The Story Matters
Vol. XXV No. 21
June 3, 2010
Visit us at sunpostweekly.com
TURNING
50 Lincoln Road Celebrates a Major Milestone SEE PAGE 10
MAYHEM P.4
PROFILE P. 6
POLITICS P. 8
CALENDAR P.14
411 P.20
GO! P. 23
FILM P. 24
ART P. 24
BOUND P.25
FASHION P. 26
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Covering Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Surfside, Bay Harbor Islands, Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami, North Miami Beach and Aventura, Coconut Grove, Brickell Avenue, Downtown, Design District, Wynwood, Upper Eastside, and Miami Shores.
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • June 3, 2010 • Page 3
Tropical Mayhem BITS AND PIECES OF MIAMI LIFE
Miami through my iphone
ANOTHER STADIUM by Ines Hegedus-Garcia - miamism.com - ines@miamism.com I have to admit I was one of the ones that cried when the Orange Bowl was demolished, so many memories and great times gone for what many believed to be lack of maintenance. In its place we are seeing the New Florida Marlins Stadium being built. Talk about controversy - who pays, why another stadium, location... Either way, I will keep documenting with stitched iphone photos like this one and know that this new stadium, will never replace the memories of the Great O.B.
Killer Platforms From Fendi are these fabulous butterfly platforms. Cutout straps of leather whimsically curve and intertwine, echoing the wingspan of a butterfly. A 2” stacked platform and a 6” heel make these killers the perfect accent to any summer outfit. $790. Saks.com Page 4 • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
LIL? MISS FORTUNE
In her new show “ Lil Miss Fortune”, Miami based artist, Evo Love has made her vintage theme pieces come to life in a live performance show Visitors to the show on June 5th will get to walk up to a real fortune teller booth (with Evo Love sitting inside) put in $1 and hear an unusual fortune, personalized for each individual. The good part: everyone will leave with their own “art piece” to remember the night. 7pm. Stash Gallery, 162 NE 50th Terrace, Miami. For info: www.stashgallery.com
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www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • April 22, 2010 • Page 3
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PHOTO: MAGICAL PHOTOS/MITCHELL ZACKS
PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY YOU SHOULD KNOW
Jeff Morr Real Estate Mogul By Cindie Martin Who are you? Jeff Morr, founder and CEO, Majestic Properties. What do you do in real life? Exercise, direct the marketing efforts of Majestic Properties, market a small group of personal listings, handle sales for developers, travel, spend as much time as possible with family and close friends. Why Real Estate? What’s more exciting than real estate? I love everything about it. What has your personal strategy been to master the RE bubble? Slow and Steady. What do you do now, that you did not do 3 years ago? I spend
much more wisely. I’m learning to cook because there’s nothing like A home cooked meal. Is Miami RE turning around? Absolutely, our business is up 400% this year. The more the banks lend, the better business will get. Miami was the first market to fall and is the first to recover. What is the craziest deal you have done? I recently sold Larry Flynt’s old bayfront house on N. Bay island. The house was designed for a handicapped person and was sold to a handicapped person. Not a crazy deal but a cool one.
Americans, same as always. What do you do when you are not working? Exercise, watch good films, sleep, hang out with my family, close friends and my little brother (from Big Brothers, Big Sisters). One luxury that you cannot live without? There are several; Love, sleep, good food. Favorite Restaurant? Francesco in Coral Gables Three Words to describe you? Patient, creative, strong.
Who is buying South Florida property these days? Everyone with cash, especially Europeans, Northerners and Latin
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So what’s next for Jeff? More real estate and more helping kids.
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Can He Say That? COLUMN
Public Gets Irked When Cops Abuse Perks By Charles Branham-Bailey heer up, South Florida: There are only 180 calendar days to go before the end of that annual six-month ritual we’re forced to sweat out... The Roulette Wheel of Wicked Weather we’re incessantly forced to spin and hope our number doesn’t come up... The hurricane season.
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f there is anything that a public servant hates to do,” the early 20th Century homespun humoristjournalist Kin Hubbard once remarked, “it’s something for the public.” What happened two Sundays ago reinforced what I believe is the need to remind our police that they are but public servants and that holding up traffic for an hour to allow a police motorcade to pass is no service to that public. The occasion was the funeral for an FHP trooper, killed in the line of duty when the patrol car he was sitting in was rammed in the rear by another car on the Florida Turnpike. Thousands attended his memorial at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Most of those were fellow cops, not just from this area but from all over the state. Eastward-bound to Miami Beach at 2 p.m. that sunny and hot Sunday, Julia Tuttle motorists were greeted to the unusual sight of one cop car after another parked in the westbound shoulder lane along the causeway, their drivers standing beside their vehicles in crisp uniforms and in military-style rigidity. Along virtually the entire causeway. We’re talking scores and scores of cop cars. Who’s minding the store, I thought, when I glimpsed this incredible sight. Might it be a symbolic protest or display of some sort? Has some city official somewhere threatened to snip their wages and benefits again? After arriving home, I decided to investigate. Ambling out for a short walk, I spied a motorcycle cop blocking traffic near Alton and 41st St. Cars – dozens, scores, hundreds, perhaps, and who knows how many beyond if the eye could see around the bend and on up to the bridge itself – were stopped dead in their lanes. Families headed to the beach, shoppers headed home from the malls, people trying to get from somewhere to somewhere – and nobody was going anywhere. I bet it’s that police funeral they’re supposed to be holding, I deduced. That’s gotta be the cause for this holdup. After about a half-hour, I saw one driver exit his
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car and approach the motorcycle cop. How much longer is this going to be? he asked. Bike cop: “Another 30 or 45 minutes.” As the motorcade finally approached and passed, I noted the police departments they represented: Clearwater. Vero Beach. Collier County. Plantation. Boca Raton. Sure wonder what the folks in Gainesville might think if they were told their police force had been reduced by one that day due to one of their own being absent, all for a purely ceremonial event 300 miles away. I counted more FHP cars in this entourage than I ever thought patrolled the whole of South Florida. Why, not even the president of the United States is ever welcomed to town with a police presence of this size. Gov. Crist, who attended the funeral, will likely never receive so elaborate a send-off when his time comes. If it’s any consolation, you and I likely won’t either. The motorcade itself was brought to momentary standstills and slowdowns due to its unwieldy size, as it snaked its way from Miami Beach to an Opalocka cemetery. In all, the procession – plus the waiting for the procession to start – interrupted traffic for an hour. Once the logjam had been lifted, traffic from the bridge was still trying to sort itself out a half-hour later. It is one thing to pay homage to a fallen officer. It’s beyond propriety and good sense when that display imperils the public safety and the police responsibility to the community by taking cops off the beat and stalling folks in traffic jams. Cops are, after all, public servants to that community, not vainglorious servants unto themselves. Police are not a fiefdom or a private militia. They are beholden to civilian local government officials – your mayors, your commissioners, your city and county managers – who, regrettably, don’t appear to be exercising their civilian control by reining in the police and their proclivity to glory in themselves at the expense of the public good. When the police celebrate themselves at the expense of the public they are sworn to serve, it is an ignoble miscarriage of official duty. And when they elevate themselves to a stratum above us, at which they deem themselves somehow worthy, by virtue of their profession, of unique perks and privileges denied to others, then that’s just plain disrespectful of
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those they serve and the concept of civilian-run government. Is it any wonder why increasing numbers of the public have diminished respect for cops, believe the cops to be largely a force that’s above the law, a force that can get away with anything, a force that seems to observe an alienating line of demarcation between them and their public – an “us-versus-them” mentality? It’s not just here. Long processions are getting out of hand elsewhere, too. “Might a fallen police officer be properly honored without a miles-long memorial procession of so many squad cars it ties up major city arterials for hours?” asked The Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune in an editorial last November. The slain Seattle officer whose funeral it was “deserved the personal tributes, the honor guard, the 21-gun salute, the memorial service [at a city arena].” However, declared the paper, “it is possible to take good things too far.” “We respectfully suggest that what has become a tradition of incredibly lengthy street processions for both law-enforcement officers and firefighters has crossed the line.” Amen. Thousands of police and firefighters from across Washington, neighboring states, and even Canada converged on Seattle for that weekday funeral. Workday commuters who normally use the streets affected by the procession were warned to avoid them from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Coincidentally, seven Fort Lewis soldiers had been blown up while serving in Afghanistan, and their services had been held in the Seattle-Tacoma area that same week. The memorial drew members of Congress, generals, and even Vice President Biden. The contrast between the cop funeral and the solemn – yet far more low-scale – tribute to the soldiers was not lost on the paper: “[S]ervices were held...for seven Stryker brigade members who were killed in Afghanistan two weeks ago by a single bomb....Noticeably missing was anything like the immense procession of vehicles staged in Seattle. The U.S. Army is not short of vehicles. By the logic that prevails in some police and firefighter memorials, the deaths of seven Stryker soldiers would have warranted several miles of Humvees and Strykers on Interstate 5 during rush hour.” Continued the Tribune: “At some point, more is less. Few dare say it out loud, but many citizens undoubtedly resent the takeover of their streets on workdays by officers from distant places who had no personal acquaintance with the fallen. “Past a certain size, the memorial procession starts to seem less about honoring the fallen individual and more about calling attention to the profession in general and the risks it faces.” A testosterone-fueled “show of force” by the police, as it were, to thrust their presence in our faces and as much as declare, you took one of ours, now we’re going to shut down traffic and grab your undivided attention. Attention MUST be paid! Closer to home, the funeral two years ago of a federal agent gunned down in Broward provoked
