The Story Matters
Win! Win! Win! p. 16 Send in your kid-friendly playdate ideas and win passes to the Miami Children’s Museum
Vol. XXIV No.42
October 15, 2009
Visit us at miamisunpost.com
BRILLIANT BABELOGRAPHY Hood Chats With Miami Author Gerald Posner On His New Book Miami Babylon And The Key Players Who Shaped South Beach Page 10
M AY H E M P. 4
P R O F I L E P. 6
H I S T O R Y P. 8
C A L E N D A R P. 1 4
4 1 1 P. 1 8
B O U N D P. 2 0
P O TAT I O N P. 2 2
F A S H I O N P. 2 4
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kim Stark kim@miamisunpost.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Marguerite Gil Mary Louise English
PRESIDENT and CO-PUBLISHER Jeannette Stark jeannette@miamisunpost.com CO-PUBLISHER Kim Stark kim@miamisunpost.com
Helen Hill John Hood Paula Pellegrino
ACCOUNTING Sandie Friedman
Mary Jo Almeida-Shore Susan Richard Kim Steiner
SENIOR SALES DIRECTOR Stuart Tamsit
Michael Sasser SALES DIRECTOR COPY EDITOR
Jamie Nunez
Mary Louise English PUBLISHER EMERITUS CALENDAR EDITOR
Felix Stark (1929-1995)
Jake Orsinni calendar@miamisunpost.com
MAILING ADDRESS P.O. Box 191870, Miami Beach, FL
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
33119
Jeffrey Delannoy Eitan Moshe Klein
SOUTH FLORIDA’S BEST IRISH PUB
Mary Jo Almeida-Shore
MAIN LINE 305.538.9797 MAIN FAX 305.538.9774
Marguerite Gil WEB SITE miamisunpost.com
HAPPY HOUR MONDAY - FRIDAY 4-7PM
PRODUCTION Blue Studio
AUTHENTIC IRISH FOOD IMPORTED BEERS ON TAP EXTENSIVE WINE LIST LIVE BANDS, BILLIARDS, RUGBY, SOCCER, FOOTBALL & UFC OPEN 8AM TO 5AM
www.waxys.com
1248 WASHINGTON AVE, MIAMI BEACH, FL 305.534.7824 Page 2 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
FOR ADVERTISING & RATE INFO: Please call 305.538.9797 or email kim@miamisunpost.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS First class mailing subscriptions are available at $150 per year. Call 305.538.9797. Copyright: The entire contents of SunPost are copyright 2008 by Caxton Newspapers Inc. No portion may be reproduced in whole or part by any means including electronic media without the express written consent of the publisher.
Covering Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Surfside, Bay Harbor Islands, Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami, North Miami Beach and Aventura, Coconut Grove, Brickell Avenue, Downtown, Design District, Wynwood, Upper Eastside, and Miami Shores.
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • October 15, 2009 • Page 3
Tropical Mayhem BITS AND PIECES OF MIAMI LIFE
Because it’s Fashion Week in Miami, we thought we would talk about shoes. Not just any shoes, but the wierdest, wackiest, most inventive we have ever come across.
Julian Hakes designed these fascinating shoes with no sole. The support is there, though, for the heel and ball of the foot, which forms a natural bridge between the two. In the course of designing, he had tracing paper and masking tape on his foot, drew the patterns, and then used a scalpel to cut it off
It’s all about the shoe KIDS MARLINS POSTER CONTEST Kids are invited to create their very own Florida Marlins Community Foundation Holiday Greeting Card. The winning card will be the Community Foundation's signature card for the 2009 Holiday Season. All entries will be eligible for the Grand Prize - a VIP tour, 4 infield box seats to a 2010 Marlins home game, pre-game onfield recognition and an autographed item from the Marlins. Three honorable mention winners will receive 4 infield box seats to a 2010 Marlins home game, pre-game on-field recognition and an autographed player card. Submission deadline is November 6th, 2009. marlins.com for info.
"If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream." —Barry Goldwater.”
Maki Aminaka (Löfvander) and Marcus Wilmont (Aminaka Wilmont) introduced their sole-less shoes in London during the 2008 London Fashion Week. With a good pedicure, anyone can carry off this look
These give platform shoes a new meaning.
