Drs. Marvin Dunn and Paul George working on location

There are probably about a million secret histories hiding in Miami. With so many different cultures and communities coexisting in one place, no two people's versions of the events of the past are likely to match up perfectly. It's beautiful, in a way, but it also means that many of us are missing out on things that are happening right next door.

That's why the new documentary The Black Miami has piqued our interest. Based on Dr. Marvin Dunn's book, Black Miami in the 20th Century, the film describes the history and significance of blacks in South Florida. Regardless of your background, you're sure to be captivated by the stories of The Black Miami, many of which you've likely never heard.
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"Genuinely funny!"

Here, for your perusal, are 18 surprising things we learned this afternoon, courtesy of a press release sent to us from FilmOn.TV:

1. FilmOn.TV is a website that exists.

2. Andy Dick is still alive.

3. Andy Dick has his own weekly, live TV show on the Internet.

4. Pauly Shore is still alive.

5. Pauly Shore made an appearance on Andy Dick's Internet TV show.

6, This was not enough to induce the 2012 apocalypse, so we are all probably going to survive into 2013.
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"Some Song," a video-based sculpture by Jordan Marty.

Twenty-four frames per second. That is all it takes for the human eye to register fluid motion, and for one night only, LegalArt is hosting a retinal feast.

This Friday, an exhibition of video-based works by national and international artists will be on display on the second and fourth floors of the LegalArt building, as well as at the adjacent The Corner bar.

The exhibit, "Situation Range," organized by the curatorial collective Southernmost Situations, features video-based sculptures and installations, and a looped reel of short videos. According to the curators, "No two pieces in the exhibition deal with the same situation. It is a survey of modern topics."
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Magic City's first season on the small screen hasn't been an easy one. Critics have raved about the sets, and the Miami Herald even called it "irresistible television." But with the good, comes the bad. The New York Times had this to say: "The acting for the most part, is first rate. Too bad the writing isn't better." Ouch.

What can we say? You win some, you lose some. But there's one thing we know for sure: The cast is super sexy and super nice. Not only have we had the pleasure of checking out the set with Mitch Glazer, and attended a sit-down with the cast at the Miami International Film Fest, but recently, we caught up with Dominik Garcia-Lorido -- daughter of Andy Garcia, who's returned to her Miami home to play Mercedes Lazaro, a sultry housekeeper at the Miramar.

Read on to find out what she had to say about Miami, Magic City's next season, and whether we'll ever get to see her naked on screen.
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Photography by Pamela Wasabi

When we met up with Afrobeta's lead singer Cuci to peek inside her closet, the ever-smiling, ever-enthused local star had to walk us through her house one room at a time in order to give us the full tour. Why? Some of her futuristic dresses can't fit in her walk-in closet.

Anyone who's ever seen Cuci on stage knows the distinct, outer-space, '80s-modern-rocker look the Cuban-American girl has perfected. So naturally, her multi-room closet holds treasures galore, composed of her mom's vintage collection, local designer Art of Shade, Krelwear, and Jeffrey Campbell shoes.
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A scene from "Getting Rid of all My Shoes" by Autumn Casey.

The news that Miami artists FriendsWithYou, Jen Stark, Alvaro Ilizarbe, and others are relocating to Los Angeles has ignited a debate about whether Miami's art scene can or does support its artists financially. It's left many wondering whether more homegrown talent will follow them west.

It has also inspired debates about which South Florida creatives best represent the Magic City, with names like Jillian Mayer, Christy Gast, Naomi Fisher, Jim Drain, Beatrice Monteavaro, Adler Guerrier, Clifton Childree, Agustina Woodgate, the TM Sisters, Gean Moreno, and scores more tossed into the debate.

The list of Miami artists who've moved on to seek opportunities elsewhere is certainly growing. (See Daniel Arsham, Luis Gispert, Hernan Bas, and Bert Rodriguez, for example.) But so is the list of local talent that has helped elevate the 305's burgeoning art scene onto the international stage. Miami remains a hothouse for visual artists who are making an impact, with a new generation ready to break out and seize the chance to rep our city to the world.

Here is a list of up and coming names we believe could be the next big thing in art -- in Miami and beyond.
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Bleeding Palm animates Miami's underground scene with psychedelic humor. So we've employed them to make the Magic City feel more magical with weekly animated GIFs.

Bleeding Palm

This week's Bleeding Palm animated GIF was just a bit too racy to show you before the jump. But if you're in a NSFW-friendly space, or if you just don't care what your boss thinks, then by all means continue on to the real deal. But first, try to guess what we're not showing you in the blacked-out space above. We can damn near guarantee you'll be wrong.

Click through to see the original, and to hear a little more from the artist.
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Zalben's other creations.

When he enters a display window at the ArtCenter/South Florida on June 6, artist David Zalben will reveal how he alters time. For 45 nights straight, he plans to work in view of the public to produce a poem in his preferred medium: thick metal wire. Beginning after nightfall, Zalben, a thin, elvish man who stands just over 5 feet, will manipulate hundreds of feet of 16-gauge wire by hand to give physical form to his stream-of-consciousness poetry.

As he bends the wire to form one letter at a time, he also bends time as a writer. Molding the stiff but flexible metal tube allows him to enter a zone where time slows to a different, almost other-dimensional pace. While people in the world beyond the window type at computers, tap out text messages on their phones, or scribble in notepads, Zalben will need several minutes just to finish a single word.

He has already begun this poem, he says, pointing out several phrases in a coil of black cursive words sitting on the floor under his desk in his second-floor studio at the ArtCenter. "I'm going to have a lot of wire in [the window] to start," he says from behind his worn, dark, wooden desk filled with clutter. "I think, visually, it would be unfair for people to look in there, and it's just nothing, so I want to give a sense of what I'm creating."
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You know Miami stripper Skrawberry for her rap skills, her political commentary, and of course, her sexy moves on the pole. Now, you'll also know her for her sound advice. In this weekly column, Skraw responds to readers' questions about life, love, and beyond. Got a question for Skraw? Hit her up at skrawberry@miaminewtimes.com.

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Dear Skrawberry,

I need help. Okay, I have been talking to this married man. I didn't know he was married at first, and once I found out I continued to see him. Then he started to pressure me about threesomes with another girl. Is that normal? He said everyone does it nowadays, and for me to grow up. Also, he says he loves me and all of that, but every time he talks about coming into town he says his homegirl is flying in with him. WTF is that about? It seems as if he has gotten bored with me, or lost respect for me because I act more like a wife, I guess, when he already has one of them. What can I do to keep his attention? He normally does threesomes, so I feel me doing that wouldn't help the situation. I definitely need your help.

Girl on the Side
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Welcome to Miami.

Here in Miami, perhaps more than in most other cities, buildings are a pretty big deal.

Some represent history, like South Beach's historic Art Deco towers. Others represent industry, or lack thereof, like the half-finished and barely occupied condo buildings that crowded the downtown skyline just a few years ago. They can represent art, like the Gehry-designed New World Center building; or money and, some might say, corruption, like Marlins Stadium or the Perez Art Museum Miami.

So we're surprised the popular real estate blog Curbed, part of the chain of blogs that includes Eater and Racked, is only just now getting around to launching a Miami edition. But it's here -- it launches today, in fact -- and it's looking like we'll all be a lot more knowledgeable about one of our city's most important and least examined industries for it.
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