Inaugural poet Richard Blanco got the crowd's eyes all damp with his descriptions of a childhood family visit to Marco Island. Thurston Moore dedicated his poems -- the ones through which he dragged us, limp with love and starstruck -- to the lady who gave birth to him, his mom, who was in the audience. Parks and Recreation staff writer Megan Amram read some intricate verses about her twin brother, born just minutes before she was herself hatched.

It seemed from the readings that O, Miami's finale last night at the New World Symphony focused on two things: family and Miami. The dedications made this big city feel small and tight, like we all understand each other, like we all have the same tattoos, eat the same food, share the same cousins.

The very short Julian Yuri Rodriguez film that screened told a complete visual and emotional tale, in what felt like seconds, of a what-might-actually-be gang, inspired by Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool." We, (real cool) Miami, are a gang. Hating, loving, protecting, daring, and growing together. A community, a family. And, in a romantic way, O, Miami has proven to be a month-long poem, with events as the words, dedicated to this weird, hot place.

See also:
- Parks and Recreation 's Megan Amram on O, Miami and "Classic Butterface" Emily Dickinson
- Richard Blanco on Beyonce, Gloria Estefan, and Life After the Inauguration

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via Wikipedia

Poetry and parade are not a pair of terms you often find nestled close together in the same sentence. So how do the organizers of the O, Miami Poetry Festival intend to pull off the thrilling conclusion to their month long, city-wide cultural festival with such a seemingly ill-fitted coupling? By adding a third word to the equation that jibes a bit better with the common man's notion people walking in the streets en masse.

And what is that word, you ask? Zombies, of course.

Come 2 PM on April 28, Miamians will converge at the Betsy South Beach for what organizers have described as a "funeral procession in reverse," marching through Lummus Park decked out as their favorite dead poets, and enjoying poetic performances along the parade route.

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Via BillBurr.com

Bill Burr is a name that might sound familiar to you. Perhaps you've seen one of his three comedy specials: Why Do I Do This?, Let It Go, and You People Are All The Same. Maybe you know him from his appearances on Chapelle Show, his role in Date Night, or his recurring character on the extraordinary TV series, Breaking Bad. Did you catch him on the big screen with Al Pacino, Alan Arkin, and Christopher Walken in Stand-Up Guys? Have you noticed his name in glowing amber letters above the corner of Washington Avenue and 17 Street in front of the Jackie Gleason, where he'll be headlining during the South Beach Comedy Festival on Wednesday, April 17?

Depending on who you ask, Burr might be described as anything from hilarious to angry, from being a misogynistic ass to being comedian's comedian and a voice for the everyman. Among the packed clubs and sold-out theaters that Burr has killed with his act, you'll likely find people who describe him as all those things and could not be happier about it. But above all else, you could describe him as an honest guy.

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Photo by Deanna Candelas

Left to right: Celina Beach, Juan Rosal, Teena, Elizabeth, Rick Rosal

President's Day weekend is approaching and there's no shortage of mischief to be had in the city. Swamp Stomp, Coconut Grove Arts Festival, Miami International Boat Show -- competition is fierce.

And now you can add vintage motorcycles and pin-up babes to the agenda.

Old Soul Young Blood, a Miami-based company dedicated to resurrecting old school thrills and bike culture of yesteryear, is throwing the first annual Wynwood Vintage Motorcycle Festival. Sponsored by Wood Tavern, the crew's weekly hangout spot, the event will host live music, food and drink, a pin-up beauty pageant, a skate ramp, and of course, a classic motorcycle competition.

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Dan Ward, Skyward Kites

Flying squids, aliens, and bears, oh my.

There's something about kites that takes you back to the days of Twinkies, cheese balls, and Hi-C juice boxes, where the biggest worry on your mind was not having enough time to run around barefoot on the grass. Those were the days.

Well, you can't turn the clock back, but you can reminiscence the good ol' days of kite flying at Haulover Beach Park's Kite Day Kite Festival.

The festival will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this Sunday with a "Kites of the Caribbean" theme. Along with the traditional 150-foot rainbow, 100-foot squid, and 30-foot scuba diver, flags from Cuba, Haiti, and Trinidad, to name a few, will be flown over the shores of the Atlantic.