Sip a Classic Cocktail at Bardot Speakeasy in Wynwood Miami now has it’s own Speakeasy, with the opening of Bardot. Named for the elusive Bridgette Bardot, this nostalgic spot is from Amir Ben-Zion, the genius behind Bond St. Fabulous, hip furniture, classic cocktails an delicious nibbles are all part of the plan. Bardot, 34th Street and North Miami Avenue, entrance in back alley, Wynwood. Look for the red awning. (305-576-5570 or bardotmiami.com). Page 4 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
$3.00 OFF HAND CAR WASH Not combined with other offer
$15.00 OFF HAND CAR WAX Not combined with other offer
$15.00 OFF A FULL CAR WINDOW TINTING
Not combined with other offer
$25.00 OFF FULL DETAIL Not combined with other offer
MVR #25108466
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • Page 5
PHOTO: ETIAN KLEIN
PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY YOU SHOULD KNOW
Michael & Colin Feuling Visionaries By Helen Hill Ask Michael Feuling a question about real estate in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood and he’s sure to know the answer. As an enthusiastic resident of the South Pointe area, and a Realtor Associate with Carson Realty Group, Inc, he’s become the expert on the upscale buildings that define the most prized neighborhood in Miami Beach. “I fell in love with South Beach when I used to visit from my home in New York City,” Feuling says. When he saw the burgeoning development South of Fifth, he bought his first condo and flew down whenever he could. Five years ago, he made the move to full-time resident, and embarked on a new career, switching from big-city sales and a position as marketing executive with Ralph Lauren to Miami Beach real estate agent. Two years ago he was joined by his son Colin, who brought a background in the mortgage industry to the father-and-son team that went on to launch Sobeagent.com. He’s still in love with the South of Fifth area, a mainly residential neighborhood enhanced by a wide sandy beach, the revitalized South Pointe Park and the active Miami Beach Marina. “I think South of Fifth has an easy-going urban resort feel that doesn’t feel crowded and everything is within walking distance,” Michael Feuling says. He likes the convenience of having such landmark restaurants as Joe’s Stone Crab, Smith & Wollensky and Red, The Steakhouse as neighbors, and dozens of eateries, clubs and stores just blocks away. “It’s so convenient here, I can buzz around on my Vespa scooter to meet clients and show listings. I hardly ever have to get into my car.” Feuling believes that South of Fifth, with its concentration of luxury waterfront condominiums, is a great place to buy because the area is holding its value, even in this economy. “Yes there are deals, but this neighborhood dispels what you read in the press; the doom and gloom hasn’t happened in South of Fifth in the same way Page 6 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
as elsewhere,” Feuling says, adding that prices dropped just 14 percent in 2008 versus 2007, roughly half the decline in some other Miami areas. In 2008, the number of units sold were up 20 percent over 2007 in the seven top buildings open more than one year: Continuum South, Icon, Murano Grande, Murano at Portofino, Portofino, South Pointe Towers, and the Yacht Club. The new super-luxury Apogee and Continuum North buildings are creating even more activity in what’s been described as “the most sought-after area in Miami.” So who is buying condo units these days? Feuling pinpoints the second home buying market. “The South of Fifth real estate market has held its value much better than other investments. It makes sense to invest in a tangible asset that you can enjoy like South Beach real estate, rather than investing in the uncertainty of the stock market.” Feuling, who achieved record sales in 2008, attributes the success of his father-and-son team to a serious work ethic that utilizes his marketing and sales background and acumen in selling real estate. “‘No’ is not in our vocabulary,” He says. “We’ve brought a pin-striped suit sensibility to real estate by being the consummate professionals.” That means always being on time for appointments, returning phone calls promptly and going over and above what’s required, even if potential buyers want to see the view from a building at 11 p.m.” The Feuling team often oversees renovations and has been known to check on apartments when the owners are away. They’ve also helped clients furnish their homes so they can move right in. “When you hire us you get us in person, not a lockbox or keys at the concierge desk. Trust is part of our customer service, and as a result of this trust, our clients are now our friends.”
