tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74916995392924846552024-02-18T18:44:39.743-08:00measuring miamithe proportions, dimensions, calculations, touchstones, benchmarks, barometers, yardsticks, slide rules, and t squares of our cityBig Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-3690433586970851782013-12-04T06:22:00.000-08:002013-12-04T06:22:41.246-08:00The Art of Basel Promotion
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Recently,
Pope Francis discussed, “<span style="background: white;">the idolatry of money”
as well as “trickle-down economics.” He wrote that this philosophy, “expresses
a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power."
Immediately, kind, thoughtful souls like Rush Limbaugh responded
sympathetically, bravely and lovingly accusing the </span><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Pope of Marxism. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt windowtext; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">This
is an art column, not about political one, or should I say manifesto. I do not
wish to get in the middle of a dispute between Francis and a talking mule, but
considering the recent Art Basel revelries, the issue merits mention.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="border: 1pt windowtext; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">This
year, Art Basel careened wildly from full blown artistic event to full blown
artistic opportunism. Whether this is due to Pope Francis’ previously mentioned
worship of the almighty Benjamin and those forces in the art sphere hoping for
some trickle down or simply old fashioned human ingenuity, I will leave this
for you to decide. However, there are some signs that perhaps his holiness
spent the first weekend of December thinking about conspicuous Miami clubbing
and shows opening while attaching himself to the events that were being spread
like salt on snow in a northern winter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt windowtext; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Even
a lowly brother like me got invited to about a hundred events this year, many
of them marginally related to the pursuit of quality in the Arts. People I have
never heard of and who yielded few results in a Google search invited me to
exhibits I have never heard of where the proceeds were earmarked to a cause I have
never heard of benefiting a project I have never heard of all underwritten by a
vodka that I had heard of – Grey Goose. Then – a magazine that I had never
heard of invited me to a play I had had never heard of written by an author I
had never heard of starring four ex-NBA players long since forgotten that few
have ever heard of being held at the Colony Theater on the Beach. Another
offered admission to the most esteemed Italian furniture designers I have never
heard of building strong relationships with suppliers that I have never heard
of who show them in showrooms I have never heard of hosted by two guys with
cool Italian names that I had never heard of. Forgive my piling on to the
hyperbole, but never in the history of humankind has the word legendary been so
shamelessly used, abused, and misused. I could go on to the pop-up <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this</i></b>
and its partnership with the development group <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i></b> and its beneficiary <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this</i></b>
or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i></b>.
Pope Francis – I’m feeling you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt windowtext; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Despite
my consternation, and make no mistake - as a proud elitist, sharing this event
with hungry and desperate, philistine promoters pains me - a select core of Art
Basel remains unbroken. Pulse retains all of its legitimate style in the city’s
most tasteful venue – the Ice Palace. Art Miami and CONTEXT get it right. Miami
Project’s Max Fishco and Jeffrey Wainhause keep it spacious and do not
overwhelm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scope, despite its
collaboration with VH1 and gasp – Red Bull, continues to showcase fine work. NADA
deserves credit for being an incubator for new art and its non-profit status.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt windowtext; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">All
of which takes us back to Pope Francis and Rush. If Mr. Limbaugh were to come
to Miami, he would find a city thriving and profiting off the original paint
fumes emanating from the Convention Center on the Beach. He would extol the
virtues of all the money generating opportunities which have sprouted in the
last few years. He might even partake of a few free hors d’oeuvres, hang out in
a cheap cigar lounge, and enjoy Boy George spinning his favorites. He would
praise the snake oil sales folks peddling tees, smile at all the hustling entrepreneurs,
and beam at the Derek Zoolander wannabes needing to be seen and passing out
cards. He might even prepare an exhibit and preview it during Basel 2014:
Francis and Jesus: Marxists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt windowtext; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">The
Pope would see the same things differently; rents rising, suffering artists
having to move, Wal-Mart expanding into Midtown paying low part time wages, and
venture capitalists swarming over Art Basel like vultures. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-40805295224292042562013-11-23T12:02:00.000-08:002013-11-23T12:02:15.448-08:00Art Basel Changes
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sometime before
or after 2005, my friend and local artist Teo Castellanos, told me about some
big, strange tent with some art that had been set up in Wynwood in Roberto
Clemente Park. So we went. The neighborhood felt a bit dodgy to an outsider,
but after having parked and prayed, we checked the festivities out. If memory
serves me, there was a shuttle running down NW 2nd Avenue and a pop-up
something or other on Miami Avenue somewhere. That was about it for what was to
massively explode over the course of the next decade. Here were the humble
beginnings as witnessed by the common local art buff. Things change.</span><!--EndFragment-->
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These days, to write about Art Basel, as it morphs, contorts,
mutates, and changes becomes harder. Some repeat the joke: no one goes anymore;
it’s too crowded. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is what</span></i></b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">has become more elusive; on the other hand, information about <b><i>what
is what</i></b> and where it is, is bounteous. For the window shopper, Art
Basel has never been more accessible. Yet for the critic, the fact that copious
amounts of art are at your fingertips, may be more daunting than comforting.
The sheer volume commodifies the Arts, turning rare, exceptional pieces into
something more common, and laymen can barely tell the difference between them.
It all becomes a bit like shopping for cereal, just not at any common Publix.
We get deceived because it is art, yet option paralysis remains. We know that
we are amongst creative impulses, but it overwhelms.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It seems that Miami Beach will be home for 8 events in 2013; Miami
itself will host nine. In addition, there will be hundreds -- this is no
exaggeration -- of peripheral activities. Art Centers, exhibits, galleries,
walls, film, video, concerts, shows, meals, etc. No one will be able to
navigate it all effectively. Like the banks, Art Basel is now too big too fail.
Forgive me for what I’m about to suggest, but Art Basel is now a different,
good massive thing. There’s money to be made out there y’all.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Big change #1 concerns the opening of the Pérez Art Museum Miami,
aka PAMM (oy veh), aka South Florida’s premier waterfront event space,
according to its own publicity materials. Designed by Swiss architects <span style="background: white;">Herzog & de Meuron, they of the splendid 1111
Lincoln Road Parking Garage, it is lo</span>cated fancily in what has now been
officially called downtown Miami’s Museum Park. All jokes aside, the grand
opening will occur during Art Basel week with free admission and Chinese
artist/sculptor/curator/photographer/critic/provocateur Ai Weiwei.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Big change #2 involves the move by Scope from Midtown to the soft
white sands off of tacky Ocean Drive. Instead of a break at Sakaya Kitchen or
Angelina’s Coffee & Juice, lucky tourists can now enjoy an exorbitantly
priced mango mojito during a trashy respite at the Clevelander. This is how
time moves on; Scope, perennially one of the finest satellite events, moves
upscale like the Bal Harbor shops move to the Design District, simultaneously
improving and destroying something, a hole in one and crater sized divot.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Big change #3 and Disappointment #1 is the Basel’s version of
Where’s Waldo? Art Asia, after five years and a cult following, seems to have
disappeared, left at Scope’s altar in favor of VH1. Goodbye zen; hello Miley.
The internet, arguably the world’s most reliably unreliable source of all
knowledge, seems to have been unable to shed any light on what has happened,
but unless you have tickets booked to Hong Kong, Art Asia seems to have gone
the belly up, Bridge On the River Kwai, sayonara route -- blown up and part of
the artistic remains of the past. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once upon a time in Miami -- 2002 to be precise, Art Basel began.
Just for kicks research some of the primary resources from back then and read
about its modest genesis. Walter Robinson, editor of the first online magazine
artnet, wrote this: “ Miami is always good for Latin American material.”
