the scourge of that damn nigger music. Among the millions of hate letters – from barely legible postcards to boxes filled with voodoo trinkets – I’ve received over the years, the one I remember most was a racist diatribe delivered to the Miami News…
GEORGE BUSH, PATHOLOGICAL MISSPEAKER In reference to Weston Kosova’s article concerning our president’s supposed lying (“Whoppers!,” September 4), it is clear from the article that the author is biased. Why could you not write the same article without mentioning that George Bush is Republican? Is it because you want to…
The consolation of philosophy, food, and art all came to us recently over a delicious meal of fried chicken and collard greens at our new favorite lunch spot, the cheery pocket-size Lorene’s Cafe, contained within the bar-that-time-will-never-forget, the Satellite Lounge on NW 7th Avenue and 62nd Street. Normally a squalor-central…
The release of the second Nuclear Valdez album has been delayed by Epic until next year. The record has been complete for months – it sounds great, by the way – but its original release date (the middle of this month) was moved to October. Now it’s January. A few…
Throughout South Florida, scattered outposts of gay civilization have always dotted the landscape: Cheers and Cherry Grove in Miami; The Copa, Cathode Ray, and the Marlin Beach Hotel in Fort Lauderdale; the dance club Heartbreaker and cruise bar Man’s Land in West Palm Beach. But lately an entire culture has…
CUT PTR SOME SLACK! In response to the article “Get Out of Jail Free,” certainly certain people have a vested interest in attacking the pretrial-release program. The program has helped many citizens of this county get out of jail who shouldn’t be in jail. As for those violent individuals, I…