PRIVATE
Tutoring in SPANISH Babies to Teens GAMES READING SONGS DRAWING VISUAL AIDS
Daily + Weekends In Your Home
786.768.3125 PAULA QUINCENO
REFERENCES AVAILABLE
privatespanishlessonforkids@hotmail.com
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • Page 7
A Special Moment in Time COLUMN
A Seed is Planted By Seth H. Bramson mrfec@yahoo.com
As noted in the last column, Ezra Osborn and Elnathan Field purchased, in 1882, for 75 cents an acre, the mangrove island sandbar from the Lums, father and son, which the latter had bought from the Florida Internal Improvement Fund in 1870 for 35 cents per acre. Field and Osborn had great plans for the island, which were to clear most of it and begin a coconut plantation. No dummies they, and recognizing the value of the land even then, Field and Osborn proceeded to purchase a strip of land along the oceanfront — and what a "strip" it was! From the southernmost tip of Key Biscayne to a point just north of Jupiter (all of that then in Dade County), Field and Osborn, at prices ranging from 75 cents to $1.25 an acre, bought the land. (Like Harvey Baker Graves' 1919 purchase for $60,000 of the 1800 acres that would become Sunny Isles and the Graves Tract on the mainland in the 1920s, just try imagining the appreciation of the land had the various parties held on to it!) Field and Osborn, who like the Lums were from New Jersey, brought in cranes, dredges and men, all from New Jersey, along with 334,000 coconut sprouts, 155,000 of which were planted on the island on the east side of Biscayne Bay; the rest were distributed throughout the region. The local fauna found the coconut sprouts delectable and made short work of the Jerseyites' investment. Field and Osborn returned to New Jersey. Although somewhat dejected, they sought out another pige... er, interested investor. They found him in the person of one John S. Collins, who, listening intently to the stories of the paradise along the lower east coast of Florida, told his family, which included his son-in-law and partner Thomas J. Pancoast and his three sons, that he was going to make a trip "down there" to see what Field and Osborn were waxing so rhapsodically about. Collins, by train to Jacksonville and by steamship from there to the dock at Palm Beach, then by buckboard and small boat to the only dock then used for navigable vessels in Biscayne Bay, at a place known today as "Little Haiti" but for many, many years as "Lemon City,” made the less-than-pleasant trip. With Field and Osborn leading the way, Collins was taken across Biscayne Bay to "the plantation," where Field and Osborn explained the potential. Collins listened carefully and in his mind formulated a plan for a different kind of plantation — one that would grow mangoes, papaya, avocado and potatoes. Collins made the purchase, buying the island (but not the rest of their property) from Field and Osborn for $1.25 an acre, which, giving them a very nice profit of 50 cents an acre, at least covered a good part of their loss on the coconuts. Collins began to lay out rows of seedlings, planting the various fruits and vegetables, pouring money into the development. The money rapidly leaving New Jersey caught the eye of son-in-law Pancoast, who was actually Collins’ partner in their mercantile business in Merchantville. Pancoast alerted his close friends and brothersin-law and the four of them decided that "the old man" was crazy and had to be brought back to New Jersey, forcibly if necessary. The four men came down and were greeted warmly by the old man, who took them on a tour of the island, explaining what he was doing and laying out the profits that would inure from the project. To their initial amazement, the senior made sense and Pancoast and the three sons not only took an interest but became convinced that their father and father-in-law was "crazy like a fox." With their blessings, Pancoast became Collins' partner in the venture. NEXT ISSUE: The plantation develops — and so does the island! Seth H. Bramson is Adjunct Professor of History at both FIU and Barry University and is the author of Miami Beach in Arcadia's "Images of America" series and Sunshine, Stone Crabs and Cheesecake: The Story of Miami Beach, published by The History Press. Both are available in local book stores. Page 8 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
Clockwise from above: 1: Shown in the process of being cleared, this is what the Lums, Osborn and Field, Collins, Pancoast and Fisher faced as they began to transform a large sandbar/island from a wilderness first into farmland and then into a great city. 2: On the beach at Ocean Beach. Mostly deserted, visited only by adventurers or excursionists from the mainland, this strip of sand would eventually become Miami Beach. (The identities of the two men are unknown, although it has been suggested that Thomas Pancoast might be at left, with John S. Collins at right.) 3: Although the exact location of this image is unknown, it is likely at or near the Ocean Beach ferryboat landing on the west side of the island, close to today’s Biscayne Street. 4: Born on December 28, 1837, in Moorestown, New Jersey, John S. Collins was close to seventy-five years old when this picture was taken in 1912. When Collins died on February 11, 1928, he was more than ninety years old, and the sandbar/island that he first saw in 1896 was unrecognizable. Although Carl Fisher would be the builder of Miami Beach, it was because of John S. Collins that Fisher’s recognition and reputation was far greater than just an association with the automobile and roadbuilding industries. Courtesy City of Miami Beach.