these remarks from Sun-Sentinel readers: “Police funeral motorcades are a very bad idea. They are not necessary, they waste time and they rub people the wrong way.” “Why do they feel it’s perfectly justifiable to tie up major roads with roadblocks for a funeral? I live on a major street and it’s not uncommon for funeral processions to go down this street....The last time they [had one], they had EVERY intersection blocked and we were basically hostages for an hour because no one was allowed in or out. It is point blank wrong.” “Let’s not forget the taxpayers paying for elaborate funeral, [and] police personnel from all over the U.S. traveling here for funeral of someone they never heard of before.” “Why not go all out with the same procession for our local military people who gave all?” “I don’t hate nor even ‘dislike’ cops. But I do realize, in spite of the remarkably exaggerated parades and funeral marches (complete with Scottish bagpipes), that they take themselves a bit too seriously. I lost friends in the military; they did what they wanted to do, and died doing it. No parades; no songs; no sappy poems. Nobody knew their names, and they couldn’t have cared less.” Cops may be right to believe their profession is entitled to a greater degree of respect because they put their lives on the line for the public safety, but they are not entitled to elaborate state funerals – or the processions that go with them. They don‘t serve us well when they make royal dumb-asses of themselves, inconveniencing us unnecessarily in our already-often-inconvenienced daily lives. Of course we honor the fallen for having paid the ultimate price in our name. But there is reasonable...and then there’s unreasonable. And if it’s respect you’re looking for, officer, don’t be pissing off the good Joe Lunchbuckets and Maria Soccer-moms out there, the citizens simply trying to get to and fro. They’re the ones you should least offend. They’ll be your biggest supporters, if you respect them. or Eva Ravelo, aka Principal Potty-Mouth (“eat sh— and die”), to whom I introduced you last week, her stint as head of Coconut Grove Elementary did a swirling slide down the commode last week as she was temporarily dumped / discharged / flushed by the school district and sidelined to regional HQ duties while an investigation is conducted. Will she float back to the surface? Or is her job down the drain? Stay tuned.
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EEN ON A STORE WINDOW IN SOBE: “Smart may have the answers. But stupid has all the interesting questions.”
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Next week, I’ll be reporting from the capital of the “Left Coast.” “Nancy Pelosi Country.” The City by the Bay that all the reich-wingers love to hate on – San Francisco.
Politics COLUMN
Lincoln Park Or South Park? Why it Could be a Disaster By Jeffrey Bradley Urban parks either contrast or reflect their surroundings. Consider the vasty wilderness of Central Park framed by those soaring skyscrapers. Or Pier Park in Chicago, casting its maritime glow over a working-class waterfront. Here in Miami Beach, we’re poised to transform a parking lot into our newest green space. As advocates for reducing parking spaces to allow more transportation options, you’d think this would make us happy. Well-lll… You might also think Miami Beach is a sparkling, oceanside oasis that attracts tourists the world over to come and stroll the Serpentine Path, Baywalk or Lincoln Road. A compact urban community of fine dining and great shopping available to all, even the residents… a place teeming with life that generates a ton of cash because, after all, this is Miami Beach.
You might think all that. Where we live, tho,’ is another story. From here the shoreline is dirty, and the boardwalk ramps stink of urine. Sidewalks abound with trash—mind that dog poop!—and untold numbers come with no other place to go or nothing do but sit under the palm trees and drink. And the streets? They’re clogged with cars, big and noisy, in such numbers that it’s dangerous to get around. Pedestrians (say, what?!) can’t walk along some of these streets, by day or night, nor ride them by bicycle, scooter or skate. Too many will nearly cost you your life just trying to cross them. <Sigh> Here’s a shoulda, coulda, woulda list of missed opportunities: The current Capitol Improvement Plan and Bonds that promised to reform our streets into safer, more livable and urban, multi-modal transit corridors. At least,
that was the sell. Ten years later, instead of positioning us as a great American city with functioning bike lanes, wider sidewalks and streetcars—the hallmarks of successful urban planning—we have, well, look around you. And talk about creating a resilient local economy— transforming this erstwhile retirement village into a vibrant economy produced some shocking results, among them the balkanization of neighborhoods. Crime, noise, traffic increased exponentially as our shores drew people like magnets and our streets became paved with gold. From Geritol to Red Bull in one generation, but somehow we forgot to build that infrastructure and now have to fight for rational zoning that doesn’t plunk businesses down across from longstanding residences. That ensuing cauldron of late night conflict has created tension and eroded tolerance until the residents want no more and will have no more. But if the axiomatic response to success is No Mas! then, where will the parties go? We need them. And with a stunted and aging Convention Center, where will the trade shows go? We need them, too. Here’s the origin of storms: the idea that public spaces can and should be ventures for making money is met with “infamy!”, “perfidy!” and “betrayal!” from activists trying to preserve a city that was. But was what? If the only constant is change—a veritable truism here on the Beach—then shouldn’t our aim be growth by design? If unchecked development leads blindly to chaos, why aren’t we ahead of the curve and not behind it? But about that park… Last week, the Commission approved a $14 millionsomething construction budget, yet, the seven assembled again dropped the ball in approving a park designed not for us but for the New World Symphony, and the designers themselves. Our tourista economy must be bedaz-
zled; simply, the more cheaply we entertain, the more money we make. Consider how many people come to the beach because it’s free, true only during the day. What’s needed is an equal attraction by night, and Lincoln Park is it. With its Frank Ghery backdrop, this hi-tech projection and sound system will be the eighth wonder of the world. There’s nothing like it anywhere else. You will, they say, be mesmerized watching a six-story split screen showing the New World Symphony inside the concert hall playing side-by-side with the London Orchestra … live... whoa! But no one seems to get that there are three major obstacles holding it back. The opportunity to put Miami Beach not only back on the map, but be the only place on the map, we mean. First flaw, there are way too many trees. Only about 1000 people will be able to sit on the lawn and view the larger-than-life projection wall. Outside this designer-speak “prime viewing area” there is nothing but trees, hundreds of trees, drawing a “veil” over all. Commissioner Weithorn has expressed a wish to “sit outside, enjoy my lunch and watch the art”, but that’s not what this space is about. As the screen and projections can’t work in the daylight, this is a nighttime attraction only—much as the beach is only a daytime attraction, as there’s not much to “experience” there after dark. At the Design Review Board meeting approving the park design, it became clear that the driving force and misconception for a massive amount of shade came from the designers’ initial impression during their walk-through when the site was an open asphalt lot on a hot August day. If you’ve ever had occasion to park your car there, you know of this heated impression. Unfortunately, the overcompensating trees will turn this into a leafy bhurka obstructing the $250 million Frank Ghery building from Washington Avenue. For a city driven by architecture, where planners won’t even entertain one-way street pairings to ease traffic flow because the buildings were “designed to be seen by passersby in both directions” this smacks a bit of hypocrisy. We need a space where thousands can be entertained. But with all that verdure, if you’re not one of the lucky 1000 you’ll always find a tree in your way. Always. Second flaw, there aren’t enough bathrooms. The designers apparently didn’t want to detract from their “garden” by including facilities. No doubt they were persuaded by our well-known ability to “hold it” when given the chance. In the event, in a manner of speaking, praxis ruled and they added two toilets. Not buildings, mind you, but seats; those self-contained Euro-odd stainless steel pods. Now, fast forward to some major event, with thousands—make it twenty-two—attending. Can you imagine the lines? Say, if you’re really lucky, you’ll be one of the thousand to get a good seat free of the trees and a seat in the pee-pod. Might have to wait a bit for it, tho.’ Finally, this pair of comfort stations will be located in the remnants of Lincoln Lane North. More incisive minds than ours have tried luring merchants into opening up that face of their business. Some clothing retailers complied; but for restaurants the task is trickier. Granting them sidewalk cafés might’ve worked, but may also be only a pipedream. The permanent potties are already there. For special events, or whenever a crowd is anticipated, they’ll bring in the port-o-lets and stage them right on The Lane, right in The Park. Just don’t drink too much water before the event!