Watching these kites soar hundreds of feet over the shore is a marvel in itself. But there's more to Kite Day than simple physics. For some Miamians, the kites are an expression of creativity and ethnic culture.

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Courtesy of International Fine Art Expositions

"I'm on a boat, bitch," wasn't exactly the first thing one might have expected to hear when approaching the dock of a 40-million-dollar yacht as it hosts the fourth edition of the Miami International Art Fair -- but yeah, that happened.

Attendees were obviously excited (some more poised than others) to be stepping foot onto the SeaFair for the floating exhibition of artists hosted by David and Lee Ann Lester of International Fine Art Expositions, the founders of MIA, Art Miami, Palm Beach International Art & Antique Fair, ArtPalmBeach, the Naples International Art & Antique Fair, Art Naples, and Art Sarasotain, with 20 years in the business.

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Belaxis Buil (Miami), photo by Charo Oquet

Latex, birdcages, nude bodies, eggs, holy water. No, it's not a list of items used in some bizarre demon-summoning ritual. They're just a few of the props used by the artists in last year's Miami Performance International Festival, curated by Edge Zones. Now in its second year, MPIF has artists flying in from Puerto Rico, the Czech Republic, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Dominican Republic, the U.K. and more. It sounds like a hell of a Miami event -- except for what seems to be a lack of our own artists' interest in applying.

MPIF is calling local performing artists to submit to the 2013 festival line up. And they want to represent the 305 so bad that they're actually turning away international submissions.

See also:
- Eleven Animated GIFs from the Miami Performance International Festival (NSFW)
- Miami Performance International Festival: Work You Can't Hang Over Your Couch

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Rodin's Les Burgeois de Calais stands at the entry to the Kuntsmuseum in Basel

Once again, with the last semi-chilly gasps of another weird year in this Magic City, we've arrived at that peak of cultural extravaganzas, Art Basel. It's the annual onslaught of the art world's best and brightest, what The Telegraph called "the Olympic Games of modern artistic commerce.

But while we're all fondly familiar with the tour de force of art shows that sweeps over our city each year, many Miami locals have only the faintest idea of Art Basel's namesake -- the town of Basel in Switzerland, where the art fair first originated.

So, being in the neighborhood (i.e. the European continent), it seemed reasonable to jump on a high-speed train to Switzerland and wander the streets in search of a little perspective into that city on the Rhine that gave birth to what's become the most amazing art show to grace our balmy shores.

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via IMDB

Here's your chance to thank the man responsible for Jessica Rabbit in person.

Ever wondered what kind of work went into some of your favorite animated classics? Are you looking to break into the industry? Maybe you're just a huge Pixar freak? You'll have the chance to rub shoulders with the animation/gaming elite and perhaps pitch some ideas of your own at the Miami International Animation Conference October 20-21 at the Miami University of Art and Design.

The keynote speaker is none other than Matthew O'Callaghan, director and animator who's worked on such staples as The Little Mermaid and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the film famous for bringing characters like Warner Bros' Daffy Duck and Disney's Donald Duck together on the same screen -- and for bringing us (sigh) Jessica Rabbit. Other animation powerhouses include speakers from Disney, Universal Studios, and Cartoon Network, as well as gaming houses such as Guitar Hero's Neversoft and Microsoft Studios.

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"How to Love" by Vince BadPanda Herrera

If you're a local culture junkie it's safe to say that Miami's art walks, notably Wynwood and Bird Road, have been serving as a panacea as you wait for season to start. But as said junkie, your high is probably starting to wear off and you're itching for a huge dose of culture.

Fortunately, the mainlining of Art Basel, Miami Book Fair International, and other mammoth cultural doses, has finally seeped its way into our mundane, non-season existence.

Festivals such as SWAN Spoken Soul Festival (New Times "Best Place to Meet Intelligent Women) in March, the upcoming Eyeled Arts Festival in September, and Friday's ARTFUZE Benefit can serve as the methadone treatment to your art addiction - until a couple of months from now when you can take those big, fat, Sid & Nancy type shots of culture right in the crook of your elbow.

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