5: The Ocean Beach Realty Company published a series of now incredibly rare postcards, including this one. In this view, one of the few known to show the O.B. Realty Company’s office, which is on the left, the caption tells us that the road is being constructed to connect with Miami; the problem is that it is unclear if this is what would become Collins Avenue or Alton Road. It is not what would later be Dade Boulevard.
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • October 15, 2009 • Page 9
COVER STORY
BRILLIANT BABELOGRAPHY Hood chats with Miami author Gerald Posner on his new book Miami Babylon and the key players who shaped South Beach Written by John Hood
There must be something about our town that makes for a good story. Why else would the likes of Joan Didion and David Reiff and Alexander Stuart et al. swing down to write all about us? Of course, none of the esteemed would have even put Miami on their map had our town not been the source of continuous craziness. The odd thing about it though is that, so far as I know, none of the crazies see us that way at all. Then again, it’s sometimes difficult to spot what’s right in front of your very own mug, no matter how much time you spend staring at it. But if we took time out to write about ourselves, we wouldn’t be able to live as fully as we do. That’s why we need folks like those mentioned above to remind us that the way we live is unlike any other way in the whole wild world. The latest to take our pulse is Gerald Posner, chief investigative reporter at The Daily Beast and author of works on such notorious figures as Joseph Mengele and James Earl Ray. Posner, initially, was greeted by Miami’s players with wide open arms. Then, once they got a gander at what he’d written in his Miami Babylon, they closed him off as quickly as the click from a velvet rope. In fact, two of our town’s most visible ops were so incensed by a couple of the portrayals they rescinded their invitations to throw Posner a book party. Me? I took issue with some of the club stuff, which almost reminded me of Michelle McPhee’s incredibly misinformed Mob Over Miami and missed many of the most salient points. But from what I gather, the politics and the crime research all check out. And since that makes up the bulk of Babylon, my gripes are meager. I caught Posner on the eve of his Books and Books reading and asked him about pissing off some of the players. Here’s what he said:
Posner cont’d from page 12 John Hood: How did Miami get on your map in the first place? Gerald Posner: Actually, it wasn't my choice. The book I was doing and still am doing is a book on the business of the Vatican. Sort of like inside the Vatican. How they made their money. What did they redo? I had a second book that's part of the contract with Random House but it was unnamed. No one knew what it was. So first book Vatican, second book unnamed. I could never figure out anything that they wanted. So my agent said, “You want to go talk to another publisher. Maybe we'll get a set book figured out and you'll know what you're working on.” I said, “Great.” So we went to Simon & Schuster where I know these guys. Long and short, I pitched two proposals to them for the second book. One was “Big Pharma,” sort of an overall investigation of the pharmaceutical industry. How they pay doctors to push the drugs — everything else. And the second one was this like crazy overarching idea of the fall of the American Empire, the decline of the American Empire. I pitched both of those to them in person. I was up there with [my wife] Trish. These guys said to us at the end, “By the way, why'd you guys move after 25 years to Miami from New York?” We sort of told them for 10 or 15 minutes just why. Why we liked this place, unusual crazy town, what it's like. And a week later the agent called back and said, “You know what? They want to do a second book with you, but they actually want to do it first and they want it to be about Miami. And we went, “Huh?” You're sitting here and you never thought of it as a book. If you'd told me beforehand do it as a book, I would've said, “What?” Then, we had a thing about, OK... We live here. We don't want to move. We like it. The work’s normally investigative. So, what's it going to