Miami News Blog

Remember when you (you, in this case, meaning people born between 1984 and 1990) had the vague feeling Merlin Bronques of Last Night's Party was documenting something maybe, sorta culturally significant? Like he was this generation's Patrick McMullan or something? That was before the site pretty much morphed into a soft-core porn site -- an urban version of Girls Gone Wild (seriously, how long until he's hawking video compilations of tits on late-night basic cable commercials?). 

Stuck on the Palmetto, one of South Florida's most popular blogs, (it was named Best Blog by New Times in 2006), has called it quits. Rick, one of the two authors, cites last week's debate over his identity, as reason for his departure. This all stems from a discussion on the Daily Pulp.

Read Rick's final post here. -- Tamara Lush

Concrete Loop has the photos from Dennis Rodman's Rodmania halloween party this past Friday at Gulfstream Park.

We thought Dennis was going to costume up for the occasion! (Sorry. Too easy.) --Frank Houston

A self-described "Coldwell Banker Couple" have started a website called Miamism.com. The purpose of the web site is unclear, but it appears to focus on things like Mediterranean revival and vague diatribes on the housing market. I don't want to be mean here, but the site's content would lead you to believe that their bedroom life involves a lot of kinky talk about high-rises, granite counter-tops, and mortgages. As a matter of fact, I'm left to wonder whether Rick and Ines exist at all. I'd have to do some more research, but I have a sinking fear that they were created by a condo board as a part of some kind of twisted eugenics prospectus package. In any case, just looking at the thing made me feel like there were ants in my brain. --Calvin Godfrey

This morning I decided to steer my Corn Flakes away from my usual peaches and strawberries and into the direction of my favorite yellow fruit, the banana. Funny, because one of our favorite bloggers, “'Klotz As In Blood,” was also going bananas about a story out of Tasmania.

Indian police forced a thief to gobble down 40 bananas in a few hours, hoping they would force him to excrete a gold necklace he had snatched and swallowed.

“He denied swallowing it at all, but an X-ray conducted in a hospital revealed the necklace was very much in his stomach,” Ajay Kumar, a leading city detective, told Reuters.

“Doctors advised us to feed him with bananas as it worked like a natural purgative,” another officer said, trying to keep awake after staying up all night monitoring (the suspect’s) ’s motions.

(The suspect) visited the lavatory three times early today and was also forced to vomit but the necklace has failed to appear.

“We will have to look for other stronger purgatives now,” the yawning police officer added. — news.com.au

If this had happened in Miami, would the perp have been subjected to a throat full of platanos? Read more about this potassium-filled torture and what “'Klotz' As In Blood” suggested they had done about it here. --Raina McLeod

Stuck on the Palmetto took a real estate article in this morning's Herald as an opportunity to call out stupid home buyers who signed adjustable rate mortgages without fully understanding the consequences:

Call me heartless, but I feel the same type of sympathy for these people as I do Spirit Airlines customers who pay $29 for a ticket from here to Jamaica only to find out that they have to stand in endless check-in lines at the airport, pay for checked baggage and pay for a glass of Sprite on the plane.

What do you think? Read the rest of the blog.

Miami Vision Blogarama posted an item this morning in support of using prisoners to fill jobs that would be vacated if illegal immigrants were deported en masse:

Yes, we know these are not revolutionary ideas and that it's been done before (and suspect it disappeared over time because of political correctness and economics) but times have changed. If putting prisoners to work in our fields and roads will reduce the cost of living in Florida, we say go for it.

Wow! When you put it so simply, it does sound like a great idea, doesn't it? I'm sure those issues of economics and political correctness can be cast aside without a thought because, after all, "times have changed."

Unfortunately when you take reality into account, and a state like Colorado which has already tried this approach, the "chain gang" idea is exposed for what it is ... idiotic.

Read The Inmate/Immigrant Dilemma from Southwest Florida's Coastalbeat.com blog pages for a broader look at the issue. -- Tovin Lapan

The first time I ever went to Colombia, I arrived in Bogota close to midnight. Starving, my friend and I ventured a few blocks away from our hotel in the unfamiliar city and quickly found a corner hot dog stand. Before we had time to object, the hot dog man was burying our perros in mayonaise, mustard, onions, pineapple and all other kinds of curious toppings. I hesitated, but that first Colombian meal was delicious. Now, as the blog Category 305 reports, Colombian hot dog guru Edgar Gomez is opening his first U.S. restaurant, La Perrada de Edgar, on Collins Ave.

Read the entire Category 305 blog item here. -- Tovin Lapan

Greener Miami has been contacted by the good people from ABC's Wife Swap reality show. Apparently they need an environmentally conscious family for the program. Has your family had a group hug around a tree lately?

Read the entire blog entry here.

Stuck on the Palmetto posted an item this morning discussing the results of a poll that revealed one third of Miami residents would ignore hurricane evacuation warnings and hunker down at home instead.

Read the full item here.