Contrast that naïveté with this: the economic stimulus from Art Basel to Miami
is expected to be more than $500 million. Big change #4!</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-19541111026922965672013-11-17T10:22:00.000-08:002013-11-17T10:45:46.175-08:00Art Basel 101 <b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"></b></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines. What you are about to see may disturb you. And now for something completely different, your moment of zen is about to begin. Let’s get this party started quickly. It takes two to make a thing go right. Art Basel is upon us, and here are some straight up tips for those of you joining the throngs and in need of some confidence. </span></b></b></div>
<br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"></b></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6OJ4R2LdqGHRD4G6eRYxXjSwJGJnJR9h8LoO00AFuiF0VqPUJ7NN9g2dk8iw150whPI6mN5-5Lo5Z3G6t01LUYZno7ADuwOOkfY4eWUy6KG-l5aXnLpsNmGRtuEKi8Imhu579_bJii54/s1600/IMG_0143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6OJ4R2LdqGHRD4G6eRYxXjSwJGJnJR9h8LoO00AFuiF0VqPUJ7NN9g2dk8iw150whPI6mN5-5Lo5Z3G6t01LUYZno7ADuwOOkfY4eWUy6KG-l5aXnLpsNmGRtuEKi8Imhu579_bJii54/s320/IMG_0143.JPG" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"></b></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Info 101: Art Basel is to an art show like Ridley Scott’s Alien is to an octopus. The mothership itself is the Miami Beach Convention Center, where 250 or so galleries entertain 50,000 visitors. The rest of the tentacles spread far and wide: there are about twenty satellite fairs, and a thousand, for lack of a better word, parasites. These include parties, meals, concerts, readings, and getties -- many of which simply feed of the host.</span></b></div>
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<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Websites for Veterans: </span><a href="http://art-collecting.com/miami_art_fairs.htm" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://art-collecting.com/miami_art_fairs.htm</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; </span><a href="http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/cultist/2013/11/art_basel_miami_beach_2013_guide.php" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/cultist/2013/11/art_basel_miami_beach_2013_guide.php</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; </span><a href="http://www.papermag.com/2013/10/our_mega_guide_to_art_basel_miami_2013_part_1.php" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.papermag.com/2013/10/our_mega_guide_to_art_basel_miami_2013_part_1.php</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Websites for Neophytes: </span><a href="https://www.artbasel.com/en/miami-beach" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.artbasel.com/en/miami-beach</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; </span><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/05/3607868/art-basel-miami-beach-announces.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/05/3607868/art-basel-miami-beach-announces.html</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;">
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clothing Tips: Black is the new black. If you want to be noticed at Art Basel, good luck. Everybody from all over the world will be wearing their coolest things; only the most secure of us will ignore the fashion sirens. During this week, we are all artists. Accessorize wisely and think, “I don’t always visit galleries, but when I do, I prefer to dress sharply.” Boots -- mandatory. Square shades! Raybans. Lock all your sports gear up at home unless it is something like a vintage Muhammad Ali tee. Chill on the high heels. Tattoos and porkpies are 2010. This is not the car show or boat show.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucbyDJ6OsXeckk_tiigfwYEkEOGkGgmYlegbUoIWg5nF8mvitu1X9eLSGXnh9wfYHhckloAVqRhd7kHVb6s78khuLyiw4PxrTeBxj1FU-wLLPat373xO7Nc26s3X0gLzqa11-3GxOfgyw/s1600/P1010204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucbyDJ6OsXeckk_tiigfwYEkEOGkGgmYlegbUoIWg5nF8mvitu1X9eLSGXnh9wfYHhckloAVqRhd7kHVb6s78khuLyiw4PxrTeBxj1FU-wLLPat373xO7Nc26s3X0gLzqa11-3GxOfgyw/s320/P1010204.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="goog_1241315204"></span><span id="goog_1241315205"></span><br /></span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Swag Tips: Act like you’ve been there. Big camera, not small. Sport the Afghani Taliban/relief pitcher/House of David beard. Men - button up your shirt if you are not wearing a tee underneath. No faded denim, and god forbid -- no holes. Ethnicity is worshipped. European types -- think Scandinavia, thick rimmed glasses and if it’s cool -- wear a scarf. Gold chains no. Gold teeth okay. Deep facial plastic surgery? Since you may be the frequent buyers, of course, you are not only welcome, but to some degree, running the show. This is not the car show, boat show, or Super Bowl, though a bit like courtside at a Heat game these days.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parking tip: Take a bike or pray. </span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Miami Rookie Destination Tips: Like American Werewolf in Miami -- Stick to the main road: Art Miami and its neighbors; the Design District; Wynwood Walls.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Miami Cognoscenti Destination Tips: Pulse, Context, Perez Art Museum Miami, and of course, venerable Art Miami.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beach Novice Tips: Follow the leaders.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beach Doyen Tips: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"></b></span><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Design Miami brings legit, heavyweight cache. </span></b></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-64b4b976-674b-63c3-3b50-c2196de9fe60" style="font-weight: normal;"><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NADA and Scope always keep it real. 1111 Lincoln Road, colette, and Alchemist. </span></div>
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<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jury is Still Out Events: Brazil ArtFair, Tapas in the Moore Building</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Food Tips for the Wealthy Stylish: Not necessary.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Food Tips for the Working Stylish: La Sandwicherie, Club Deuce, Panther, Salsa Fiesta, Buena Vista Deli, La Latina, Lagniappe, and a nondescript Peruvian, Jamaican, Haitian, or Cuban place with a coffee window as far from Ocean Drive, Lincoln Road, or Midtown as possible. Calle Ocho still mostly manages to keep it real.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Closing Thoughts: If you plan on going away for the week, rent your place with AirBnB. Hotels are full and prices astronomical. Otherwise, plan ahead, join hands, and get on the love train.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-41822009143357094452013-11-06T16:22:00.000-08:002013-11-06T16:23:58.264-08:00Books & Books<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Even if you can’t judge a book by looking at the cover, how about
a bookstore?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Quiet as it is not kept, the book, long revered and worshipped by
intellects of all shapes and sizes, is said to be on its last legs. Our old, beloved
US1 Borders has been demolished, to be replaced any day now by Trader Joe’s. As
excited as I am to soon be reading the labels on the bottles of Three Buck
Chuck, Borders had more educational potential (though I hope the former manager
of that Borders will work at Trader Joe’s because he was so outstanding.)
However, when it comes to the death of the bookstore, try telling this to Books
& Books.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cavernous Barnes & Noble still commands the corner of Red and
SW 72nd St, along with the AMC 24, propping up a Sunset Place that often seems
forlorn. They also have West Kendall locked up, along with a Miracle Mile
location which hangs tough despite staggering to stay afloat. As Michael
Jackson sang, “Do You Remember the Time” when we loved hanging out at these
places? Bookstores with coffee shops seemed as ubiquitous then as coffee shops
without bookstores are now. Other pummeled sad sacks, daily newspapers,
ironically wrote epitaphs for the book alongside their own obituaries. Amazon,
with nearly a quarter of all book sales, seemed to be like Mike Tyson, with
referees performing a 10 count on Borders, Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, and Crown
Books, all long gone since being knocked flat. It would seem that the book<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">business is just down for the count -- finished -- defeated --
vanquished -- conquered -- kaput</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, like a sleeping giant, a lion hiding in the bushes, Casey
at the Bat, or David going up against Goliath, the treasured independent
bookstore in Miami is a monster called Books & Books, and we are supremely
blessed to have it in our midst.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/i/partypictures/11_05_12/clemmer/image010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/i/partypictures/11_05_12/clemmer/image010.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Aside from the business itself, all of Mitchell Kaplan’s locations
ooze class, percolate with vitality, and provide everyone with an atmosphere
that is hard to top by any definition. Books & Books have local stores in
Coral Gables, Lincoln Road, and Bal Harbour, a kiosk at refurbished MIA, at the
Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art on Las Olas, one in Grand Cayman, and one in
Westhampton Beach. Things are always throbbing there -- events, parties,
reading groups, signings, etc. Local favorites like Edwidge Danticat hang out
there. I heard Jamaica Kincaid say, “I loathe the Queen,” there. Cee Lo Green
is coming to Coral Gables. Salman Rushdie is coming to Miami Dade College;
Mitch also hosts the Miami International Book Fair which he co-founded.