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50
Lincoln Road Celebrates a Major Milestone Written by John Hood
“With Times Square sectioning off eight blocks in order to make a pedestrian mall” Desilets says, “now is the perfect time to study what’s right about his (Morris Lapidus) Lincoln Road design”
According to the ArtCenter’s Director of Exhibitions Jaquenette Arnette, who did all the legwork, Center director Jeremy Chestler first worked with Desilits back in 2001, when he was at MOCA. And with the AIA occurring almost across the street, it only made sense to highlight the Father of Miami Architecture. Though Lapidus of course is the star of this show, one gets the impression that none of this would be possible without Desilets’s devout devotion. Desilits, who worked for the master the last eight years of his remarkable life, not only provides images, she even throws in Lapidus’s lucky hat. “With Times Square sectioning off eight blocks in order to make a pedestrian mall,” Desilets says, “now is the perfect time to study what’s right about his Lincoln Road design.” “After all,” she adds,” this was one of only two public projects he did in his lifetime. The other is A Public Place, which is in New York’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, where he grew up. And both are perfect statements for diversity.” But it is Lapidus’s Lincoln Road that concerns us here, what Desilits calls his swan song of retail
he man said he’d make it for pedestrians, because “cars never bought anything.” But retail or no retail, this was to be a thing of beauty. Another bold stroke in the striking skyline, and a wondrous way to set Miami Beach apart from every other city in the world. This was to be a road unlike another road, a path to commerce, sure; more importantly though, a route to spectacle. The man in question was Morris Lapidus, and the pathway on his mind would become Lincoln Road. The year was 1957. The Fontainebleau and the Eden Roc were already basically landmarks; the Crystal House, the Bal Harbour Americana and the 29 buildings that would become Aventura were still to come. Lapidus undertook the designing of Lincoln Road with the pride of a man making history. And he did so pro bono. That’s right. Lapidus never took a dime for designing Miami Beach’s main shopping strip. This was special; this was personal. And this would be his way of going fully public. One blow-out exhibit (now up and running through July 18), and one knowing lecture (June 9) bring to us all the wonder and whimsy that is Lapidus and his landmark Lincoln Road. Put on by ArtCenter South Florida to help mark the Road’s 50th birthday (as well as their own 25th) and timed to specifically coincide with the 2010 AIA National Convention, which is taking place in Miami on June 1012, the exhibit, A Quest for Emotion and Motion in Architecture, features items on loan from Lapidus acolyte Deborah Desilets’s private archives. And it’s about as good as the great man gets.
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design. It’s the culmination of 25 years of attending to commerce, and it not only impacts the way we shop, but the way we live among each other. Desilets, who has previously published monographs on both Lapidus and the Ritz-Carlton (nee the De Lido) with Assouline and will release An Architecture of Joy through Rizzoli this Fall, says that Lapidus and a man called Hertz were inspired by the streets of Rotterdam. And they’d have gone all the way to the ocean had not the Sirkin family blocked off the last two blocks. “They had The Albion, they had the Di Lido, they had Wolfies,” says Desilets. “They didn’t need it.” You can learn the whole sordid story at The Jewish Museum on June 9 when Desilets delivers the address Shaping Lincoln Road with Lapidus, Hertz, and Sirkin: The Un-Told Story. As you might suspect it’s one of shady dealings and outright altruism. And it is yet another tale perfectly set for our town. So go ahead, swing through the ArtCenter’s swingin’ show, catch Desilets’s knowing chats (she’s also at The Colony on June 10), because you can never be too aware of where you spend your days, or your nights. Especially when those days and nights are spent on an expanse as exhilarating as our own Lincoln Road. TO GO: A Quest for Emotion and Motion in Architecture is on view through July 18, 2010. ArtCenter/South Florida, 800 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach. For info: 305.674.8278 or artcentersf.org. Shaping Lincoln Road with Lapidus, Hertz, and Sirkin: The UnTold Story, a lecture by Deborah Desilets, will be at the Jewish Museum of Florida, 301 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach on Wednesday June 9 at 7:30pm. For info: jewishmuseum.com
At the Wolfsonian By John Hood
Also running in conjunction with the 2010 AIA National Convention is The Grand Hotels of Schultze & Weaver Installation and the Unrealized Architecture Exhibition at The Wolfsonian-FIU. The former opens June 3 and thereafter becomes part of the Wolf’s permanent exhibition. The latter is currently on view in the museum's rare book and special collections library vestibule, and has been since May 27. Schultze & Weaver were the high minds behind such esteemed landmarks as New York’s Waldorf-Astoria, Palm, Beach’s The Breakers in Palm Beach, and Miami’s own Biltmore. The installation features renderings, floor plans, drawings, and photographs of many of the firm's luxurious hotels designed from1921-1931 in South Florida and New York. Unrealized Architecture, in contrast, concerns itself with unbuilt landmarks from the likes of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott, Frank Lloyd Wright, Hugh Ferriss and Vladimir Evgrafovich Tatlin. And, it explores the impact that unbuilt architectural projects have had on society and on other architects. But besides the twin shows, you’ll wanna be there on the evening of June 10 when authors Allan Shulman, Randall C. Robinson, Jr., and Jeff Donnelly, are joined by photographer Robin Hill and map designer Ulises Peinado Eyherabide to discuss the just out Miami Architecture: An AIA Guide Featuring Downtown, the Beaches and Coconut Grove (University Press of Florida). According to the book’s press release, “Miami Architecture grew out of the Miami Architecture Project, a community-based, nonprofit association that organized more than a dozen local forums to develop deeper appreciation of architecture and the role of architecture in community revitalization.” And considering the authors each has extensive experience in the Magic City’s peculiar architecture, either as professor (Shulman), planner (Robinson, Jr.) or preservationist (Donnelly), it’s a cinch we’re in for one enlightening conversation. Miami Architecture: An AIA Guide Featuring Downtown, the Beaches and Coconut Grove with authors Allan Shulman, Randall C. Robinson, Jr., and Jeff Donnelly, photographer Robin Hill and map designer Ulises Peinado Eyherabide takes place Thursday, June 10 at 7:30pm at The Wolfsonian-FIU 1001 Washington Avenue Miami Beach For more info: 305.535.2644 or wolfsonian.org.
