Monday, December 31, 2012

Miami's Best of 2012



  1. Pulse Art Fair, Miami Project, Art Asia during Art Basel
  2. Critical Mass Bicycle Rides (on the last Friday of every month)
  3. Miami Heat becoming NBA Champs and Lebron doing his magnificent dance
  4. The Artist being held over for several weeks at the Coral Gables Art Cinema 
  5. Marley, 144 minutes of reggae rapture and respect screened at the O Cinema 
  6. Black Violin laying low at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center
  7. Miami Book Fair International: Miami Dade College keeping it literary for 29 years
  8. Zak the Baker, Panther Coffee, Lagniappe: art, craft, eating, and drinking
  9. ULTRA musicfestival: massive electronic music bacchanal in Bayfront Park
  10. Miami Made Festival at the Arsht: free, local, and creative


Saturday, December 1, 2012

Critical Mass November



If the best things in life are free, the Critical Mass is the gift that keeps on giving. One good thing about cities like Miami, like LA, and like New York is the idea that anyone -- even the rich and famous, can go about their business without getting mobbed. Perhaps going to the mall may be a bad idea, but I've been driving through Coconut Grove and seen Lebron floating the black, convertible, sports car with the big grin on his face, so it's no surprise that he, Dwyane Wade, Mario Chalmers, and friends have gotten involved with street culture in the city.



I've been dedicated to Critical Mass since the beginning. It's an international movement, but the MIA has fallen in love with it. Lots of people deserve credit for this here. Rydel Deed deserves big local love.

When I first rode, there were about 150 people. Since then, I have seen nearly 2000. Every month, the same corkers show up, the same leaders, the same announcers of the rules, the same brothers with sound systems blaring, and of course, the usual bunch of nuts. It is, however, an absolutely splendid, transcendent affair.