be? And then I didn't know if it was going to be Miami or Miami Beach. Then it turned out to be Miami Beach. It was only going to be from Mariel boatlift to the present day. That was it. I figured pick an artificial starting point, 1980, and do the last 29 years. And then it turned out to be Carl Fisher and deserted sandbar. So it changed as it went along. There are great books about Miami, Joan Didion's for one. Rothschild's Up for Grabs. Rieff has a book. Yeah, there's a lot. And Joan Didion is good just on Miami. But I think Joan Didion, who's such a great lyrical writer — she didn't come alive with Miami. She tells this story of immigration and everything else in Miami. But Rothschild's, I think is a great book, right? Yeah. Well, he was living here. I think it bled into him a little bit more. Right. You're right. What do you think makes our town such interesting fodder? Well, I think there are two things. First of all, at least for the Beach: the fact that it's a fake place. You work here. You
1913 - Joe and Jenny Weiss at their seafood restaurant on the south tip of Miami Beach
know this from being in the ‘90s. The place was not created because people came here to escape religious persecution, or wanted extra freedom or whatever else. It was just created out of nothing, as a resort. This guy saw it and said, “Hey, great location right on the ocean. Let's make it a resort.” The only other place like it is Vegas, really, in terms of being created out of nothing. The difference is of course
Page 12 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
that it's across the causeway from one of the biggest poor cities in America. So it's this unusual juxtaposition. And I do think Miami in some ways, like California used to be, is the last frontier for people getting away from other places. You get down here to South Florida, you're as close as you can be to the rest of the country, and still
Please see Posner on page 24
www.goldbuyerflorida.com
THEY WON'T TAKE YOUR GOLD AND JEWELRY BUT WE WILL! We Pay Cash • Free Estimates
TOP $$$ PAID No matter how large or small your transaction, we pay cash
WE BUY OLD, UNWANTED, AND BROKEN JEWELRY SILVER, PLATINUM, DIAMONDS
305.454.0019
GRAND OPENING of NEW location November 1st 2009
15540 Biscayne Blvd, North Miami Directly across the North Dade Justice Center
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • Page 13
Calendar WHAT TO DO IN MIAMI THIS WEEK
DESIGNER KARL LARGERFELD
Page 14 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
OCTOBER 16
SAVE THE DATE:
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31:
ART Hope Blossoms
DR. WILDE’S SCREAMATORIUM A fabulous fun time of all you ghouls and goblins! Starting this weekend and running until Halloween night is the very scary, Dr. Wilde's Screamatorium. The 7000 square-foot house is filled with scary monstrosities liked bloodfilled butcher shops, ghouls, ghosties, creepy crawlies, living corpses and eerie graveyards. Killer music by Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Oooh, scary! Not suitable for the little ones, but teenagers will get a huge kick. $5. 9:30am 5:30pm. Miami Metrozoo, 12400 SW 152nd St., South Miami-Dade. For info: 305-251-0400 or miamimetrozoo.com.
An unusual, but exciting art event at the Margulies Warehouse in Wynwood, is Hope Blossoms: An Art Happening. In it's fifth year, this event gathers together the powerhouse creatives of Miami to raise money for the Lotus House Women's Shelter. In this artistic adventure, artists representing every form of artistic medium come together and engange the audience in spontaneous works of art. $100. 8pm. Margulies Warehouse, 591 NW 27th St., Miami. For info: 305-576-1051.
OCTOBER 15-18 FASHION Free Rockin’ Grooves Fabulously fun fashion event brought to Miami by Elle Magazine. An off shoot of Miami Fashion Week and Funkshion, this focuses on the rock and roll side of the industry showcasing designers like Russell Simmons, Bullets For Peace, Krelwear and our favorite Richie Rich. As part of the celebration is a special showing of The Pink Dress Collection which benefits the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. Free with reservation. 7pm Eden Roc Resort & Spa, 4525 Collins Ave., Miami Beach. For info: 305-531-0000.