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Calendar WHAT TO DO IN MIAMI THIS WEEK
NICOLE HENRY
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SAVE THE DATE:
June 3 MUSIC Palo!
PALO! serves up their addictive blend of Afro-Cuban, Funk and jazz when they play South Beach this Thursday. Full bar, and tapas. 8pm. No cover. D. Rodriguez Cuba Restaurant at the New Hotel Astor, 956 Washington Ave, Miami Beach. For info: 305-673-3763 or hotelastor.com
June 3
PARADE Goombay Festival The Miami/Bahamas Goombay Festival transforms Grand Avenue into a wild and crazy place filled with brightly costumed people gyrating and dancing to cowbells, drums, and whistles. Over the years, (this is the 35th year), the festival has become a signature event that includes a historical luncheon, a children's corner, and authentic Bahamian and American cuisine in booths. Cultural Village and Straw Market at the Shoppes at Mayfair. 10am. Parade at noon on Sunday. Grand Ave and Douglas Rd, Coconut Grove. For info: goombayfestivalcoconutgrove.com
June 4 SOCIAL Fame
Doral will serve as a stage to local fashion designers, artists, musicians, and entertainers, for Fame an event to showcase Miami’s undiscovered talent. Fashion designers Jeannine Prats & Kettysley Hernandez will be modeling their line TroubleTimes2. Musical performances by The New, Fly Kingdom, Big Fun 3, Magic Population, Morning War and Michael Guartos to name a few. Art work ranging from abstract, photograph to life size sculpture, Joel Blanco, Ivan Galindo, Miguel Franco, Floyd Heglichs, Enrique Sendra, and Autumn Ariana. Hosted by model/actress Sasha Cabrera. 7pm. Free. Doral Park Country Club, 5001 NW 104 Ave, Doral.
SUNDAY, JUNE 20
ROMERO BRITTO POP ARTIST ROMERO BRITTO BRINGS THE ALPHABET TO LIFE IN THIS BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL PUZZLE BOARD BOOK! AS CHILDREN READ THE BOOK THEY CAN GUESS WHICH OBJECT IS HIDING UNDER EACH PRESS-OUT LETTER. ONE BY ONE, WITH THE HELP OF THE ENCLOSED STANDS, LITTLE ONES CAN STACK THE LETTERS TO MAKE THEIR OWN VIBRANT SCULPTURES. MEET BRITTO AND GET SIGNED COPIES OF THE BOOK AT BOOKS AND BOOKS. FREE. 12:30PM. BOOKS & BOOKS , 9700 COLLINS AVENUE, BAL HARBOUR. FOR INFO: BOOKSANDBOOKS.COM
June 4
MUSIC
Summer Jazz Catch some killer Jazz at Joe's Stone Crab. Artists like Nicole Henry, Nika Garcia, Brenda Alford, Wendy Pederson and LeNard Rutledge will perform. 8 p.m. Joes Stone Crab, 11 Washington Ave., South Beach. For info: joesstonecrab.com
June 4
ART Pop Shop Don’t Drop New exhibition Pop Shop Don’t Shop, of NYC ’80s street art at the funky hangout Kill Your Idol (Great name by the way.) Three panels from the sign outside Haring’s space, which closed in 2005, are on display. Part of a private collection of fellow street artists Paolo Buggiani and Robin Van Arsdol. 8pm. Free. Kill Your Idol, 222 Española Way; Miami Beach.
June 4
COMEDY JB Smoove
JB Smoove, currently staring as a series regular on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, is a writer, comedian and actor, who will bring his unique brand of comedic funk to Miami for 3 days of hilarity. $18.19-$21.40. Miami Improv, 3390 Mary St #182; Coconut Grove. For info: miamiimprov.com
June 5
MUSIC Citizen Cope Called a modern day bluesman who paints a plaintive portrait of the human condition by Rolling Stone Magazine, singer/songwriter Citizen Cope combines hip hop beats and blues/rock to create distinctive hits like Let The Drummer Kick and Son's Gonna Rise. Often featured on HBO's Entourage, Citizen Cope is currently touring the US on a solo acoustic tour. The Fillmore, 1700 Washington Ave, Miami Beach. For info: 305-673-7300 or livenation.com HENNING HAUPT, SMALL WONDERS SALON.
www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • Page 15
Calendar WHAT TO DO IN MIAMI THIS WEEK
AL CAPONE
June 5
THEATRE Hilo and Sipping Fury Miami on Stage will showcase two experimental performance pieces called Hilo and Sipping Fury from a Tea Cup. 8pm. $20. Byron Carlyle Theater, 500 71st Street, Miami Beach
June 5
MUSIC James Taylor and Carole King Iconic recording artists Carole King and James Taylor hit town as part of the Troubadour Reunion tour. This rare concert experience bringing two of the most beloved singer-songwriters on tour together – intimate and in the round - for the first time in four decades. $35-$350. 8pm. Bank Atlantic Center, 1 Panther Pkwy; Sunrise. For info: bankatlanticcenter.com KEITH HARING
June 5
June 9
LECTURE Art Talk
ART Small Wonders Salon
The work of Claire Fontaine, the Paris-based collective artist, addresses social and political issues, through powerful works that often possess an underlying call for action. She will discuss her work in depth at MOCA where her exhibition Economies is on view through August 22. 2 pm. Free with $5 museum admission. Museum of Contemporary Art, 770 NE 125th Street, North Miami. For info: mocanomi.org
An exhibit highlighting work by 65 local artists who are showing works in a multitude of media, including painting, drawing, photography, collage, sculpture, ceramics, and printmaking. Small Wonders aims to raise everyone’s respect for these thoughtful – coveted – irreverent – spontaneous – small works, and to showcase these works that are an important part of every artists practice as they experiment and explore ideas not connected to producing work for any specific market trend, nor for institutions or galleries. Free. Artformz Alternative, 171 NW 23rd Street; Miami. For info: artformz.net or 305-572-0040.
June 8
LECTURE Gold Coast Orchid Society Longtime orchid hobbyist and accredited judge of the American Orchid Society, Erna Maxwell will speak at the Gold Coast Orchid Society. There will be a raffle for orchid plants, sale of supplies, member show table and refreshments. Free. An orchids for beginners class led by Salvatore Vinciguerra will begin at 7:30pm. Lecture at 8pm. Senator Gwen Margolis Community Center, 1590 NE 123rd Street, North Miami. For info: 305-687-0860
June 5
FOR KIDS Paper My Silhouette Inspired by Victorian era cut paper silhouettes and Contemporary style portraits, children and adults will have fun together creating unique portraits of each other, Paper My Silhouette. To prepare for this special activity, examples of both Victorian silhouettes and Contemporary portraits will be examined as well as learning the art literacy concepts of contour and representation. Children will enjoy exploring their relationship through artistic expression. Cost includes full entertainment, professional instruction, all materials, takehome project and a snack. 1 to 3pm. $5. rsvp@cifo.org. Cifo Art Space, 1018 N. Miami Ave. Miami. For info: cifo.org/store
June 8
BOOKS Jonathan Eig Based on newly released government documents and wiretaps, Get Capone! tells the story how the nation's mostwanted criminal was really caught. Author Jonathan Eig will read from the book and sign copies. 8pm. Free. Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables. For info booksandbooks.com JAMES TAYLOR AND CAROLE KING
Page 16 • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
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Sex
Health
COLUMN
COLUMN
Sacred Sex
Being Me Smoke-Free
By Dr. Sonjia Kenya DOES RELIGION INFLUENCE YOUR SEX LIFE?
