Miami News Blog

You wouldn’t have noticed it Wednesday night unless you listened closely, but House speaker Nancy Pelosi waited 40 minutes to mention Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

It was a major diss. It hurt.

The reason: Pelosi was speaking in Coral Gables to an audience of about 1,200 wealthy Floridians – many of them Jews, who are critical to Obama’s run both here and nationally. She was shilling for her new book, “Know Your Power, a Message to America’s Daughters,” at a forum set up by Books & Books at Temple Judea on Grenada.

Marco Kornfeld

Zelda comes to life -- er, sort of -- at Yasumicon 2008. Click here to view the full slide show.

On most days like Saturday, kids are racing to get away from the heat by jumping in to the nearest body of water they can find. But the anime fans that attended the 6th annual Yasumicon at FIU donned their multi-layered, and multi-colored costumes despite the sweltering weather and flooded the school.

From the second that visitors stepped out of their cars, droves of cosplayer (people in costumes for those not versed in anime-speak) could be seen making their way to the Graham Center ballroom, where vendors specializing in everything Japanese from snacks to manga set up shop. Some of the stuff seemed a bit pricy, but considering that the average cosplayer spent a couple hundred on their costumes, the prices were relatively okay. I still wouldn’t shell out $500 for a damn doll, but hey, to each their own.

Jipsy

Miami celebrated its 112th birthday Saturday at Edificio Jose Marti.

One-One-Two: Miami's Official Unofficial Surprise Birthday Party
July 26, 2008
Edificio Jose Marti

Better Than: Any birthday party you've ever been to -- ever.

Okay, with the whole town buzzing about it for months, the party really wasn’t that much of a surprise. And with cats such as Commissioner Joe Sanchez weighing in on its behalf (in writing!), it really wasn't all that "unofficial" either. But One-One-Two sure was one helluva party, all right, the kinda all-out blast only Miami can throw -- loud, proud and polyglot, and decidedly over the top!

Put together by a troika of indisputably active art ops -- Ralph de la Portilla, Octavio Campos and Theresa Amandi -- and packed with a cross-section of our town's most enlightened residents, One-One-Two not only marked the Magic City's 112th year in existence, it celebrated the wild array that has made those 112 years so indisputably spectacular.

The contents of the IMG swag bag given out at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami Swim 2009.

The canvas goodie bag for this year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim was full of gym paraphernalia, liquor, sports drinks and hairspray. Yes, a free gift is a good gift, but I feel like the organizers were trying to tell me that I needed to lose weight, get drunk and have bigger hair. Fuuuck – not y'all too! There’s no food in this bag – no candy, not a stick of gum – I get the picture. Here’s the rundown:

Fuze Diet Green Tea – Orange Ginger: No carbs, no calories, full of all types of vitamins, and pretty damn refreshing after a long day at the shows. I want to say, “Give me back my carbs and my calories, take these freaking vitamins and pass me a milkshake,” but halfway through the bottle I kinda changed my mind. Yum.

Denim camouflage hat from Equinox gym: Ahhh something to wear when I’m trying to slink past the gym undetected. I can see myself hiding in the bushes from overzealous trainers, executing military-ish tactics to get out of a hellish spinning class, and fading into the concrete background. I’m fighting the man in order to hold onto my flab, and this is the perfect hat to do it in.

Powerade Zero: The brand’s newest sports drink, zero calories, no fat, plenty of sodium. Too syrupy for me, and I detect a smoky flavor. Is that chipotle, Bobby Flay? Once again, give me my damn calories.

Chambord: Now we’re talkin’. After sucking down black raspberry tinged margaritas (Chambord, tequila, triple sec, and sweet & sour mix) all weekend, if you cut me, I’ll bleed Chambord. Suck that, vampires.

Johnny Louis

Behind the scenes at Fashion Week Swim at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach.

