Lido, Canyon Ranch, Frank Bruni, Klime Kovaceski, Julie & Julia

*Frank Bruni, recently retired restaurant reviewer from The New York Times, has been all over the media of late to promote his memoir, Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater. Bruni writes about food as well as any critic in the country, some of his more cutting comments…

MP3 of the Day: Danny Daze “White Light Mix, Vol. 9”

What to say about local DJ Danny Daze that hasn’t been said before? Daze has been one of the most in demand DJs around the country for the last few years and he keeps busy with side projects like DiscoTech and Señor Stereo. Is it any surprise we picked him…

Beach Commission Candidate Fredric Karlton Had Some Lady Troubles

Fredric Karlton, a first-time candidate for Miami Beach City Commission, is getting a rude introduction to the city’s gutter politics. The 49-year-old real estate investor’s perceived enemies initiated a Miami-Dade ethics commission inquiry into allegedly improper business dealings with his childhood chum, Commissioner Ed Tobin. It went nowhere. And now,…

MP3 of the Day: Trina – “That’s My Attitude”

Besides Young Money’s still-really-underground Nicki Minaj, the term “mainstream female rapper” is one usually heard before “ain’t doin’ shit.” Kim tried to come back with a song that was so 2002 that I nearly called my mom to ask her money for books and a plane ticket home from college, Foxy popped up on…

Carlos Alvarez, Won’t You Please Be My Facebook Pal?

Kudos to Miami Herald reporters Matt Haggman and Scott Dolan, who today whacked Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez really good. Turns out our dear alcalde fuerte was doling out raises to his favored employees while taking the ax to the rest of the county budget. Of course, don’t forget yours truly…

Flyer of the Week: Bunnygrunt at Propaganda August 26

As a little runt in the late ’80s, I owned a rabbit’s foot keychain. And really, didn’t everyone? Back then, lucky bunny body parts were still a genuine fixture of pop culture. Today though, the hallowed tradition of carrying a severed rodent’s leg on your person as some sort of…

Big Bad Daily: Reason 2,987 the Miami Herald FAILS

The Miami Herald’s skullduggery against local blogger and photographer Bill Cooke is getting serious. Miami’s only major daily has sicced Ian Ballon, a big-dog intellectual property lawyer based out of Greenberg Traurig’s Los Angeles office, on the canterkerous shutterbug-agitator. On his bio page, Ballon lists among his accomplishments winning a…

Friday Food Funnies: Jamaican Tour Guide

This weeks’ Friday Food Funnies doesn’t have anything to do with food, but my head is still on a Jamaican vacation of sorts. The video starts getting funny around the 58-second mark — presumably as the ganja starts kicking in:…

Crispin Porter: Is Boutique Advertising Dead?

Crispin Porter + Bogusky has long been an anchor of Miami business. Coconut Grove-cool and booming. But now it’s on the decline, and this smells bad for the South Florida economy. Indeed, as the recession cools off spending among high-end consumers, the falling fortunes of this leader in boutique advertising…

Letters from the Issue of August 20, 2009

Jesus in Shades So sorry: “In the Name of the King” (Gus Garcia Roberts, August 13) is a well-written investigative report. It is unbiased and straight to the point. But the front page is a disaster. Why in the name of God are you pimping Jesus Christ? Will you next…

Xavier Suarez’s Son Rolling in Campaign Dough

In this year’s City of Miami elections, the theme is “Taking It Back to the Old School,” considering Frank Carollo, brother of mercurial ex-Mayor Joe Carollo, is running for Joe Sanchez’s seat. And then there is Francis Xavier Suarez, who  wants to replace Tomas Regalado on the commission dais. Francis…

Sean Casey Denied

Miami-Dade Criminal Court Judge John Thornton denied Sean Casey’s request to unseal transcripts of secretly recorded conversations the convicted hit-and-run driver had with his attorney and therapist in 2004.The judge’s ruling almost certainly brings an end to Casey’s quest to overturn a plea deal that in 2006 sent him to prison for…