If so, you’re nothing like the Miamians I asked, each of whom assured me that the church buts out of their bedroom. Don’t misunderstand the situation because I didn’t speak to any atheists and all admitted they attended services (at least on holidays) at their church, mosque, or temple. Despite attempts to stay in the good graces of God, most also admitted to contradicting renowned religious rules by doing the deed premaritally, praying to prevent procreation. But is it really rationale for religion to reject the righteous ritual of lovers lusting to learn? The Baptist, Catholic, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Methodist and Mormon religions all frown, if not forbid, sex outside of marriage. Buddhism blesses sex if the persons involved believe it’s for the right reasons, and some reform branches of Judaism are also lifting the guilt on committed couples shacking up. But you better wait for wedding bells if you’re a member of the other religions because sex among singles is still considered sinful. So how’s that working out? The idea of amorous activity among adolescents was absolutely absurd to the nuns ruling the all-girls high school I attended so sex education was never administered and one of my closest Catholic friends delivered her baby just before 12th grade graduation. Several years later I was a young professor in New York teaching human sexuality when a 22 year old Muslim male student approached me for advice on overcoming disturbing dreams that caused him to wake daily at dawn to wash his sheets before his mother obtained evidence of his desperate desires. He described his attraction to women and his struggles to control what he considered immoral, unacceptable behavior. TV was turned off to reduce temptation, masturbation was also a religious violation, and he was not allowed to date or marry until his older brother married, a prospect which was nowhere in sight. Over-
whelmed with shame about his inability to abstain, he willed the unconscious explosions to stop while he slept. Unfortunately praying doesn’t provide practical relief from nature’s normal urges and punishing people for practicing pleasure upon oneself in response to real hormonal reactions isn’t increasing attendance at church. Solo sex provides fool proof protection from unwanted consequences yet many religious figures demonize desires to do yourself even when marriage isn’t an accessible option. Years ago, Christian pastors orally attacked me after I hosted a health radio show in the Cayman Islands involving a caller that asked if masturbation could be harmful to his health. Without ever using the ‘M’ word, I assured him addiction was the only potential risk and provided information to help determine if his habit qualified him as an addict. The Christian pastors were livid and loud, shouting about the sinfulness of self stimulation while simultaneous whispers of “everyone does it” followed me all over the island. Here’s the real deal: Religious rules and bedroom behaviors rarely coexist in reality. Like almost half of all Jewish people, a Jewish girlfriend of mine is in love with a non-Jewish man whom she lives with. We listened to the birds chirp over brunch at Scorch last weekend and I asked how religion influenced her sex life. “Sex is blessed in the Jewish religion.” She is certainly right if we’re discussing married people whom are both Jewish but, according to the information I got my hands on, absolute acceptance isn’t assured when interfaith and premarital play are in the mix. Are people pioneering new religious norms to fit into their lifestyle? Another friend of mine is an unmarried mother of five children fathered by the same man. She lives with the father of her children and dresses to the nines every Sunday to attend Baptist church with her family. Contrary to Baptist principles that denounce sex outside of a legally recognized marriage, she explained that she doesn’t need an official piece of paper to define
Page 18 • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
By Jennifer Fragoso (jennifer@sunpostweekly.com)
her relationship bond and considers herself married. Do religious practices guide anyone’s private decisions anymore? Apparently not. In 2004, the U.S. Census reported the average age of marriage in the U.S. is almost 26 for women and over 27 for men. In contrast, most kids are having sex before they get out of high school. Are these kids’ normal or immoral indications of religion’s failure to halt hormones? If religion wants to be an influential part of productive societies, it’s time for religion to grow up along with the rest of the world. Long ago, females got married before puberty and developed into a woman under the watchful eyes of her husband’s family before having sex. There was no possibility of intercourse outside of marriage because she was locked down at 12 years old. Times have changed and in most places, it’s illegal for children to be married before puberty. Isn’t it time for religion to change too? Lots of people are searching to believe in something bigger than self and need someone to believe in them. Religious leaders are missing awesome recruitment opportunities by enforcing unrealistic behavior codes that foster, guilt and shame among single people in love. More seekers would accept the healing powers of the church/mosque/temple if they felt accepted, appreciated, needed, and normal. Casting human desires that have existed throughout history as evil is so over. If religion wants more players in the game, the rules have to be updated to accept some safe, satisfying self-loving as well as sensual relationships among singles. As one respondent perfectly summarized, “It’s time for the Church to realize we’re all the same religion in the bedroom, saying the same prayer, “Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!”
Name: Jennifer Fragoso Age: 38 Years smoking: 23 SMOKE FREE: 13 Weeks
WEEK 14: I’M OVER SECOND HAND SMOKE Secondhand means something that has been previously owned. Add the word secondhand to smoke and it takes on an altogether more sinister meaning. Both the people immediately around the smoker and the environment are affected. The poisoning of ones own body with carcinogens is bad enough and as a former smoker I take full responsibility for my past pollution. However, now that I’m blossoming in my sobriety I find myself having to tolerate this reckless behavior in others more and more. Smoke seems to sneak up all around me and I’m really not into it. First there is the temptation factor. I can honestly and say that on occasion I am tempted to take a quick hit but I don’t. Second is an almost implied lack of respect on the part of friends who smoke in my presence even though they know what a struggle it has been for me. Once a junkie always a junkie is what I’ve been saying and accepting my addiction has been both enlightening and lightening at the very same time. Enlightening because I never thought about my addiction as a mental one I simply thought it was chemical and therefore easily conquered and lightening because realizing I am powerless over smoking freed me of the heavy mental burden that manifested itself in my addiction to smoking. However all of this lightening enlightenment came to me in my own time and I can only hope that all of the friends and acquaintances I find myself complaining about right now find their own path out of addiction and into a cleaner and lighter way of life. In the interim I’m still going to be me smokefree waiting to help them quit when they are ready take the leap. To read more about secondhand smoke log on to: quitsmoking.about.com
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www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • Page 19
The 411
Daisy Casuso, Tracey Mourning, Leslie Wolfson at the Forge Shareef Malnik and Wish child, Cynthia Lau
Shareef Malnik, Brenda Yester, Yale Fishman, Michael Rose, Robby Elias at the Make A Wish cocktail party
COLUMN
Sex and the Magic City By Mary Jo Almeida-Shore maryjoshore@sunpostweekly.com Photos by Mary Jo Almeida-Shore
Sue Miller, Shareef Malnik, & Dr. Elaine Liftin at the Women’s Council Luncheon
Soccer Player EL Pibe Signing a tee