New York has its Bryant Park, but this weekend South Beach's Raleigh Hotel was ground zero for our Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim. And despite the blanket of heat and curl-deflating humidity, hundreds of NY and Euro imports rolled into town to spy the latest in beach and pool wear. MIA's state of neverending summer means that we have our share of local designers such as like Kristina Ashley, Amaya, Carolina Brasil who specialize in the uniform that either gets you splashed, gets you noticed, or both. But this weekend we got a taste of the national brands like Custo Barcelona, Red Carter, and Pistol Panties who are all vying for a spot in our wet and wild wardrobe. The fete started with a bang-out Diesel show last Thursday and ends with today's Xtra Life Lycra Fiber show, but just in case you spent the weekend waiting in line to see the Dark Knight here's what you missed.

Ivon David Rojas

Model shows off Diesel's 2009 swimwear collection.

Thursday night, fashionistas gathered at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2009, better know as Swim Week. The event, which goes on all weekend long, kicked off with a runaway show by Diesel and an after-party filled with drinks and live music. Check out the slide show to scope out the scene and watch the video of the gorgeous bodies in tiny bathing suits after the jump:

All Miami yogis who are hip to the scene know about The Standard’s regular Friday soiree, H2-Om. I headed there last night, as this was the om-fest’s big night – three years in the making – ode to the Miami Yoga community.

The shtick of the evening was the attendance of the Hare Krishnas from the Grove. They were there to pump some life into the scene, and it definitely worked – the place was so packed you could hardly move. Some had to bail because there just wasn’t enough room. No complaints here, as I strive to get close and sweaty with as many people as possible.

If you’re not familiar with the Krishnas, they are the ones who parade around the beach chanting (you guessed it) Hare Krishna. Once you get past the freak factor, you realize that this is a very cool cohesive crew. They led the evening’s Kirtan (where everyone sits around and chants). I have to say that I realized last night that the Grove’s Krishnas are sort of sexy, but then again I could have been hallucinating from the heat. Well, that and I have really freaky taste in men.

Jipsy

Kimmy Huynh for Ecoist.

It’s probably one of the most anticipated events of the summer, Gen Art’s Shop Miami 2008, an event that packs local designers and boutiques into the Moore Building in the Design District. The event featured three floors of shopping bliss that was sure to please every Miami fashionista.

Local labels and boutiques like Ecoist, OurFlyLives, Nazly Villamizar, KRELwear, Bogosse and Amaya Swimwear were just some of the participants at this year’s event. My only quip with the event was the poor selection of menswear. Out of all the vendors there, I could only spot two hawking clothing for men. Since shopping was out of the question, I had to resort to the next best thing – getting drunk. And how could I not? 10 Cane Rum and Baileys were there handing out free cocktails. After my third rum and Coke, I had forgotten that Shop Miami was, well, about shopping.

If you’ve ever failed miserably at explaining a funny movie scene to someone who hasn’t seen it, you know how tough it is to recreate humor.

Maybe your friends gave you a mercy laugh when you tried to recount a Saturday Night Live skit (back when it was actually funny). Or your date was still waiting expectantly for the punch line when, uh, you already told it.

For that reason, writing about stand-up is like singing about paleontology. Sort of awkward and unnatural.

So I wont embarrass myself and try to explain why THComedy, a show about 420, at the Miami Improv - featuring comedians Ricky Cruz, Forrest Shaw, Adrian Mesa and John Vargas - had the room cracking up last night.

Nope, I’ll keep this one short and sweet. And leave you with my favorite stoner thought of the evening:

Comedian Adrian Mesa has a big brown hippie beard, bloodshot eyes and is sporting a Nirvana T-shirt. He says, in a pot-head drawl, “Anybody ever try to throw away a garbage can?” He pauses to think hard about the concept. Then you see his face light up, like he’s reached some type of revelation. “It’s, like, impossible, man.”

There wasn’t a mercy laugh in the house. But, maybe, you had to be there.

- Natalie O'Neill

Jose D. Duran

I can finally see why the geriatric set is so intensely loyal to the game of bingo. The mental escapism the game provides is unreal. You are so intent on winning that it consumes you. At least that’s how I felt when I made my way to Lovelife at the Standard, the bingo night held in the hotel’s lobby.

Walking into the Standard on Sunday night was the culmination of two years of empty promises my friends and I made saying every week “Let’s do bingo this Sunday,” something that never happened until last night.