Basically, If one can write, Books & Books will present them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If it were only the long lists of splendid authors, Books &
Books would command respect. Most locations sport fashion-forward cafes, and
the flagship Gables spot a Mediterranean style courtyard where a bar is
centered, bands play, and good vibes reign. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is said that the book is in trouble; maybe, but the bookstore
is in fine shape.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-70536347610094820672013-09-01T17:38:00.000-07:002013-09-01T17:40:49.739-07:00MIA: You Look Marvelous Part 1 <b id="docs-internal-guid-226fe92e-dc1e-d7b9-8ce4-d5a70af44f5d" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-226fe92e-dc1e-d7b9-8ce4-d5a70af44f5d" style="font-weight: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-226fe92e-dc1e-d7b9-8ce4-d5a70af44f5d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-226fe92e-dc1e-d7b9-8ce4-d5a70af44f5d" style="font-weight: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-226fe92e-dc1e-d7b9-8ce4-d5a70af44f5d" style="font-weight: normal;"></b></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-226fe92e-dc1e-d7b9-8ce4-d5a70af44f5d" style="font-weight: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-226fe92e-dc1e-d7b9-8ce4-d5a70af44f5d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the old Saturday Night Live routine, Billy Crystal would say, “It’s not how you feel; it’s how you look.” Somehow this popped into my unbalanced mind as I wandered to, about, and through Miami International Airport earlier this summer on my way to a variety of clandestine destinations I would rather not disclose unless you are a Facebook friend of mine or intend to read this article till the end. In any case, I bring good news today, and it concerns the reformation of what was once the frighteningly ugly eyesore located smack dab in the middle of Dade County which once upon a time was the first introduction to our city and some massive terror involved with renting a car for tourists.</span></b></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-226fe92e-dc1e-d7b9-8ce4-d5a70af44f5d" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaUF1YRvbtVxgQHsBD_INPiaUiPySdB4hx0GJJvOfyFM_OrcPATC54Nihj7uS6uRQ04kxeFkSbZX0AroBcb8Biy-t-Q8Ip8TIB8AJjSk1FknwmGEUKPyre682XGIUFGzMdknybklye8pTY/s1600/DSC05276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaUF1YRvbtVxgQHsBD_INPiaUiPySdB4hx0GJJvOfyFM_OrcPATC54Nihj7uS6uRQ04kxeFkSbZX0AroBcb8Biy-t-Q8Ip8TIB8AJjSk1FknwmGEUKPyre682XGIUFGzMdknybklye8pTY/s400/DSC05276.JPG" width="400" /></a></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-226fe92e-dc1e-d7b9-8ce4-d5a70af44f5d" style="font-weight: normal;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the Dalai Lama says, “ Things change,” and some proof can be found these days at the airport. There is ongoing evidence of this as one sees construction by 826 and 836, but none as profound as the brilliantly named -- this is sarcasm lest we forget -- Miami Intermodal Center, the 2 billion dollar ground transportation hub with the 10 cent name. Come on man! Where is a solid Jorge M. Perez naming controversy when you need it? How about the Ozzie Guillen Center, he a managerial symbol of quickly coming then going?</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I rode the Metrorail to the Intermodal Center(MIC) in the Miami Central Station (MCS) which houses the Rental Car Center (RCC). While the naming might be amateurish; the buildings are not. The Metrorail itself was as shoddy as ever, but mostly clean, and mostly on time. These days there are intervals of 15 minutes at most even on the weekends, and the ride to the airport on the Orange Line from Dadeland South is as quick as a car -- in rush hour quicker. At around $2, it is a bargain if you don’t need a cab to take you to the stations. As we are unfortunately accustomed to, a few stations had broken escalators and others broken elevators, but at Dadeland, we were lucky. The airport station is another story, the crown jewel so to speak,a veritable love story.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I read some history at Critical Miami, followed the politics at TransitMiami, and flashed my EasyCard for the ride. Despite the colorful announcements -- “This train are going to the airport,” -- obviously language lessons for those delivering information on public transportation is a casualty of the sequestration -- getting off the Metrorail at the airport was revelatory. Riders who begin on the busway might feel like they have encountered Dr. Brown’s flux capacitor in Back to the Future as they enter a 1970’s bus, transfer to a 1990’s train, and disembark in 2020 glory. It’s that good -- and that beautiful.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A short ride later, one is in the airport taking off shoes and throwing away water bottles before entering similarly modernized terminals with clean lines, cool design, and abundant places to sit and relax in a number of the terminals. Contrast this with the airport experience in 1995. for those who still prefer Ft. Lauderdale, I say, “Have you lost your mind?”</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of my mirth was mitigated by subsequently visiting Changi Airport in Singapore with its sleeping lounges, sliding boards, butterfly garden, shopping mall, and free foot massage machines. Some was also mitigated by the magnificence of the structure and service in Incheon in Seoul and the food court/observation deck in Tokyo Narita. However, it is clear that those who now visit Miami are greeted by an experience we can be proud of and one that visitors will not cringe at, like they do at JFK, LaGuardia, or LAX. In fact, it is one we should be proud of.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Art in Miami has changed over the years, and nowhere more than at the airport. So today, it’s not how you feel; it’s how you look, and MIA -- you look marvelous.</span></div>
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</b>Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-46683266526641728972013-06-15T12:03:00.003-07:002013-06-15T12:24:46.275-07:00Miami: Best and Worst in Sports: Let's Go Heat Report Card<h4>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica; font-weight: normal;">Getting towards June, the slow season begins to reveal its soggy spectacle. The barometer swings like a pendulum, skies snap, crackle, and pop, and the mercury rises till it blasts out of thermometers. Dogs lie listlessly, <i>lawnistas</i> get that pep in their step, and the resplendent poinciana preside throught the zone 11 region. By the middle of May -- what’s left? Well, hopefully -- the Heat are nearing another crown, the Marlins have two or three seats filled, the Dolphins are getting ready to tantalize its fickle fan base, and the Canes are hoping that everything ends up golden.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica; font-weight: normal;">The Heat are Miami’s best, classiest, and most fashionable. Aside from the gruesome linoleum rose, Versace thing somebody talked him into wearing after the Heat put a 37 point whupping on the Bulls and those skimpy Capris, Dwyane Wade continues to dazzle everyone with both Euro steps and ensembles. His brother LeBron brings the edgy eyewear and sartorial system to an All-Star altitude on par with his game -- strictly big, big time. Chris Bosh rocked a lavender Cardigan like an 8 foot rim, and Chris Andersen’s, mini-Birdman imitators inspire -- I don’t know what to call what parents are doing to kids dressed like him. Even Coach Erik Spoelstra in his basic blacks and grays does a service to our collective, South Florida self-image. If you consider all of this and then factor in those old Floridian throwback jerseys and Pat Riley’s haircut circa 1985, what you have here now is a perfect storm of tropical excellence. Grade: A++</span><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica; font-weight: normal;">The Marlins, unfortunately, continue to punish us with their futility on the field and in the white elephant to which we all foolishly contributed. Far be it for me to cast aspersions on the young men chewing tobacco and spitting on the grass in that gigantic Smurf-like coliseum which rose in the ashes of the Orange Bowl, but one can spare the stadium designers no such slack. Forget the cost, the aesthetic was simply the grandest swing and a miss of all time. Given the beauty of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, also known as the ballpark which forever changed the look of baseball, San Francisco’s waterfront AT&T Park, and all the other glorious, retro creations throughout the fruited plains, ours resembles some crass blue fruit cocktail imagined by a third-grader in love with Chuck E Cheese. It’s also the coldest place in Miami next to the beer aisle in Winn Dixie. Owner Jeffrey Loria miraculously managed to get everything wrong, and when he attends a game in person as he almost never does, the cavernous stadium is so empty that there is no one there to even boo him. Grade: F-</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Before they get cooking in the official preseason, the Dolphins host what they call interactive football experiences for boys and cheer camps for girls in June with tasteful giveaways like Under Armour jerseys and pom poms both certain to find their way to thrift shops, yard sales, and landfills within a few short months. Here in South Dade, the good news is that the Dolphins are in North Dade. Grade: C</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Last but not least, the University of Miami will offer young prospects the opportunity to get maximum exposure at the same venue as the Canes. As he enters his third season as the leader of the U’s football fortunes, Coach Al Golden spotless rep and striped rep ties will be the rudder for the formerly colorful but oft punished gridiron heroes at the Al Golden Football Camp. While all of us wish the Canes the best of luck, you can be sure that our fans, the worst in the ACC, will be two losses away from jettisoning Coach Al without a golden parachute. Grade: I</span></span></div>
