Photos by Kerry McLaney

I love Wynwood, I really do. And I also love stickers; I've been collecting stickers since I was a kid and pride myself on having a pretty dope assortment.

But something has been really bothering me about the sticker culture in Wynwood. They're everywhere. I mean, everywhere. You can't go a block without seeing at least 20... on buildings, doors, trees, fire hydrants, mailboxes, light poles, and even on street signs. Most of the time, the stickers have been slapped on the back of signs. But now, it's gotten so out of hand that they have been ending up on the front.

Yes, I get that the front is seen more than the back. But there is an obvious problem with this: People can't read the signs.

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As The Dissident, J.J. Colagrande turns his critical eye on Miami culture. This week: O, Miami is crazy expensive, bro.

Listen, I love poetry. Contrary to popular belief, especially here in Miami, poetry is important. Poetry reflects the condition of being human. Underneath the turning leaf of truth lies poetry. Inside the creaking heart of time hides poetry.

So O, Miami, the city's kinda-sorta annual monthlong poetry festival, is a good thing for Miami. It's a positive occurrence for our community, yet another sign that our city is burgeoning with culture and teeming with potential. We are growing, for the better -- and Knight Foundation money going to projects like O, Miami is yet again leading the way.

But are you aware of how much money the Knight Foundation gave O, Miami? In 2010, O, Miami was awarded $305,000 in a Knight grant through the Engaged Communities division of Knight; and then in 2011, O, Miami was awarded a $175,000 grant through Fostering the Arts.

See also:
- Poetry Is Dead Parade: O, Miami Invites Dead Poets to Walk the Earth
- Weird Miami Bus Tour, O, Miami Edition: Naked Guys and Drug Drops in Miami Beach
- Parks and Recreation 's Megan Amram on O, Miami and "Classic Butterface" Emily Dickinson
- O, Miami's Pin Up Pop Up Poetry Exhibit Melds Graffiti and Verse

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As The Dissident, J.J. Colagrande turns his critical eye on Miami culture. This week: Should the Miami Improv do more for local comics?

The South Beach Comedy Festival is in town, bringing big names like Sarah Silverman and Seth Meyers to perform here in Miami. It's the one time of year many Miamians pay attention to comedy at all -- and that's sad, because this town is full of very funny talent.

As the festival approaches this weekend, I began to wonder: Why does Miami's comedy scene remain so untapped? And based on my experiences, I've come to the conclusion that the city's most established comedy venue, the Miami Improv, is at least partly to blame.

See also:
- Win a South Beach Comedy Festival VIP Pass Worth $1,000
- Miami Comedy Group The Have-Nots To Take Center Stage at South Beach Comedy Festival

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As The Dissident, J.J. Colagrande turns his critical eye on Miami culture. This week: Mourning the death of Wynwood as a locals' scene.

Wynwood, long considered Miami's hippest, trendiest, coolest neighborhood, is no longer that hip or trendy; in fact, burgeoning Wynwood might officially be risky business.

Dozens of out-of-town media outlets have heralded the neighborhood lately. In December, The New York Times noted how "the newfound allure of Wynwood is the latest testament to how art... can sprinkle its metaphysical magic and transform even the bleakest places."

Newfound allure? That's rich.

Locals know Wynwood has been alluring for years; in fact, many locals will tell you Wynwood's decline is already apparent. Indulge me two examples.

See also:
- The Dissident: How Ultra Music Festival and WMC Are Hurting Miami
- "What's Next For Wynwood" Panel Devolves Into Petty Fighting and Personal Attacks
- Where Is the Next Wynwood? Miami Gallerists Predict the Next Gritty Art Scene

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As The Dissident, J.J. Colagrande turns his critical eye on Miami culture. This week: why updating your profile picture online doesn't make you a freedom fighter.

Facebook feeds around the country are now filled with red and pink, as users change their profile picture to the Human Rights Campaign's logo to show support for gay marriage, an issue that went to the Supreme Court this week.

It's a noticeable symbol of unity and support for the gay rights movement.

But is it enough?

See also:
- The Dissident: How Ultra Music Festival and WMC Are Hurting Miami

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George Martinez/gmartnx.com

As the Dissident, J.J. Colagrande turns his critical eye on Miami culture. This week: how the annual mega-rave that is Ultra and WMC makes Miami a second-class city.

Miami is in the middle of a cultural and intellectual renaissance. We're finally evolving from a stale reputation leftover from the '80s. You know the rep -- that Scarface, Miami Vice, Cocaine Cowboys, sun-and-fun, Dave Barry look-at-how-weird-we-are cultural wasteland.

Well, that's not who we are anymore. Miami is growing up, and events such as Winter Music Conference and Ultra Music Festival hold us back.

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Kourtney & Kim Take Miami: Fake as hell.

Miami is not a city that lends itself to summary. This town is too vast in its varying shades of weird beauty and visceral energy, its myriad colors and countries splashed about the streets. From Doral to downtown, from Hialeah to Homestead, from Miami Gardens to Miami Beach, there is simply too much life happening to neatly package and sell in bite-size morsels for the masses.

But if you peruse your TV guide, you'll find that the masses don't really seem to give a shit about all that. They want their Miami morsels, and they're getting their fill as more and more reality TV shows about the 305 project their mind-boggling unrealities to viewers nationwide just about every night.

See also:
- Five Reality TV Shows That Could Save the World
- The Five Weirdest Reality Shows Coming This Season

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Wikipedia CC

Guitar hero Jack White.

Record Store Day is a holiday we can all get behind. When Jack White was named the ambassador for this year's Record Store Day, we thought it was a pretty damned apt choice. In his ambassadorial statement, he outlines what he perceives as the ultimate value of embracing physical music media:

"As Record Store Day Ambassador of 2013, I'm proud to help in any way I can to invigorate whoever will listen with the idea that there is beauty and romance in the act of visiting a record shop and getting turned on to something new that could change the way they look at the world, other people, art, and, ultimately, themselves," he says.

Fabulous! But buried in his call to arms, where he laments this generation's connectedness with virtual worlds and digital forms of entertainment, lies this troubling nugget:

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via thinkprogress.org

Forty years ago today, the United States Supreme Court declared that a woman has the right to choose whether or not to forcibly terminate a pregnancy. The Court's landmark decision is not only still hotly debated, but is also constantly challenged around the country. Roe v. Wade is also an umbrella that covers a much larger area -- that of women's reproductive rights in general, including such issues as accessibility to contraceptives, insurance coverage for birth control, and abortion, and government-funded abortions.

How has Florida changed in the 40 years since the decision -- and how does the state stack up against the rest of the country when it comes to women's access to abortion and other reproductive services? We spoke with a cross-section of Floridians: students, journalists, health professionals, legal scholars, mental health counselors, liberals, and conservatives of every race, ethnicity, age, and gender.

See also:
- Mitt Romney's Miami Fundraiser Is at the Home of Man Who Makes "Abortive Pill"
- Florida Senate Passes First Round of Anti-Abortion Bills

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Wikipedia CC

Lance Armstrong cheated.

Last night, he finally admitted it to Oprah: He "doped" to win seven Tour de France titles and got caught in a web of lies that society won't likely soon forget.

But before those victories ever happened, Armstrong was a relatively unknown 20-something-year-old battling stage three testicular cancer.

"I intend to beat this disease," he told the New York Times in 1996. "I'm 25 years old. I'm one of the best in my sport--why would I have cancer? ... This is something I got stuck with and now have to work through."

A year later, a cancer-free Armstrong established the Livestrong Foundation, an Austin-based non-profit committee that has since raised nearly $500 million to support those affected by cancer.

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