You walk in and there is no waiting for you. You pick up a bingo card and marker, find a place to sit, and start stabbing at the card as the numbers are rattled off. My friends and I sat near the back of the room on the lumpy couches of the hotel’s lobby. The muffled voice of the caller is heard over a poor sound system, which instantly bonded us with our neighbors as everything coming out of our mouths was “What did she say? Did she say I 59? There’s no such thing as I 59!”

Jose D. Duran

Rag Trade's new owners Jason Jimenez and Lauren "Lolo" Reskin.

When Rag Trade owner Stephanie Spiegel decided to leave the sunny shores of Miami to work in an organic farm in Israel, it left many perplexed. In less than year, Spiegel had created one of Miami’s most lauded boutiques, garnering lots of press in publications and shows like Ocean Drive, Plum TV, the Miami Herald and Spin. So when she put the shop up for sale, it left many wondering who would come to the rescue? And if someone did, would they keep the spirit of Rag Trade alive?

In came Lauren “Lolo” Reskin and Jason Jimenez, owners of Sweat Records, to the rescue. They bought the store, promising to keep Spiegel’s original vision of a trade-in clothing store and a place to purchase items by local designers running, albeit with a few tweaks.

Most pageants feel more like beauty trapped than beauty displayed. It's the forced attempts at natural-looking smiles, the teased but tamed hair and the lukewarm talents honed to fit to the whitebread tastes of judges and television viewers in Kansas.

Tonight's Miss Bellanita (bella y llenita) 2008 has potential to be loads better. Billed as a search for Miami's most voluptuous woman, La Kalle's 98.3 FM jockeys, Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero, will host the pageant. Univision radio and television personalities will judge and salsa band DLG will headline.

A winner will be crowned from fifteen finalists between 18 and 25 years old, who weigh at least 200 pounds. They'll compete in swimsuits, evening gowns and a question-and-answer session.
Let's just hope they respect the curves and steer clear of too many trite chubby jokes. The show starts at 9 p.m. downtown at Bongos Cuban Café, 601 Biscayne Boulevard.

- Janine Zeitlin

Last night marked the beginning of a new type of social experience. There were tons of flashing (flashing) lights (lights) courtesy of a jam-packed media pit, more flat screen TVs than a Best Buy, cocktail prices that make sense and the Miami requisite - celebrities of the silver screen, the small screen and of course the music scene. But the brightest star of the night was the mega-watt Hip Hop Soda Shop – the first publicly traded Hip-Hop company and easily your new favorite spot to grab an order of Chicken Quesa-DJ’s and an ice cold Melon Ball Bond Issues.

Last night’s grand opening was packed with everyone from the business set to B-boys and girls, familiar club faces and the I-haven’t-been-out-in-years crew - but all eyes were focused on the VIP area where celebs and their respective entourages held court. Fat Joe was getting busy on NBA Live, and eventually had to hand over his massive chain to one of his boys so he could really get down. Fabolous was the epitome of cool as he played it low-key while Eric B. & Rakim blasted away, and reality manwhore Tango was forced to cha-cha from his table once FUBU founder Daymond John came through. But it was all love, because Tango proceded to walk around the club posing for made-for-MySpace flicks with his “fans.” Special Ed was near the dance floor wiping sweat from his brow, Prince Markie Dee proved that he’s a better host than anyone could dream of, and R&B newbie Casely proved that his flossin’ skills are second to none. And when screen siren Meagan Good showed up with a gaggle of girls, men and women alike took the time to enjoy the view. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, the President and CEO of H3 - the company that owns the Hip Hop Soda Shop, started the night off with a rousing speech, followed by performances by Grind Mode, up-and-coming MC Rahsaan, Casely, Fat Joe, Fabolous, and Special Ed.

Natalie O'Neill

Lobby of the Surfcomber Hotel.

Next to a fancy table of hors d’ourves at the Aqua Girl kickoff cocktail meet-and-greet, a tall stylish financial investor popped the question.

“Are you part of the lifestyle?” she asked through a pair of bright red lips. She was talking about being gay, but from the looks of the crowd she seemed to also be talking about having money.

Lesbians from all over the country just arrived in Miami for Aqua Girl, a weekend of upscale partying and lounging in posh hotels. The events include an Aqualicious Pool Party, a night of fine dining, a concert by female rockers The Clicks, and a comedy show with Julie Goldman from Big Gay Sketch Show (which I have to admit I’ve never heard of). It all runs through May 18.