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Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-34130479080891385852013-05-07T06:07:00.000-07:002013-05-08T06:50:04.162-07:00A Tale of Two Lincolns or Two Roads Diverged on Miami Beach<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Far from the knockoff Downtown Abbeys located off the banks of Ludlum Road in our beloved Pinecrest lie the maddening crowds on Lincoln Road in</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span class="il" style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Miami</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Beach. All of us, at one time or another feel compelled to make the journey to the beach, and especially if we have relatives in tow, inevitably, we exercise an obligation to pop in on the pedestrian mall between and parallel to 16th and 17th Streets. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://hackmiami.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ma_p-lincon-road.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://hackmiami.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ma_p-lincon-road.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There was a time when Lincoln Road was in its heydey with Bonwit Teller, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Burdine’s. Then there was a time when Lincoln Road was in decline, a strip only Scarface could love. Then, it began to rebound in the late 90’s. Now ... it’s hard to tell what’s going on there. Dylan’s Candy Bar, H &M, and Taschen have outposts. So do GNC, Bikini Village, and Payless. Draw your own conclusions.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BYHmGOCUrZpGIZVX3ipTIGcX_eHhoYhoHaVEd5ikNi-awMgpJbvN2lOIzgcrs1MVzVV8sdQBYY95cZmj4WyNYvK58cVEyORv8RIchps4mrm7dL3Anq6RlUtKdrMsTkrdStNUJgiJW7Md/s1600/DSC04923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BYHmGOCUrZpGIZVX3ipTIGcX_eHhoYhoHaVEd5ikNi-awMgpJbvN2lOIzgcrs1MVzVV8sdQBYY95cZmj4WyNYvK58cVEyORv8RIchps4mrm7dL3Anq6RlUtKdrMsTkrdStNUJgiJW7Md/s320/DSC04923.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0px;">There is, I suppose, looking at the bright side, something for everyone there. Old timers still ride their cruisers with parrots or Speedos on. Locals roller skate by. Folks that resemble the cruise boat crowd that frequent Bayside are in evidence. You hear Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, Chinese, and Hebrew routinely. Tomato-faced English loiter on Lincoln, walking like Frankensteins to keep the sunburn from chafing too painfully. Shirts unbuttoned to the pupik broadcast hairy chests and gold rope chains as if Donna Summer and the Bee Gees are still in concert. The Rolex still lives on Lincoln Road. LAst but not least, every failed plastic surgery victim seems to teeter totter by sooner or later, everything stretched and protruding. Forgive me, but it is not as <b><i>uplifting</i></b> for us as it is for you. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtoVaa3lUF_iIUJukX_31DE4TUbUAx1CQbC0Ht5ry7QNDyrtnJaPSRqWgxd0j3ezK7QO1jI7MIHLR3frsKdzqkxZusisyqFs6Hur8dSom0rBuWii4SyffNgbqcAI7C5FT5kch-raVV0kz/s1600/P1040037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtoVaa3lUF_iIUJukX_31DE4TUbUAx1CQbC0Ht5ry7QNDyrtnJaPSRqWgxd0j3ezK7QO1jI7MIHLR3frsKdzqkxZusisyqFs6Hur8dSom0rBuWii4SyffNgbqcAI7C5FT5kch-raVV0kz/s320/P1040037.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0px;">New World Symphony has relocated to new digs. Ghirardelli is gone. So is almost all the sophistication which Carl Fisher envisioned when he created Lincoln Road as <span class="il">Miami</span> Beach’s version of Beverly Hils’ Rodeo Drive. In its place is a gallimaufry of people, places, and things. A hodgepodge. A confused mess. Don’t get me completely wrong. It’s still enjoyable at times, especially if you hail from Wilmington North Carolina, Huntsville Alabama, Youngstown Ohio, or Topeka Kansas. Around the perimeter of Lincoln Road, you see these folks in hundreds of red rented Mustang convertibles circling the area, radios blaring, teenagers occasionally standing and screaming. Forgive them -- they know not what they do. It’s worse when they are walking, but better when they sit in the bad restaurants seducing them nearer Washington Avenue. There is some quality remaining on the eastern reaches of Lincoln, but not much. Paul Bakery, straight out of Paris, still has a good product. Rosinella received praise, most ending a decade ago. Nearly all are despised by any local clientele.</span><br />
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<a href="http://cdn3.vtourist.com/15/4107317-Riding_around_Lincoln_Rd_with_his_owner_Miami_Beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://cdn3.vtourist.com/15/4107317-Riding_around_Lincoln_Rd_with_his_owner_Miami_Beach.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0px;">On the western side of Lincoln Road, Alton Road side of Lincoln Road, there is hope. The designer parking garage is a marvel; Juvia drains only the best of credit cards from its gorgeous penthouse. (Check out its website, and I guarantee it will give Gone in 60 Seconds new meaning thanks to an insufferable soundtrack.) Alchemist on floor five in the garage will stop you in your tracks, but you will need the fattest stacks to buy anything there. Picasso prices! The Nespresso store below is like Crayola for adults. Nearby Banana Republic is housed in a gorgeous old bank. Base USA succeeds. Books & Books always dignifies itself. The Frieze, a few steps off Lincoln on Michigan is sublime. Juicy Couture, Victoria’s Secret, Mac, and Kiehl’s trump the cosmetic appeal than those Perfumania and CVS, both closer to Washington and Collins. At its worst near Collins, Lincoln Road is the new Ocean Drive.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWHVrr1UGbNehxAlfoda-ooa8FscLva9TnUIorIuT5qNOn6SA1KixemZYIXvDkpr7pKaPbkvY8k3sCCl3L75UZvlK2Gm5T63u1r_kMo92RgeRdCFRuZI45uDqmWlZlg6UpkcWH68tBIo8k/s1600/IMG_0602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWHVrr1UGbNehxAlfoda-ooa8FscLva9TnUIorIuT5qNOn6SA1KixemZYIXvDkpr7pKaPbkvY8k3sCCl3L75UZvlK2Gm5T63u1r_kMo92RgeRdCFRuZI45uDqmWlZlg6UpkcWH68tBIo8k/s320/IMG_0602.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0px;">All said, the further west you go, Lincoln Road becomes the road less traveled, and if you stay at that end, it will make all the difference.</span></div>
Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-11700324366986452942013-04-09T10:28:00.001-07:002013-04-09T10:40:48.288-07:00O, Miami<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3EstXoEjhopYlihkdjxLDhtrWnP3KkY8RJHdXTwTj88u7ha85zVC6dmE58s0sZtfyrcytFIKsz_D3n2Pprtcr4gHlU0ywbvRXoF1xTEx7dGqzzmWQZqD3fFjbyE2mheP9pq7JtVDSVFwI/s1600/O-Miami.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3EstXoEjhopYlihkdjxLDhtrWnP3KkY8RJHdXTwTj88u7ha85zVC6dmE58s0sZtfyrcytFIKsz_D3n2Pprtcr4gHlU0ywbvRXoF1xTEx7dGqzzmWQZqD3fFjbyE2mheP9pq7JtVDSVFwI/s200/O-Miami.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">O -- What’s in a name?
A poetry festival by any other name would recite just as lovingly,
rhythmically, thoughtfully, profoundly, funkily, or-- well I think you get the
message. O’Miami’s been sweet.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEp7NJa7VqpdVqKvUq5EUkNj9h_gB7QLtlfiri5GZmJcpolYPK672Z4yGoI0PPxG720G6RYBpFHi9UYUdgmZ4D8vpHMegP0MhvEqD4ZTpL2FkgcfghYFrJCFoeZi8tL-m64qCO3bBTfui/s1600/Obag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEp7NJa7VqpdVqKvUq5EUkNj9h_gB7QLtlfiri5GZmJcpolYPK672Z4yGoI0PPxG720G6RYBpFHi9UYUdgmZ4D8vpHMegP0MhvEqD4ZTpL2FkgcfghYFrJCFoeZi8tL-m64qCO3bBTfui/s200/Obag.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether you realize it
or not, poetry is simmering on a front burner these days. <i>Poem in Your Pocket Day </i>is a national event which takes place on
April 18th, smack dab in the middle of National Poetry Month. PIYP began in New
York City in 2003 and embraced by the Academy of American Poets, went <span style="background: white; color: #00060e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">national in 2008, permitting
people throughout the country to get their bard on. With support from groups
like the National Writing Project, Figment, The Office of Letters and Light,
myriad events have sprung forth everywhere. The result? The United States has resuscitated
what may have seen as a patient on life support. Coffee houses, bakeries,
libraries and schools from sea to shining sea are in on the act. And we here in
Miami? We are buried in couplets, verses, sestinas, limericks, haiku, sonnets,
odes, paeans, and idylls as O’Miami makes another biennial appearance. Its basic
goal? For each Miami citizen to find a poem. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWdvjEzCxJ60O6etaOqebDCTz_A3X9Fue9Qykp9WXUsrgnT_3DJdsXwCK3F5ou5H8VpiI6jzHFmXYn7G_0kGqeuH5iclSBMOWhP2OFvmpvcchnAZ8EdOMcaNcQu5F3dbhQjwwbq5q-tnS7/s1600/ofranco_cunningham_borrebach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWdvjEzCxJ60O6etaOqebDCTz_A3X9Fue9Qykp9WXUsrgnT_3DJdsXwCK3F5ou5H8VpiI6jzHFmXYn7G_0kGqeuH5iclSBMOWhP2OFvmpvcchnAZ8EdOMcaNcQu5F3dbhQjwwbq5q-tnS7/s320/ofranco_cunningham_borrebach.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">Produced by the
University of Wynwood and founded by <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Peter
Borrebach and </span>P. Scott Cunningham, he who still produces it, O’Miami, in
partnership and sponsorship with <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation</span>, <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Miami-Dade
County, The City of Miami Beach, and The Betsy Hotel, aims to weave poetry into
the fabric of the region for the month of April. It’s all massively ambitious,
and if you are tuned in to Miami’s artistic activities in even the most remote
way, you might encounter a reading, an open mic, a fused ballet performance, or
a trilingual spoken word onslaught somewhere through the end of the month. To
borrow the words of one of my own personal favorite poets: We got poets in the
livin’room gettin’ it on, and they ain’t leavin’ till six in the mornin’.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGPd3I_l4aNTNxNKzAHPwU8Wog2EChia1TJOr87HQHyBmaVrW-nB_sdzeh3FV6F-9ajqjQA9p7VNX1Cj5dWZwlTAlTycT-Y6vIZu0x8vlhRSR81duaSl-TbLXDoZk_DKb7AV8uYH5ZgJ4/s1600/O-Miami-feet_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGPd3I_l4aNTNxNKzAHPwU8Wog2EChia1TJOr87HQHyBmaVrW-nB_sdzeh3FV6F-9ajqjQA9p7VNX1Cj5dWZwlTAlTycT-Y6vIZu0x8vlhRSR81duaSl-TbLXDoZk_DKb7AV8uYH5ZgJ4/s200/O-Miami-feet_2.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
April 24th, there will be pop-up poetry at 800 Lincoln Road and rocking poetry
at Churchill’s in Little Haiti. On the 25th, there is a
performance/conversation at FIU’s Wolfsonian. On the 26th at the Freehand, you
can get a tattoo along with a poem and a cocktail. 2012 Kingsley Tufts
Award-winner Chase Twichell and deeply cool Miami-Dade professor Dr. Michael
Hettich read "for the dogs" on the 27th at The Betsy in a benefit to
convert all Miami-Dade animal shelters to "no-kill" facilities, this
event one of several at the Betsy that evening. The festivities conclude on
April 28th with an event at the New World Symphony Hall, where 2013
Presidential Inaugural poet Richard Blanco, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, and
NBC's Megan Amram read aloud in the New World Symphony Hall. Given we live in
Miami, there is also an after party, make that O,fter Party, on the beach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">Like Macbeth, you might
consider that life's but a walking shadow, a
poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard
no more, or that it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing. If so, you really might want to make your way to some of
these activities in order to be inspired to put your anguish to everyday use.