Nick Carter & Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys at Opium at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Photo: Ralph Notaro)
Sex and the City 2, which can best be categorized as “Fashion Porn” added an ample dose of sparkle to Lincoln Road last Wednesday, bringing well- stilettoed, glammed-up girls (and a FEW good men) out of the woodwork for the sneak peek and pink carpet pre-party on the 7th floor of the 1111 building (garage). More than 500 of this Magic City’s most gorgeous joined the Vibe Agency in celebrating its 5th anniversary at the New York-meets-Abu Dhabi themed soiree, complete with a live, spitting camel, belly dancers, and hookah pipe, before viewing a special screening of the highly anticipated flick at Regal South Beach Cinema. While the movie, much like its X-rated counterparts lacked in the plot department, it, like the party, was a feast for the eyes. Shoes and clothes worn by the stars of the movie and bejeweled floral centerpieces from the gay wedding were on display and an Arabian-style lounge with jewel-toned pillows, lamps, hookah pipes, and elaborate Moroccan rugs served as the perfect area to relax and enjoy the music being played by the DJ, Mix in Wheels, who spun from the back of a Hummer. Even more noticeably absent than the stars of the movie, were the cocktails; in particular, the Cosmos made famous by the series. Instead, the party featured sparkling pink lemonade served in Cosmopolitan glasses paired with Middle Eastern delights and hors d' oeuvres provided by Aaron's Catering, including baked dates, chicken and apricot kabobs, and Moroccan gazpacho shooters. Misha’s irresistible bite-sized pink cupcake towers and Nespresso satisfied sweet tooths while challenging carb-adverse diets. Vibe director, Valerie Bihet succeeded in creating a VIP movie experience, albeit on a smaller scale than those in New York and LA. And for those of us who believe that too much of a good thing, just isn’t enough, we hope the sequels, and the dazzling pink carpet parties,
Page 20 • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
keep on coming. Earlier in the week, a different group of influential ladies gathered at a special luncheon at the Forge Restaurant | Wine Bar as Shareef Malnik and Sue Miller welcomed the Women’s Council for Educational Change. The organization focuses on giving children the opportunity to succeed and to make a difference for generations to come. During the luncheon, Executive Chef Dewey LoSasso served Forge favorites including chilled red and yellow tomato gazpacho with chive oil, lobster and shrimp salad, and lemon fennel panna cotta. VIP ladies in attendance included Alicia and Veronica Cervera, Lisa Pliner, Lydia Touzet, Tara Solomon, Tracy Mourning, Dr. Leslie Bauman, Nancy Batchelor, Norma Quintero, Norma Jean Abraham, Leslie Wolfson, Michelle Rubell, Daisy Casuso, Arlene Chaplin and Judy Weiss. Always sexy and fashionable are generous hearts and wallets. Last Thursday, the InterContinental Miami hosted its kick off celebration to spotlight one of our favorite events every year: the InterContinental Miami Make-A-Wish Ball, to be held on Saturday, November 6. Over 250 of South Florida’s leading philanthropists including the Ball’s “Three Amigos” – Norman Wedderburn, President/CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida; Shareef Malnik, Ball Chairman and proprietor of The Forge Restaurant | Wine Bar; and Robert Hill, Gala Host and General Manager of InterContinental Miami gathered for signature cocktails and scrumptious fare, including a Kobe beef carving station and made-to-order risotto. Celebrity DJ, Irie, provided the musical entertainment. Wedderburn, Malnik and Hill officially announced this year’s Asian theme and hinted at the special host. While we’ve been sworn to secrecy, we will say she is “muy
Shareef Malnik, Courtland Lantaff, Publisher Ocean Drive and Robert Hill at the Make A Wish Kick-off cocktail
Shareef Malnik and Ken Gorin at the Make A Wish Kick-off cocktail
Ed Freedman and Robert Hill at Hotel InterContinental
caliente!” Stay tuned– we promise to blow the whistle in the very near future. Esteemed guests at the Make A Wish kick-off included James Ferraro, founder of the Ferraro Law Firm and Wish Benefactor, and wife Patricia Delinois; Ken Gorin, owner of The Collection; Evelyn Lozada and Suzanne Ketcham of VH1’s reality show Basketball Wives; former banker-turned-professor and Star Jones’ ex-husband Al Reynolds; Robert Press of Trafalgar Capital Advisors; Founding Benefactor Barbara Glicken; nightlife impresario Michael Capponi; luxury handbag designer Laura Buccellati; author and scholar Dr. José Azel; Dr. Edward M. Freedman; and Danny and Merle Weiss. Susanne Birbragher, Frederic Dechnick and Hadley Henriette
Sex And the City 2 Screening Nathalie Pozo and her sister
CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: On Wednesday, legendary Colombian soccer player Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama made a guest appearance at Grove Liquors signing autographs and socializing with fans. Valderrama has partnered with Hennessy in honor of the upcoming World Cup. The holiday weekend had its fair share of buzz-worthy celebs. Plunge, at the Gansevoort Rooftop, was ground zero for Chris Brown, TI, Busta Rhymes, Terri Kirby, D’Shaun Jackson, Troy Grant, and Thomas Jones. Cedric Gervais performed at LIV to a crowd of overzealous fans. Nikki Reed, a.k.a. Rosalie Hale of the Twilight Saga was also spotted at LIV last weekend, celebrating her birthday. Lil Jon and Tayo Otiti were seen at Mokai. Otiti was also spotted at Louis. Eliza Orlins of Survivor fame was taking in some sun poolside at the Mondrian. According to a spy in a neighboring building, Pharrell Williams held his annual Memorial Day pool party at the Bristol condo on Brickell. Reportedly, guests enjoyed a bar-b-q and swam in the pool with life preservers on. (Take this with a grain.) Sharon Gless, the former Cagney and Lacey star who currently plays Jeffrey Donovan’s on-screen mom in the hit show Burn Notice, celebrated her birthday at the Forge Restaurant | Wine Bar along with two friends on Sunday night.
Sex And the City 2 Screening
Sex And the City 2 Screening Party Jaquelynn Powers and friend
www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • Page 21
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Page 22 • Thursday, June 3, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
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GO! EVENTS
Upcoming Social Events By Mary Jo Almeida-Shore maryjoshore@sunpostweekly.com
BROTHERLY LOVE BRINGS LIVE MUSIC ALL OVER TOWN Brotherly Love Productions presents another weekend of great live music, kicking it off Friday with Southern-rock jammers Cypress at The Funky Buddha (www.thefunkybuddha.com). This will be their final show with founding member/guitarist Bill Talley. Opening act Diocious will hit South Florida with two additional shows. The psychedelic funk-rock trio plays Titanic Brewery on Saturday titanicbrewery.com, and they're the featured artists at BLP Sunday Cookout at Hurricane Bar in Delray Beach hurricanelounge.com.
TAHDAH! Hot on the heels of an outstanding cover story by the Miami SunPost, Shareef Malnik announces the official unveiling of the new façade of The Forge Restaurant | Wine Bar on Tuesday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. The exterior redux, inspired by the architecture of the French-Neoclassical period was conceptualized with the original Forge in mind, but with modernized touches to match the modified interior. The public unveiling
and ribbon-cutting ceremony comes after receiving rave reviews following the reopening of the award-winning restaurant. Representatives from The City of Miami Beach will also issue a proclamation to Malnik, Chef Dewey LoSasso and The Forge family, presenting them with The Forge’s sixth key to the city. This project was realized by project manager Allegra Parisi of Apartment A, KCS Construction, designer Francois Frossard and Capponi Construction under the direction of Shareef Malnik. The Forge Restaurant | Wine Bar is located at 432 W 41st Street. For more information, contact: 305.538.5833.