Courtesy of MTV

A placid Patricia Hernandez, a.k.a, Patti Her., starts with plastic wrap. She ties it around her eyes. She continues until her face is coated and her chest heaves in suffocation.

The uneasy, uncomfortable moments flash on a flat TV screen. On an adjacent screen, potent images flutter of land mines exploding, car jackers murdering and butchers sizing up meat.

"A lot of it stems from myself," says Patti, the artist and a 25 year old art student with gold hoop earrings that read, Die Slow. "A lot of my decisions are based on fear."

It seems fitting that Miami would be the city to host the world premiere of Twyla Tharp's NIGHTSPOT, an energetic work that fit together in a discordant yet stunningly compelling way.

Splashes of classical ballet, Broadway, Cirque du Soleil, fight clubs and Latin dance percolated constant curiosity throughout this highly anticipated work.

Tharp, and musical innovator, Elvis Costello, collaborated on the piece that was Miami City Ballet's first major commission. Costello's original music, played by a nine piece onstage band along with the orchestra underlined and bolded Tharp's varied choreography, as did costumes in shades of red and fuchsia designed by Isaac Mizrahi.

Grand jetés and pirouettes gracefully transitioned into jazz and salsa steps. Tharp toyed with traditional ballet gender roles in the work as a lusty, principal female became the aggressor and the male dancer was the broken, frail one. The first male principal solo was filled with karate-like kicks that transitioned into ballet leaps, making for a spectacularly bad-ass ballet.

There were only brief moments when the work felt forced. A movement highlighting a swath of long red silk felt like an imitation of an artful circus and, at times, the multiple partner dances seemed too West Side Story. Overall, NIGHTSPOT felt refreshing, cacophonous and cohesive --very much like an evening in the Magic City.

--Janine Zeitlin

Fred Flintstone would never make it in Miami. Nor would Ralph Cramden.

See, bowling’s gone upscale. There was a time just a couple of years ago when you could drive north to Cloverleaf Lanes (on Northwest Second Avenue and 176th Street) or south to Don Carter Lanes (North Kendall Drive and SW 136th Avenue) and bowl like Fred and Ralphie.

Roll the ball hard. Drink $1 beers.

They both closed.

Lucky Strike Lanes on South Beach is a whole different bowl game. A buddy hit five strikes in a row there last night and that was nice, but neither Barney Rubble nor Ed Norton cheered him on. A friggin Andy Warhol picture was next to our lane. And the discounted beers went for six bucks each. There were more big screen TVs than one can imagine….and the breast surgery…..yikes, can you say South Beach!

And of course, it’s part of a chain. There’s a total of 16 Lucky Strikes across the country.

I like it this way. But I pine for the beautiful ugliness of day’s gone by.

Chuck Strouse

When I think of a great street in Miami, I think of Old Cutler Road with its endless sprawling canopies. Or Eighth Street, which stretches down into the depths of the Everglades and in 1988 offered the backdrop for world’s longest conga line. Yet, never would I ever consider the eternal parking lot that is South Beach’s Ocean Drive, as one of our city’s finest.

The American Planning Association disagrees. On Tuesday it named Ocean Drive, along with Bull Street in Savannah, GA and Monument Avenue in Richmond, VA, as one of the 10 Great Streets for 2007 through APA’s Great Places in America program. According to the APA what qualifies a street as a great place in American is that it’s “enjoyable, safe, and desirable…where people want to be - not only to visit, but to live and work there everyday.”

Before I drain all of the silicone out of this beautifully superficial 36-C cup statement,

I'm waiting for a gentle and kind man in a fauxhawk behind the Genius Bar to help me. My power cord on the Macbook fried this morning: I'm without a computer and facing a long wait at the Apple store. As usual, it's crowded with people dressed to the nines just to surf the free internet. A tiny, grey dog runs around underfoot while his owner fiddles with an ipod nano.