Details can be found here: <a href="http://www.omiami.org/">http://www.omiami.org</a>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-12703521459079568102013-03-31T09:56:00.001-07:002013-03-31T10:00:17.757-07:00Sense and Sensibility<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">ULTRA has come and gone, and though the tinnitus may still be keeping you company, it may be time to sit down and have a long talk with yourself. If I were you, I would light the fire, pull up a chair, don the slippers, brew the chamomile tea, and spin the record on the turntable with something a bit more soothing. Get safe. Get warm. Get soulful. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">First a question: what’s with the American fixation with grades, rankings, listage, etc.? Even though I myself succumbed as well at the end of last year, such trivial measuring is far beneath me. (though evidently, hypocrisy isn’t) Why can’t both McCartney and Lennon be the best Beatle? I have room in my head for Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush, and Hillary Clinton. Why imagine Magic, Bird, Jordan, and LeBron as competing? Van Gogh isn’t better than Picasso? </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px color: #232323;">With this in mind, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the clip of Esperanza Spalding playing the electric bass after a cackling Jools Holland salivates upon introducing her, transports one back to the 70’s of Minnie Riperton, Billy Cobham, and Stanley Clarke despite his calling hers a sensational, new sound. Shrimp colored kaftan flowing, old school Angela Davis afro blowing, Ms. Spalding may sound sensational, but reborn seems more accurate than new. This is fusion and fashion redux. Ms. Spalding: Shall I compare you to number 1? Thou art more lovely and more temperate, but who’s counting? </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ms. Spalding’s videos and photos reveal a fine kind of shapeshifting. The video for <i>Endangered Species</i> has her funking in a sweet, black minidress, scarf and jewels bobbing along with the Weather Report groove. Tuniced and mini-skirted in a live clip from San Sebastian, Ms. Spalding kills <i>I Know You Know</i>, singing breezily and happily, as cool and free as the other side of a Brooklyn, boutique hotel pillow. She emotes; I nod my head and approve. Plus -- I love the natural do for the Levi-clad, European crowd. Legit, unpretentious cool. Later she caresses the upright bass, closes her eyes, and destroys <i>Smile Like That</i>. In still another incarnation, Ms. Spalding covers Stevie Wonder’s <i>Overjoyed</i> -- face made up, lipstick on, shiny designer dress fitted to the nines, necklace sparkling, and heels rising -- a glamorous rock star playing jazz at a formal, White House, East Room gathering. <i>Little Fly</i>, the moody, melodic piece I played while covering for Mark Hayes on WDNA last year adds a string trio to lyrical verses by William Blake. Had it not been for the damn Tire Kingdom ads and insufferable anti-Obamacare propaganda poisoning my YouTube experience, I could have listened and watched all morning. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I will get my live chance on April 19th at the Arsht Center when Ms. Spalding brings it to Miami at 8:30. This is Live at the Knight breaking serious, soulful ground. The jazz cognoscenti, perhaps having nothing better to do than quibble about Ms. Spalding’s style and intentions, complain about how she will have to sell out to sell more, if she wants to become number 1. Call me wishy-washy, but I don’t want to get into the middle of this mess. That said, I hope she brings the European look to Miami so I don’t feel underdressed.</span></div>
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<br />Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-17072285122603909432013-02-27T13:42:00.002-08:002013-02-27T14:08:28.610-08:00The State of Film<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As I write this, I await the beginning of the Academy Awards. I will forego the predictions but have read all the predictions. I have seen “The Life of Pi”, “Silver Linings Playbook”, and “Les Misérables” where UA, Regal, and AMC rule, and salty popcorn, bathtub-sized soft drinks, and GMO laden snacks command exorbitant prices. To tell the truth, these venues, with runaway 14 year-old wreaking havoc on all sense and sensibility are more punishment than sanctuary, so it is with great jouissance that I can celebrate the local film scene as never before. Never have the connoisseur, enthusiast, and junkie had so many opportunities to see foreign, independent, and documentary films.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Apart from Oscar, Miami has just completed its 30th version of the Miami International Film Festival, or XXX as MIFF blithely logoed it. Miami Dade College is behind this festival as it is behind the Book Fair and so many other great community affairs. No, none of the films were XXX nor screened at dodgy theathers, but many will also never make it to the corporate screens either. Instead, what MIFF does, and where it does it, gives the film maven plenty of places to pursue the big screen fantasies going on around the world. And we denizens of the bottom of the Sunshine State can now view great cinema every day of the week in a number of locales. </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I wrote about the Coral Gables Art Cinema last year, so this is a good time to give them and all the local art houses a big shout out again. This column will be devoid of any criticism or controversy. Not only do all the theaters curate great selections, as of course does the MIFF and other local film events, but the Coral Gables venue particularly can be accessed by googling Miami cinemateque, Coral Gables Cinema, and a few others. All roads lead to the CGAC, which also has a cool little cafe thing going as well.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">MDC is also the driver behind Calle Ocho’s TowerTheater which routinely screens great films, many of which are in original Spanish language of course with English subtitles. This landmark, built and launched in 1926, is again a great gathering place and paragon of modest majesty for both new and the nostalgic film buffs, after having been restored and revived in the 2000’s. For those aesthetes with the special fondness for the bygone, the Tower is choice #1. Across the street is Azucar for ice cream.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Another long running venue for the movie devotee is the Bill Cosford Cinema on the campus of the University of Miami. I always liked the Cosford because it made me feel young. However, recent accomodations to what someone thought was a changing demographic -- young people -- have made mass market films on their later go-round a complement to the offbeat and international. Two vending machines are on the concourse.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When the Miami Beach Cinematheque, AKA MBC, is not participating in a local film festival it still offers a wide-ranging selection of films. As its website points out, Dana Keith is the founder, director, driving force, and film connoisseur behind it all. I don’t know if Dana is also popping the corn, but to find out, you must go to the 1927, historic Carl Fischer-designed City Hall on Washington Avenue near Espanola Way. Of course, MBC has a bookstore/gallery/cafe space.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Last are the two O Cinema spaces, the original edgier one in Wynwood, and the newer, more classic spot in Miami Shores, also known as MTC, Miami Theater Center where it shares space with what is now known as playground. MTC was founded as the Shores Theater in 1946. Both O’s are part of the non-profit which happened thanks to matching funds from the Knight Foundation. When they can, the O Wynwood screens films like those about Bob Marley, the Cream’s Ginger Baker, and controversial prison revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal. MTC prefers features about the geriatric, the royal, and the indigent European in search of salvation. Wynwood serves chocolate ganache treats and in Miami Shores, there’s a Starbucks down the street.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In Miami, these are good times for filmgoers -- every day of the week.</span></div>
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Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-50514190693374594412013-02-20T12:42:00.000-08:002013-02-20T12:47:55.081-08:00The Death of Wynwood<br />
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For a while now, I have been thinking that the end is near. Since there is no such profession as an actual “future of the neighborhood” fact checker, the question remains -- Is the end of Wynwood near? Let’s say a little perspective is in order.</div>
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First, it is entirely fair dinkum to assume that some of our reading population does not know what I’m talking about. If you have a decent relationship with your college aged children and they have tats, piercings, or an inclination to speak of craft beer, GMO’s, or baristas, you are aware of the district near Midtown where Art Basel spinoffs and graffiti artists began digging in about a dozen years ago thanks to a desire, a need, and a beloved pioneer named Tony Goldman. If you have never visited Wynwood, perhaps this analogy will do.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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Remember the time before Ocean Drive was reborn. Art Deco structures populated a mostly decrepit, neglected stretch of what would become really valuable real estate between South 5th and South 15th on South Beach. Like a phoenix, it became grand in a short time after having fallen into Scarface disrepair. On the other hand, today, it is a desperate, immature, ugly 20 something visited by most of us only when our least sophisticated relatives make that once in a lifetime visit to South Florida and want to visit the Clevelander.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Illustration two is Lincoln Road, still pleasant though no one I know goes there very much any more because it’s too crowded. (Thank Groucho Marx for the joke) With the recent opening of European mass market God H&M, the transformation is virtually complete and fully corporatized. If you are a small business, I’ve got two words for you -- side streets -- because as former New York mayoral candidate Jimmy McMillan squealed, “The Rent is Too Damn High.”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So while I am certainly ahead of myself, simultaneously, I am not. Adjacent to Wynwood, the Design District has added Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Dior, and Prada. Hello Design District. Goodbye Bal Harbor. (and its claustrophobia) Target lives alongside Loehmann’s, Supercuts, Foot Locker, and Subway in midtown Miami, also next to Wynwood, so can you hear the clock ticking yet? Hipsters, artists, and franchises do not mix!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I am not complaining as it is inevitable for change to occur, but the folks who were first to the dance -- those with bikes and spray cans, will soon be stopped by the new bouncer they used to tag walls with. That said, Wynwood is entering its next transformation, and expect the avalanche to occur much more quickly than you think. Food trucks and their generators quickly wear out their welcome when NW 2nd Avenue is bumper to bumper and the masses prefer t-shirts to canvases.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When this occurs, some will be disappointed, but fret not; the transformation will continue elsewhere. Till then, though you might want to check out Model City or Little Haiti, my money is on whether anyone can spell Allapattah?</span></div>
Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-66851764870625585832012-12-31T06:28:00.000-08:002012-12-31T06:28:15.411-08:00Miami's Best of 2012<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QJ8JOiQBkUxbao87acjwAoY8OO22rdKEzsa2pxjtMmr3S_BVjRsBk_57JHaFkh6Li2D106OSBgdp17WvS9VNEHDMhHenWjHYEpoiA75zha_pIzyusHdvqvXgxV_nugb3-_T6D02YVVxp/s1600/IMG_2642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QJ8JOiQBkUxbao87acjwAoY8OO22rdKEzsa2pxjtMmr3S_BVjRsBk_57JHaFkh6Li2D106OSBgdp17WvS9VNEHDMhHenWjHYEpoiA75zha_pIzyusHdvqvXgxV_nugb3-_T6D02YVVxp/s320/IMG_2642.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Pulse Art Fair, Miami Project, Art Asia during Art Basel</span></span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Critical Mass Bicycle Rides (on the last Friday of every month)</span></span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Miami Heat becoming NBA Champs and Lebron doing his magnificent dance</span></span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>The Artist</i> being held over for several weeks at the Coral Gables Art Cinema </span></span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Marley</i>, 144 minutes of reggae rapture and respect screened at the O Cinema </span></span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Black Violin</i> laying low at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center</span></span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Miami Book Fair International: Miami Dade College keeping it literary for 29 years</span></span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Zak the Baker, Panther Coffee, Lagniappe: art, craft, eating, and drinking</span></span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">ULTRA musicfestival: massive electronic music bacchanal in Bayfront Park</span></span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Miami Made Festival at the Arsht: free, local, and creative</span></span></li>
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Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-79941626446803822912012-12-11T17:42:00.002-08:002012-12-11T17:44:25.040-08:00Thanks New Times<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-3391713326417938862012-12-05T18:46:00.003-08:002012-12-05T18:47:34.536-08:00Art Basel/Scope/Context<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-90503356123001287922012-12-01T06:14:00.001-08:002012-12-01T06:14:45.804-08:00Critical Mass November<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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<br />Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-2980456084602000932012-11-28T05:26:00.000-08:002012-11-28T05:30:54.517-08:00Art Basel: Miami Heat, Invader, Banksy, Graffiti<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just read that Art Basel Miami is the largest Art Fair in our hemisphere. I read that hotel occupancies for the week are through the roof with the average room rate in its highest, high season mode. Rooms are harder to get during Basel than any other event of the year, especially the upper end. In other words, good luck finding a bargain. The predicted local windfall: over 500 million. Naturally everyone is getting in the act. Aside from all the major events which trickle down from the main one, expect that many places will feature a DJ, sponsor a party, and produce a show this coming week. Everybody, everywhere!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even the Heat are involved. There is a mural on NE 29th Street painted last year and retouched last weekend by Serge Toussaint featuring the Miami Heat NBA champs from 2012. Also last year, local artist NFN Kalyan created a glass sculpture of Lebron featuring what amounted to King James being frozen and illuminated. Kalyan's work appeared at Red Dot in 2011. ESPN’s Jared Zwerling has been talking up the Art of Basketball: Heat Wave, in which street artists capture various images of the Heat’s run to the title last year. The NBA, of course, has given its stamp of approval.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Miami takes on outer space courtesy of Paris’ Space Invader. Perhaps you’ve caught a glimpse of 20 or so tile installations lurking mysteriously throughout the city recently? Invader’s contribution to Art Basel will be the exhibition of his latest takeover: Miami. Art4 Space will present the documentation of the spacecraft he launched here last summer. This will take place in a booth with the Jonathon Levine Gallery at Pulse in Midtown. Invader will distribute a map during the fair if you want to go see everything subsequently.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2001, Exit Through the Gift Shop was nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards. Though it did not win the Oscar, the film wove a tale in which a filmaker tried to follow British stencil artist Banksy but to no avail. Banksy Out of Context at Art Miami will reveal 5 massively heavy, representative pieces rescued and now privately owned. Never will salvage be so valuable. There will be those who argue about whether this should have been saved or not. Street art, like Buddhist sand paintings, may be made to be destroyed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though the highly hyped UR1 festival fell through -- sorry Kanye, sorry Lenny Kravitz -- big time musicians will also play here, like popular, Amer-Chilean Nicolas Jaar who will appear in Wynwood at Bardot. Listen to Mi Mujer for the vibe. On December 6th at the Gusman, Former Sonic Youth guitarist (born in coral Gables) Thurston Moore will be here to reminisce about Kurt Kobain at KURT, a multimedia art, dance, and film fest. Flying Lotus will appear at Grand Central. Canadian band Metric will play the Scoop kickoff party. Food will also play a role, with a comeback by pop-up Vietnamese Phuc Yea! and Phuc Mei! -- no kidding -- holding court at Scope. Expect to see our ubiquitous food trucks clogging local arteries in a new way; traffic should be dreadful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last shout goes out to the muralists. Last week, San Francisco’s Chor Boogie, South Africa’s Faith 47, her Chinese Beloved Dal, and Puerto Rico/Miami based La Pandilla were among those out and about painting walls in the city. The big remaining question is what will painted in the empty space where Shepard Fairey’s iconic Aang San Suu Kyi once sat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So now that we are up to our necks in articles, in paint, in murals, in music, and in food -- all in -- it’s time to take the plunge before Art Basel becomes too big too enjoy forevermore.</span></div>
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Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-37471718001521507562012-11-23T17:35:00.002-08:002012-11-24T05:19:06.840-08:00Everybody Painting for BaselLots of activity today in the MIA.<br />
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Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-86879751495309246672012-11-14T10:28:00.002-08:002012-11-14T10:48:27.813-08:00A Definitive Beginner’s Guide to Art Basel 2012<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Once again, Miami’s ultimate event is upon us. Sorry Super Bowl
lovers and other deniers. Had Sinead O’Connor been sunbathing instead of Irish,
she would have sung </span><i style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Nothing Compares 2
Basel.</i><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The primary, official venue for this event is the Miami Beach
Convention Center. Public show days are Thursday December 6 to Saturday
December 8, noon to 8pm and Sunday December 9 from noon to 6pm. I am among a
number of folks who are hopelessly addicted to this event and have been for
years, but full disclosure -- I have never actually attended it. Instead, I am
one of the satellite participants. For me every winter, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">two roads diverge in the MIA, and I -- I take
the one less traveled by, and this makes all the difference. Here are some
basic basics about the things going on in the city proper.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">During Art Basel week, jumbo white tents rise
throughout the city, mostly in the Midtown area. These tents move a bit like
Three Card Monte – one year they are here, another they are there, but if you
keep your eyes open and don’t gamble, you will be powerfully entertained and find
what you are looking for, and what you don’t.</span></div>
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</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">Let’s cut through the hype! Scope in Midtown,
Art Asia in Midtown and Pulse at the Ice Palace remain the best of the numerous
events that have sprung up over the years. Opinions are not facts, but no
matter what you hear, these four are the fairs to cover, the fairs to hang out
in, and ultimately, the fairs to gush over – the big dogs. The percentage of
pieces that shock, stun, mortify, inspire, turn heads, drop jaws, and create
laughs at Scope, Art Asia, and Pulse is likely to register most highly in the
polling -- you can trust these polls. Add Art Miami, the most traditional, and
no criticism implied, most easily comprehended by those who ever say, “That’s
not art!” These four fairs absorb what’s best in art -- never the lowest common
denominator. If “Awesome,” and “Omigod,” ever come out of your mouth, skip
these fairs and let others battle over the elusive parking spots -- this is
over your head plus it’s already far too crowded. Other locales -- Red Dot, and
NADA (on the Beach) also register on our wow-of-the-month-club. However, no one
<i>needs</i> to go to the Beach to get an easel on. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">There are always new things popping up during
this week. One seems to be another edition of Tribal Art Miami in the Red Dot
tent. New to the scene is Miami Project, which will showcase a number of emerging
talents from American galleries; this will be located next to Art Miami. Also
new is Context which will feature 65 contemporary galleries plus seven from
Berlin with names like Franziska, Christine, and Eva. Overture in Midtown will
show some Warhol. Just Mad Miami is a Madrid-based crew promising to link Anglo
and Latino concepts -- sounds right at home. Artexpo Miami and the Miami River
Art Fair are other potential must sees. Rumor has it the Heat are also getting
involved in something.</span></span></div>
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</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">If you decide to go, it can be a challenge to
navigate it all. There are shuttles from the Beach for our beloved tourists,
but for those of us dug in locally, you gotta somehow get there right? If you
are a Wynwood goer, you can stop reading for a spell. Otherwise, pay attention.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">There is going to be a lot of traffic. As a
local, perhaps you’ve got the maneuverability skillz you need to navigate. If
so, there is reasonably abundant free parking on side streets nearby which is
far less dodgy than it may feel to one whose amygdala is an intracoastal of
fear. However, you may have to search for this parking. Plan B, the easiest
route, means getting on 95 North, going to I-195 East, then exiting on Miami
Avenue going south. If you don’t know the territory, this is the easiest route.