BIG NAMES JOIN FORCES FOR MIAMI SOCIALHOLIC PARTY AT SET Miami’s hottest new website, Miami Socialholic is hosting a launch party and you are invited! The Opium Group’s, Eric Milon, along with Michael Capponi, two of the biggest names in nightlife, present Miami Socialholic’s official launch party at SET, on Friday, June 11th. The party starts at 11 and goes all night with a complimentary vodka bar for the first hour or two (check back next week for more details). Visit miamisocialholic.com to RSVP for this fabulous celebration.
www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • Page 23
Cinema
THE CAT AND THE HAT
Art
REVIEW
Female Trouble By Ruben Rosario (ruben@sunpostweekly.com) If, like me, you went to see Sex and the City 2 on Memorial Day weekend, I’m willing to bet the scene in which Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda work the crowd at an Abu Dhabi karaoke bar with their rendition of “I am Woman” brought back fond memories of late-night TV marathons and self-induced personality quizzes. (Full disclosure: I’m a Carrie with a dash of Charlotte’s idealism.) So when I say that I was underwhelmed by just about everything else about writer-director Michael Patrick King’s overblown sequel, this is not coming from a hater chomping at the bit to tear the franchise to pieces, but from a longtime fan who couldn’t get enough of the longrunning HBO series, especially the early seasons, when the relationship between Carrie and Big was still fresh and unpredictable. But enough about SATC2. If you’re looking for worthwhile femme-centric fare, this weekend brings some exciting options, beginning with Rodrigo García’s poignant ensemble piece Mother and Child. Boasting a fine cast that includes Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Samuel L. Jackson, this unflinching look at adoption’s emotional scars is at its best when it deals with sexual politics. “Many women find me threatening,” says cutthroat attorney Elizabeth (Watts) to Paul (Jackson), her soon-to-be boss at a Los Angeles law firm when he asks her why she prefers to work with men. Elizabeth, who was given up for adoption at birth, can’t be bothered with inconsequential things like romance, and soon enough the alpha female is inviting her smitten superior to her bachelorette pad. “Don’t move, old man,” she instructs as she gets on top. Talk about taking charge in the bedroom! In the same city, but worlds away, Karen (Bening) leads an unhappy life taking care of her elderly mother. During the day, she fends off the friendly advances of fellow physical therapist Paco (an affable Jimmy Smits). At night she writes journal entries and letters to the daughter she conceived when she was just 14 and gave up for adoption, which result in unnecessary voiceovers that distract more than they illuminate. The same Catholic adoption agency that handled Karen’s case is currently attempting to find a child for successful bakery owner Lucy (Kerry Washington, suitably neurotic), who is unable to conceive, and her husband. The scene in which Ray, a pregnant teen (Half Nelson’s Shareeka Epps), grills the prospective parents about religion is emblematic of the film’s first – and stronger – half: concise
and unsentimental. As the three storylines begin to converge, however, the carefully modulated tone García is able to sustain gives way to drippy soul searching and shrill histrionics. Composer Edward Shearmur’s maudlin piano tinkling does the movie no favors, either. As an actor’s showcase, though, Mother and Child shines. Bening refuses to soft-pedal Karen’s difficult nature, which makes her arc all the more satisfying. Watts makes an indelible impression early on, but then a major plot development causes Elizabeth to become a cog in the movie’s connect-the-dots structure. This isn’t the first multi-character female-driven film García, an HBO veteran and son of author Gabriel García Márquez, has made. His skillfully crafted 2005 drama Nine Lives, starring Holly Hunter and Robin Wright, consists of a series of vignettes, each of them one single uninterrupted shot. The concept may sound gimmicky, but the stunt actually works, and its character portraits feel more natural than the troubled souls at the heart of García’s latest effort, a decent film about a great subject. The most fascinating female character you will see at the movies this weekend is Gitti, the clingy, emotionally unhinged German tourist played by The White Ribbon’s Birgit Minichmayr in director Maren Ade’s painfully incisive Everyone Else. Gitti, who makes ends meet by promoting rock bands for a music label, loves her boyfriend Chris (Lars Eidinger), a smart, underachieving architect, but as they vacation in Sardinia at his parents’
CARRIE IN THE MARKETPLACE IN SEX AND THE CITY 2
Page 24 • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
THE THREE MONKS AT THE OPENING OF THE EXHIBIT AT MDC
villa, she’s beginning to wonder whether she lives up to his high standards. Ade relies on the actors’ tactile body language in the film’s early scenes to convey a level of intimacy rarely seen in movies (think Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage by way of Before Sunrise). Exposition is minimal, which forces the viewer to live in the moment as cracks beneath to show beneath the young couple’s idyllic façade. Chris’s confident demeanor masks some deep insecurities; when he finds out he’s lost an architectural competition, he lies about it. When he runs into the former schoolmate he’s been trying to avoid during his stay, he accepts his dinner invitation, even if doing so means bailing out on a boat trip Gitti had organized. Gitti loses her temper big time after Hans berates Chris for the lack of compromise in his work, and when she unwisely defends her boyfriend, he reacts by shutting her out of the conversation. It’s all downhill from there. Everyone Else revels in those awkward moments other filmmakers might minimize or edit out altogether. “I don’t want to act like everyone else,” Gitti remarks, and Minichmayr takes that statement to heart. Thanks to Ade’s unforgiving gaze and her actors’ brilliantly performed tug of war, watching this relationship implode in slow motion is a devastating, thoroughly rewarding experience. Those uncomfortable silences speak volumes.
Abbot of Drepung Gomang Monastery at Art Opening By Marguerite Gil (megs@sunpostweekly.com) Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Art Gallery System at the InterAmerican Campus is showcasing a small but very powerful collection of Buddhist art representing various parts of Asia. Entitled Sacred Faces of Buddhism, the show is stunning and more so since the 79th Abbot Geshe Lharampa Yonten Dhamchoe was at the opening night reception recently. Coinciding with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, MDC invited the general public to see some of the art works that are in Miami-based collections including pieces representing Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. Called “the Buddha” or Enlightened One, the art on display depicts important figures in Buddhism. The exhibition also includes sculptures that are intimate in nature such as the beautifully carved wooden Sleeping Buddha. This representation of the Buddha is meant to represent the venerated teacher as he reaches Nirvana (the perfect state of being), which can be achieved by those who follow his teachings. The Abbot’s term is for six years. After every six years, a list of nominees for a new Abbot is gathered from the monks during a congregation. The list is submitted to His Holiness the Dalai Lama via the Department of Religion and Culture. His Holiness the Dalai Lama appointed Geshe Lharampa Yonten Dhamchoe as the 79th Abbot. The Abbot escaped to India after the invasion of Tibet by China in 1959. He is one of the 60 monks who re-established the monastery at its present location after shifting from Buxar. Also being featured are, four Thangkas (wall hangings), Tibetan silk paintings made with layers of embroidery, usually representing a deity or other important figures, including the Buddha himself and sculptures. This writer was the only person whose hands were held in the hands of the Abbot and the only person who was given his blessing. If you wish to hear the full prayer recited by the three monks during the opening night ceremony please visit famae.org and click on video clip to upload the monk’s blessings. Miami Dade College InterAmerican Campus, 627 SW 27 Ave. Miami. Through June 19. Free. For info: 305.237.7700.
a
Bound COLUMN
When Badass Books Become Kickass Flicks Rediscovering Nightmare Alley, The Friends of Eddie Coyle and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre By John Hood Added together, the number of novel-based movies might fill a good set of encyclopedias. The number of even adequate adaptations however, probably wouldn’t pan out to a single volume. If you wanted to count the instances where a film truly and transcendently captured the essence of its source material, well, it’s a bet that might not even fill one solitary page. But rare as they may be, there are occasions when badass books became kickass flicks – here are three of them:
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (New York Review Books $14.95) When William L. Gresham’s Nightmare Alley racked its way into the marketplace, two-bit carnivals dotted the American landscape and two-bit carnies were something little boys dreamed of being. Sure it was a hardscrabble existence, and on the barometer of social acceptance it ranked just above hobo. Nevertheless there was a certain romance in running away from it all and hitting the road with a tribe of freaks, geeks and grifters – the kinda romance that ends-up with split lips, black eyes and broken hearts. Not to mention lost souls. According to Nick Tosches’s laudatory Introduction, Gresham was inspired to write Nightmare Alley after a pal told him about the carny geeks, those bottom of the barrel beings driven to bite the heads off chickens and snakes simply so they could remain pickled in liquor. Consequently, his entire tale is soaked in spirits of some form or another. But the core of the story concerns a “spook racket” hustler named Stanton Carlisle, who pairs first with an aging “Mademoiselle Zeena,” and second with a more nubile – and manipulatable – lass named Molly. Both women perform what’s called “cold readings;” that is they see into the lives and offer advice to the crowd. Of course the readings are rigged. And the crowd is played for suckers. Tyrone Power played “The Great Stanton” in Edmund Goulding’s shady keen adaptation, Joan Blondell played the aging Zeena, and Colleen Grey was Molly, a wide-eyed innocent who becomes nothing but an instrument in Stanton’s con game. But the real stars of the movie are the 100+ sideshow regulars 20th Century Fox hired to give the flick authenticity, and the deep brood that saturates everything.
