Letters from the Issue of August 27, 2009

Animal Yarn Sickened: “Animal Instincts” (Thomas Francis, August 20), comparing bestiality to homosexuality, is egregious. Shame on this terrible report. Have you lost your ability to be reasonable? Animal abuse is not the same as two consenting adult humans coming together. This article will only give those inclined to animal…

Veteran Miami PD Detective Charged in Crime Stoppers Scam

Federal authorities charged a veteran City of Miami detective today with scamming the Crime Stoppers tip program for thousands of dollars.Wayne Fortella, an 11-year vet, faces wire fraud charges for the scam, which netted him $5,000, says Annette Castillo, a spokeswoman for the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.Fortella worked in the…

Ted Kennedy: A South Florida (Not So) Elegy

Okay, I acknowledge Ted Kennedy did great things in the US Senate. He was a leader and a charmer.Health care would probably be done by now if he hadn’t suffered, then died last night, from a brain tumor. But, like everybody else, he showed his dirty side down here in…

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…