If driving is not your thing, there are new trolleys which may go straight on
from the Omni MetroMover. None of these will get you to the Ice Palace though.
For Pulse, you are on your own, but it is deeply worth the trouble.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
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</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Finally, it is way above my language ability to describe what you
might find during this week -- several steps beyond. Have no fear, be patient,
wear your grooviest walking shoes, your blackest black jeans, a pair of Belgian
architect’s specs, and you will be rewarded.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-15650824847413462732012-10-27T06:30:00.000-07:002012-11-14T10:51:56.995-08:00The Antidote<h2>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now that the bruising, 24-hour-a-day election madness of the last several months which has wreaked havoc on my sleep and ruined relationships from coast to coast is nearly finished, I’ve got good news -- a three part antidote is available immediately courtesy of our friends at the Arsht.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Where I hail from, the drumline was an every Saturday event. Before my local Cougars would play football, the band would take the field and that was that. The high steppers, drum majors, flag twirlers, majorettes, baton twirlers, and horns would get down on it while the drummers -- bass, snare, tenor, and cymbol -- ruled the roost. All over the country, high school bands would take to the field and perform their version of the hits of the day. I remember hearing Kool and the Gang, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Earth Wind and Fire’s Celebrate. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Historically Black Colleges and Universities have been at the forefront of this movement. Earlier this year in St. Louis, Show-Me Sound held its 3rd annual Drumline competition. Participating drum ensembles included Central State University’s “Invincible Marching Marauders,” Harris Stowe State University’s “Phunk,” Howard University’s “Thunder Machine,” Kentucky State University’s “Soul Section #1,” Langston University’s “DEN,” Lincoln University’s “Groove Dynasty” and North Carolina A&T University’s “Cold Steel.” I heard Cold Steel in Berlin playing with German rapper Peter Fox a few summers ago. This is big business with a long history, as evidenced by Honda’s sponsorship of the Battle of the Bands.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">On November 11 at 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m, The Arsht Center will present Drumline Live at the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall. Half of the cast contains local talent with roots related to Florida A & M’s famous (then infamous) Marching 100. Get ready to get down if you go. Tickets are $25 and $55 and may be purchased through the Arsht Center box office by calling 305 949-6722, or online at <a href="http://arshtcenter.org/">arshtcenter.org</a></span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://arshtcenter.org/"><br /></a></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Google Lagrimas Negras and Diego El Cigala and you will get treated to an assortment of fine, YouTube versions of the Spanish flamenco-gypsy singer doing it along with extraordinary Cuban pianist <a href="http://www.youtube.com/artist/Bebo_Vald%C3%A9s?feature=watch_video_title">Bebo Valdés</a>. Take 30 minutes then come back and read the rest of this.</span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">El Cigala will visit us at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday November 10th at 8:30. Tickets start at $40. Like athletes and mobsters, flamenco singers have nicknames. El Cigala means Norway lobster; Diego -- well -- kinda looks like one. Spanish Romani people are known as Gitanos. The names Gypsy, Roma, Romani, Gitano all mean the same things and are used interchangably, dissatisfying those who frown on all the historical baggage attached to the names.</span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Finally, the Live at Knight Series at Miami’s Arsht Center will bring us Macy Gray’s soulful singing on November 8th at 8:30. Maybe you remember Ms. Gray, she of the smoky, scratchy voice and 2001 Grammy Award for “I Try.” After having made it, she went to work with a global coterie of stars -- Italian pop-star Zucchero, DJ/Producer Fatboy Slim, classic guitar idol Jeff Beck, and eccentric/cerebral Erykah Badu among others -- before toying with covers of Prince, Rod Stewart, and Radiohead. This led to her latest venture, Covered, where Ms. Gray has gone all in on the concept, reimagining Sublime, Mettalica, Eurythmics, and Arcade Fire. Just the material alone should be tempting.</span></span></h2>
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Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-87869090120020648392012-10-17T07:53:00.003-07:002012-10-17T07:57:56.176-07:00Talib Kweli: Idle Warship with RES at the Adrienne Arsht Center<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There aren’t that many opportunities to use future perfect tense any more, but by the time you read this column, I will have seen Friday, October 19th’s</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; letter-spacing: 0px;">Talib</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Kweli concert Live at the Knight at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I had hoped that I might have the chance to interview Kweli and RES, but his people and my people -- well you know how it goes. Gino Campodonico from the Arsht Center went out of his way -- deeply out of his way -- to arrange an interview with Kweli and collaborator RES from their new duo Idle Warship. Now I owe everyone an apology because my work and home life got in the way -- I missed the email AND the phone call.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">“In Moment of Clarity “ from Jay-Z’s splendid Black Album, J-Hova says, "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">Talib</span> Kweli.” In Kweli’s track "Ghetto Show" from the Beautiful Struggle, Kweli responds by stating "If lyrics sold then truth be told/I'd probably be just as rich and famous as Jay Z." </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">So I’m left to describe what I would have asked had I had the esteemed young brother on the line.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Me: Sorry I missed the call.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Kweli: I should hang up now.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Me: Sorry, sorry, sorry. You have been doing your thing for a while now? Is this what you expected? What is happening with lyrics these days? </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Kweli: Well, kids change. They love poems, Sesame Street, Big Bird, and get into poetry slams. On the other hand, texting, Twitter, and Facebook are not the most grammatically accurate platforms. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Me: How much credit does your mother get for you being a good lyricist? She’s an English professor right? Your father also has the academic/university background right?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Kweli: Are you talking about my momma? Truthfully, I was raised properly. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Me: You’ve worked with everyone and they with you. Jay Z, Nas, Mos Def, Common, KRS, the Roots, Kanye, Mary J. Blige, the Neptunes. What’s the vibe like with so many successful people? Who is the boss when the talented get together?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Kweli: Bruce Springsteen is the Boss. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Me: In 2004, you recorded The Beautiful Struggle: Does the struggle remain beautiful? Do the inspirations remain?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Kweli: The struggle remains a struggle for millions. It was beautiful for me so I want to remain optimistic.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Me: How does the Yankee hat go over in LA? Have you been converted? Does your family prefer California? </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Kweli: In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do. But look at that mountain. Look at that tree. I love LA. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Me: Talk to me about the MIA. Isn’t the Knight a gorgeous facility?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Kweli: Lebron, Crockett, Tubbs, Anna Kournikova, Dwyane Wade, Gloria Estefan, Pitbull, Ricky Martin, sun, sand, graffiti -- hundred thousand dollar cars, e’rybody got ‘em. The Knight is a blessing. I know we don’t nee another hero, but Adrienne Arsht is a hero.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">That’s what I would have asked <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">Talib</span> Kweli had I not been a working man with responsibilities. So by the time you read this, hopefully, I will have enjoyed last Friday’s concert immensely. Future perfect tense lives!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Hopefully, there’s always next time for an interview. Given the Arsht’s fine upcoming schedule, I am going to beg Gino to schedule a moment way in advance with bassist Esperanza Spalding, scheduled to play on April 19, 2013. Then, I will be able to write in present tense.</span></div>
Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-69806918007385900612012-09-17T13:08:00.000-07:002012-09-25T07:16:01.529-07:00Critical Mass Miami <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px;">The intersection of many of my favorite things occurs during the last Friday of the month’s Critical Mass. There may be no raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but there are a few thousand people, a couple of hours of exercise, fleeting neighborhood visitations, and a number of baddass bikes to accompany the newly restored clunker some may have taken to Andres at the Miami Recycle Bicycle Shop or the good folks at the Magic City Bicycle Collective. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #888888; font-family: Bitter, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 11px;">photo from Jordan Melnick/beachedmiami.com</span></div>