There's one guy ahead of me at the service counter. He's Italian, I think, handsome with ice-colored blue eyes. He's holding an iphone, one with it's guts spilling out of one side. The battery is entirely exposed. "It still works, though," the genius behind the Genius Bar says. Everyone in the immediate area looks at the guy, who is clad in a white Adidas track jacket, grey pants and pristine white flip flops. He shrugs.

My boyfriend, who is waiting impatiently with me, asks the guy what happened to the iphone. "My girlfriend threw it off the balcony," he said. "I live on the 32nd floor."

"What did you do to your girlfriend?" my boyfriend asks.

"Not what I wanted to do to her," he replied, grimly. --Tamara Lush

It’s the Friday before a three-day weekend, and you’re either toiling away at your computer trying to compensate for the workday you’re gonna miss next week, or you’re surfing the web, planning your weekend. Thought so…..just in case you didn’t find anything on our calendar that grabs your eye, here are a couple more nightspots that will be jumping this weekend.

If the South Beach club scene were a cocktail, it would definitely be a Long Island Iced Tea – overflowing with an assortment of shit and guaranteed to get you fucked up. But each and every Friday for a year now, The 400 Club has put the “ice” in the Long Island Iced Tea, bringing the Beach a party that’s cool, refreshing, and definitely feels good going down. They’ve earned a reputation for bumpin' the hottest Hip Hop and R&B, having the fliest urban crowd, and attracting huge stars. Jay-Z and Nas are on to it, but maybe this is your first time hearing about it, and maybe you’ve been living under a rock. Either way, tonight’s One Year Anniversary party will definitely be the best time to slide down to the Fifth and get better acquainted with the 400 Club. They say there will be butlers serving champagne and hors d’oeuvres, a red carpet, and celebrity guests. We say, you had us at 400. Doors open at 11:00 p.m. and the dress code is strictly enforced, strictly chic. Visit the 400 Club site for the guestlist. -- Raina McLeod

A few weeks ago, after much speculation, Alonzo Mourning announced that he would return to the court for one last season with the Heat.

"I want to redeem myself and try to help this team redeem ourselves as an organization and try to get back on track," Mourning said. "That wasn't the Miami team you saw in the playoffs last year...I was embarrassed. I was truly embarrassed by that outcome. I know for a fact we're a better team. It left a sour taste in my mouth and it's time to really end it all on the right note."

Judging from the photos posted today on gossip blog mediatakeout.com, free agent James Posey is considerably less worried about cutting down on the embarrassments. But in his defense, we’re pretty sure that the girl in the first pic did have a sour taste in her mouth - just probably not the same kind Zo had. -- Raina McLeod

Lately I’ve been checking out every 7-11 I’ve stumbled upon. Not because they have unbelievable gas prices or that I’m hopelessly addicted to scratch-off cards and day-old (Mmm) doughnuts, but because I’m on a quest. Not the most noble of quests, but a quest nonetheless.

A few months back I caught wind of 7-11’s supposed promotional stunt to temporarily replace Slurpee with Kwik-E-Mart Squishy cups in anticipation of the release of The Simpsons Movie. Ever since, I’ve heard the jingle of many a green and orange convenience store door. And although I know it’s still a Slurpee in a Slurpee cup that simply reads “Squishy” instead of “Slurpee,” there’s something about sipping that frozen, sweet nectar from a magical cup that reads “Squishy” that might make it taste slightly more delicious.

Elaine Lancaster as Marge

Jamie Puntumkhul

Yet, after some time searching, the promise of a tangible, 3-dimensional Squishy seems to merely be a myth in Miami at least, because all I’ve been able to find thus far in regards to Simpsons paraphernalia are twisty straws, sugar cookies, and Bartman comic books. Not a single Squishy, which leaves me with a sense of disgruntled discontent so pathetic that even Milhouse has the right to snub his nose.

So when I received an invite to The Forge’s release party for The Simpsons Movie on July 25 with promises of beer and Krusty the Clown serving hors'endeavors, my Comic Book Guy-soul was as happy as Lisa playing a sax duet with “Bleeding Gums” Murphy.

It's been 10 years since Gianni Versace was shot and killed on the steps of his Ocean Drive mansion. Check out the New York Times' excellent story looking back at the murder and Versace's impact on the fashion world; also click on the slide show for some pictures of the icon in happier times. -- Tamara Lush