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (Picador $14) To watch Robert Mitchum in this seminal ‘70s flick is to see defeat personified. Mitch plays Eddie “Fingers” Coyle, so nick-named because he’s got an extra set of knuckles on his right fist, the result of it being placed in a desk drawer and broken by some men whose
pal got popped with a bad gun he’d sold him. Fingers is down and out and he knows it. Nevertheless he’s bound by his own broken soul to make the moves; moves he knows full well will lead to his undoing. It’s a terrific, harrowing and unnerving performance. And it’s all made possible by a book that was so badass it literally changed the game. That’s what Dennis Lehane says in his Introduction to the re-issue anyway. And Lehane should know, because The Friends of Eddie Coyle covers the very same Boston underworld that he’s been immersed in throughout his entire career. George V. Higgins wrote this story. And Lehane is not the only pulpist to sing his or its praises. In fact, Elmore Leonard’s got his own Introduction to this 1970 masterstroke. And everybody from Norman Mailer to Scott Turow has chimed in likewise. Why? Because the novel is almost entirely composed of dead-on dialogue, that’s why. Not just talk, mind you, but fast talk, riddled with slang and innuendo, and steeped in the violence of the streets. It’s also two-faced and desperate, hardnosed and unforgiving. In fact, just like Fingers’ life.
THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (Farrar Straus Giroux $16) At first glance this tale may seem less pulpy than the above, but its heart consists wholly of the stuff pulp lives are made of. To wit: losers still looking to win despite lives filled with nothing but loss – and not a damn chance in hell they’ll succeed. If you’ve seen John Huston’s 1948 adaptation of B. Traven’s desolate 1927 classic, you’ll know it stars Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt as two down-at-heels Americans basically living on the streets of Mexico, and Walter Huston as the fogy prospector who’s willing to partner-up in a quest for gold. You’ll also know that they come about as close as one can get without succeeding. Mostly though you’ll probably recall how the young men are driven to a madness that the old coot manages to keep at bay with a healthy dose of pragmatic fatalism. Scholars have said this is a retelling of Chaucer’s “The Pardoner’s Tale;” it might be more accurate to say it’s the American Dream exiled and then shot dead. Yes, visions of the good life dance in each of the principals’ heads, yet they’re undone by a paranoia that can only come from a deep distrust of their own damned selves. How can you have faith in a friend when you don’t even have faith in yourself? You can’t. And here the faithless are made to suffer their faults with a finality few could fathom, let alone endure.
A Special Moment in Time
Beach is Dynamite! The Story of Beach High By Seth H. Bramson (seth@sunpostweekly.com) As was noted last week, Miami Beach High came into existence as Ida M. Fisher School in 1926. As the history of the school progresses, the actual date of the first use of the nickname “Typhoons” will be garnered, but, for now, that moniker was the school’s surname (“Miami Beach Typhoons”) until the move to the new school in May of 1960. The school began its life as Ida M. Fisher School at 1420 Drexel Avenue and remained at that location, one block west of Washington Avenue with Espanola Way one block to the north until 1960. In the interim, the name of the high school was changed at the end of the 1934 school year, Ida M. Fisher becoming Miami Beach High with the junior high school retaining the Fisher name. Happily to report, The Bramson Archive, the largest private collection of Miami memorabilia and Floridiana in America, contains the original contracts for the first supervising principal of the Miami Beach schools, C. C. Carson and those contracts include the years 1926-27, 1927-28, 1928-29 and 1929-30 as well as other correspondence relative to, to and from Mr. Carson. The 1926 contract is particularly interesting for in addition to the salary stated of $500.00 per month the contract notes that Mr. Carson will also have “use of the cottage north of the High School Building.” That clause is important to historians because it indicates that, indeed, Ida M. Fisher was functioning at least partly as a high school in 1926, complete with its own building. Interestingly, with the onset of the four terrible events of 1926 (previously discussed in this column, culminating with the September 17th and 18th 1926 hurricane) Mr. Carson’s salary does not change over the four years for which we have his contracts. Other correspondence in the file deals with individuals applying for positions and school board matters relevant to the Miami Beach schools. Fortunately for Miami Beach—and Beach High—-history one of the letters, dated July 14, 1930, is on “Miami Beach Public Schools” letterhead and on the left side shows Mr. Carson as Supervising Principal with Katie Dean as Assistant Supervising Principal. However, the right side of the letterhead may be even more important for in small print the word “Departments” appears and below that, line by line, are the following: “Kindergarten,” “Elementary School,” “Junior High School,” “Senior High School,” hence it is certain that Mr. Carson was in charge of all four areas of public education on Miami Beach at the time. Further investigation will determine the opening dates of South Beach Elementary (now South Pointe) and Central Beach Elementary as well as North Beach Elementary, which was built later on Forty-First Street. Miami Beach’s fourth elementary school, Biscayne, opened in 1941 with the beloved Ione S. Hill as Principal but by that time Mr. Carson was no longer with the public schools, he having moved on to open his own private school on Miami Beach. www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • Page 25
Style TRENDS
Original Penguin is a Must for Men This Summer By Jennifer Fragoso (jennifer@sunpostweekly.com)
While the women of Miami are making their way through summer with “sizzle” the men of Miami will be looking cooler than ever with these looks from Original Penguin.
TOP IT ALL OFF WITH THE BROOKLYN COTTON PLAID HAT. $48.
ABOVE LEFT: MEN HAVE A PLETHORA OF OPTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO SWIM TRUNK LENGTH THIS SUMMER. PICTURED IS THE SWANKSTER IN CANEEL BAY BLUE. THIS TRUNK IS SHORT, SEXY AND ONLY $59. MIDDLE: THE WOODEN HAND SUIT $59. IS THE PERFECT MID LENGTH OPTION FOR YOUR FAVORITE GRAD OR DAD. RIGHT: YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO OFF THE GRID THIS SUMMER IN THESE TRUNKS. THE LOOK IS LONG, LEAN AND PRICED JUST RIGHT AT $65.00.
ABOVE: THE PINSTRIPED SUIT JACKET $149. AND PANTS $69 IS THE SMART OPTION FOR THE OFFICE THIS SUMMER.
LEFT: MOTIF FLIP FLOPS COMPLETE THE LOOK AT $25. RIGHT: THE WHITE COLLAR DEVIANT $69. PUTS SOME POLISH ON A PAIR OF KHAKIS OR JEANS.
PUT THE BLOCK LOGO TEE $35. ON JUST ABOUT ANY OF THESE SWIM TRUNKS.
Page 26 • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
From swim trunks to polo’s Original Penguin has got something to suit the über stylish men of Miami. Stop by Original Penguin on Lincoln Road to shop for the perfect summer suit for work or swim.
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www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, June 3, 2010 • Page 27
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