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Every month. the word filters out to more folks looking to get in touch with their inner -- I don’t know -- hipster? The assembly begins shortly after 6:30 at the Metrorail’s Government Center. By the time the ride begins at 7:15, the entire block is festively thronged by colorful participants -- as Q-Tip might say, a vivrant thing. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To channel another musical theme, in Miami, the Creator has a master plan and it includes bikes. While Miami isn’t Amsterdam, it’s safe to say that there are a fair number of aspiring originators, devisers, inventors, and masterminds adorning wheels with aplomb. Some of these skills extend to rolling sound systems; lots of people like to ride near one of the folks blasting reggae. Another rocks the 80’s. There is a Chinese Jamaican guy with his toddler on the bike seat pumping out straight, parental sticker hip-hop. As I said, it’s a colorful crowd.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The routes change monthly, but there are recurring motifs. From Government Center, everyone goes west, under 95, then over the Miami River. For those of you who like amusement parks and NASCAR crashes, this is the most thrilling part of the route. If you survive this, chances are, the only impending worry newcomers may have is some diaper rash. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Then, one just pedals through the neighborhoods most have only encountered on the exploitative local newscasts at 11 -- East Little Havana, Overtown, Allapattah, Model City, Little Haiti, and Beverly Terrace. There, the masses outside the public housing, hair salons and fritangas come out to greet you. “Welcome to the hood,” one grandmother shouted last month. Of course, Calle Ocho, Miracle Mile, Brickell, and Biscayne also appear. Here, everyone in high heels seems to be using the iphone to record a video. Corkers politely block the intersections and make apologetic conversation. They are firm and respectful. Occasionally, a driver gets bold -- for a loud, angry moment at least. After a swarm of outraged bicyclists surround him, there is usually peace in numbers. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">From beginning to end, month after month, what one experiences on the ride is the art of the street. Critical Mass gauges the pulse of a city through a mass determined to enjoy the street, to share the street, to breathe the street, and to feel the neighborhoods that explain the streets. For thousands of people who dream of an urban-connected Miami, this is their favorite two hours of the month.</span></div>
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Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-26019481355268714642012-08-25T06:01:00.001-07:002012-09-17T13:13:22.159-07:00Bread Lines<a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7242/7375639822_e34342daba_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="photo by Matt Degraff" border="0" height="213" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7242/7375639822_e34342daba_b.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I owe a bunch of my friends an apology. They warn me that with the way that things are going, I shouldn't be surprised if people end up in bread lines again. I argue with them, hoping that things will not deteriorate so badly, but alas, they are right -- sort of.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Much to my surprise, I have seen this happen repeatedly at the Green Market in Pinecrest. For the last several months people have lined up patiently waiting for their bread. In a time where people fight desperately to claim and gain the status of victim, this is the ultimate irony: the bread is organic and the people lined up are from the -- forgive me -- upper crust. The cause of all this misery is a young fellow known as Zak the Baker.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There seem to be no breadlines for the privileged that I can recall, but Zak the Baker causes a ruckus among the gifted at this Farmer's Market. Every Sunday morning, a line begins forming before 9:30 near the caramel corn stand. One of Zak's apprentices cuts a loaf which, immediately after sampling, creates a sort of mysterious instant addiction, especially for those patrons who have ever visited Europe. Clearly, Zak is harming the community by offering addictive sourdough breads baked under the cover of darkness in a secret location somewhere west of US 1. He is an artisan, but witness the lines, and you make think he is a magician, shaman, or charlatan. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Zak hypnotizes those who queue up by playing jazz on a little throwback phonograph. The daily offerings -- olive and za'ater, cranberry walnut, multigrain, and whole wheat -- are thoughfully carefully wrapped in plain brown paper. Returnees to the line looked hopelessly hooked and spaced out in the moist summer steam -- give us today our daily bread they seem to say.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Zak the Baker’s website (<a href="http://zakthebaker.com/"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px color: #0225a3; text-decoration: underline;">http://zakthebaker.com</span></a>/) is a thing of beauty. Frankly, the video made by Matt Degreff is medal-worthy. With all the, forgive me, cheesy crap that passes us posing as art, these few minutes are aesthetic and inspiring. What you hear and see makes you feel, and what you feel makes you want to eat. It defines perfectly what Zak is doing, and it seems, what he is thinking. Please let me in on the longer length documentary, brothers! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If you want go to the Green Market and avoid the bread lines because you somehow have come to feel guilty about the economics in America which now makes the wealthy have to stand in the sun just to get their favorite staple ingredient, the good news is that Zak is sold out, wrapped up, and on the road before your teenaged kids wake up. </span></div>
Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-3193777298862202592012-08-18T08:50:00.001-07:002012-09-17T13:14:30.274-07:00An Eye for Beauty Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Miami has been endowed by its creator with some extraordinary beauty. The sky, the clouds, the sea -- as Wesley Snipes once said to Angela Bassett -- absolutely splendid. For me, there is nothing more lovely than a stand of oak trees. On the other hand ...<br />
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Miami's southern suburbs are a monument to bad taste. The monstrous mansions and spacious gardens are built and maintained by the very immigrants that the (Republican) voters who own the obscene spaces would like to evict from the country. I'm not sure how long one's string trimmer or hedge cutter has to be in order to reach Pinecrest from Mexico, but I suspect that local churches might want to avoid screening A Day Without a Mexican to avoid a widespread panic in the pews.<br />
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<br />Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-85351735777681776772012-08-11T11:19:00.001-07:002012-09-17T13:16:36.914-07:00Coral Gables Art Cinema<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">When it's hot, the Arts take a back seat to things like those one can do inside a nice cozy air-conditioned space. With this in mind, I thought I'd skip the August art walks and in order to fill my need for something creative, gave a shout out to the Coral Gables Art Cinema where the good people there hooked me up with tickets to see Woody Allen's To Rome With Love. To make a long story short -- good move.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">I love this theater from top to bottom; considering that it is connected to a several story high parking garage, it is big from top to bottom. Most of what they screen is profoundly well-received by its devotees; this Woody Allen film was on its 6th week. In the art house world, this is an eternity. Big respect to the theater for extending it and extending it, because it was hilarious. I don't think I'm exaggerating; the audience madly loved this film. Furthermore, I would love to write about Woody Allen's latest venture; however, this is about the Coral Gables Art Cinema.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">About two years ago, this theater opened, screening year-round, daily films unlike those found at the mall. The website says programs will be "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">vibrant, diverse, multicultural and multilingual." So far, so good. I've seen a handful of films there; it's a great place. Moreover, there are events held often -- lectures, discussions, wine tastings, etc. The Cinema is a non-profit, so you can contribute and become a member, and I suppose help raise funds like for WDNA and WLRN. Film, Jazz, NPR -- all good things to me.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cinema Director Robert Rosenberg has good taste, and though I realize that this is both debatable and pithy, there are such things as quality and expertise. Chefs know more than kids about food. Eric Spoelsta knows more about basketball than fans. Democrats know more about birth certificates than Donald Trump. Robert Rosenberg knows more about good film than my son. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Summer in Miami can be unforgiving. We all know this. Shallow as it sounds, as one whose "favorite" all-time film is Cinema Paradiso, I have had a long long love affair with film, art house in particular. Going to the movies is particularly enjoyable here in the rainy season. When it's hot, the Coral Gables Art Cinema always has something cool to offer.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you don't agree and you would like this column to be yours, try a hostile takeover. </span></span><br />
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<br />Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491699539292484655.post-73378354160648744752012-08-04T16:34:00.001-07:002012-08-04T16:37:04.269-07:00Pawns Happy About Crumbs<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s tax free shopping time in Florida, and as always, the people who are saving pennies on the dollar are unable to see the picture before them. One young lady proffered her receipt happily showing how her $83 receipt saved her $113. The Channel 7 reporter on duty at the Dolphin Mall let it slip by.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If I have my information correct, public schools are being sliced up like tomatoes on cable at 3 o’clock in the morning. Teachers are being laid off, class sizes grow like wastelines, and arts and sports programs are deemed unnecessary.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lots of people complain about their taxes being too high. One party wants to extend the tax breaks -- the Bush tax cuts -- to the richest members of American society. Theoretically, taxes provide services. Parks, roads, the green strips west of my curb, FIU, Miami Dade College, Florida Memorial, high schools, middle schools, elementary schools, police, firefighters, buses, Metrorail, the beach, garbage pickup, the US mail all depend upon tax revenues. So does my social security.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ben Franklin talked about being penny wise and pound foolish. Being excited about saving $7 on the $100 may feel good for a spell as one gets to spend the spoils on Chick-fil-A or some other newsworthy place, but perhaps tax-free incentives like Florida’s are simply some sort of tricky gimmick aimed to deceive a foolish population.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In any case, what I think doesn't matter. All over the state, Florida citizens are ecstatic about the "savings" they have incurred this weekend.</span></div>Big Time Jones aka CRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798943034236816306noreply@blogger.com0