OCTOBER 16-17 MUSIC Cabaret & Cocktails This sounds fabulous. Delicious music in a swanky setting and cocktails to boot! The cabaret debut of Tony-nominated singing actress, Sherie Rene Scott. Her resume is filled with a bounty of credits; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Little Mermaid, Aida, Rent and the recent Off-Broadway hit Everyday Rapture. But Sherie Rene Scott has never performed on stage with just a pianist. 7:30pm. $45.00. Carnival Studio Theatre, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. Miami. 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org.
OCTOBER 16-18 FILM Designers Galore Part of Funkshion Fashion Week is a fabulous documentary film series featuring fashion industry designer greats like Coco Chanel, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld. The series kicks off this weekend with Lagerfeld Confidential and ends with Coco Before Chanel. Do not miss Valentino: The Last Emperor and Yves Saint Laurent: 5 avenue Marceau as well. $7 for MBC members and $10 general. Miami Beach Cinematheque, 512 Española Way, Miami Beach. For info: 305-673-4567 or mbcinema.com.
OCTOBER 17 FILM Horror Movies The fourth, in the The Spa at Icon Brickell's Horror Movie Night Series, is the flick Rosemary’s Baby. Oooh, scary! We suggest you bring your mostest-closest friends and cuddle in the Spa's hip, Philippe Starck designed, 30-person theater. 7:30pm. $12 includes a delicious cupcake and popcorn. Spa at Icon Brickell, 485 Brickell Ave. Miami. For info: 305-503-0369 or viceroymiami.com.
OCTOBER 17 MUSIC Nil Lara South Beach in the earl nineties was a turmoil of parties and art and after hours and clubs. Springing out of this milieu, was the amazing voice of gritty blues crooner, Nil Lara. I can still hear his voice, sweet and clear, rendering the packed club, silent. Nil has grown up, as have we and you can catch him performing at Tobacco Road this Saturday. Catch him in the upstairs cabaret room which is a perfect way to get to know Nil. $5. 10pm. Tobacco Road, 626 S. Miami Ave Miami,. For info: 305-374-1198 or tobacco-road.com.
Above Left: CeCe Winans. Far Left: The Union Jack. Left: Richie Rich hugs Pamela Anderson at Rock Fashion Week.
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost •October 15, 2009 • Page 15
Calendar WHAT TO DO IN MIAMI THIS WEEK
OCTOBER 18
OCTOBER 18
ART The World at Night
MUSIC Gospel Vibes
The last day to catch this cool exhibit on the night sky. Photographers from around the world have captured various landmarks against the night sky. The traveling exhibit will move on to South Africa, Italy, Germany and Korea. free. The Shops at Midtown Miami, 3401 N. Miami Ave., Miami. For info: ShopMidtownMiami.com or 305-573-3371.
Above: Nil Lara. Below Right: Kristi Davis as Lose yourself in the vibrant, rockin', soulful Alice falls down the rabbit hole. Photo by Almelodies of gospel music during Gospel Sunberto Romeu. Below Left: Mia Farrow in a scene from Rosemary’s Baby. days at the Arsht. It's not about religion, it's just about the amazing melodies that touch your soul. Onstage this Sunday is the amazing CeCe Winans with the choir of the Cooper Temple Church of God in Christ. Also, pop in to see a screening of Sunday's Best, a locally made movie about church hats. Free. 4pm. Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. For info: 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org.
WALLET FRIENDLY DATE NIGHT:
OCTOBER 20 SOCIAL The Brits Are Coming Join the British Network of Miami when they hold a meet and greet shindig at The News Cafe at the 55 Street Station. Open to anyone who wants to make British contacts, social or business. Held by The British Bureau of Florida. 6:30pm. Free. The News, 5580 NE 4th Court, Miami. For info: 305371-9340 or britishflorida.com.
FOR KIDS
OCTOBER 20
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18: GO FLY A KITE We thought this would be a fun-filled date and you get some excercise too. Hit Haulover Beach and fly some kites. The guys at Skyward Kites, who incidentally, have been flying kites at Haulover since the nineties, really know their craft. They will set you and your date up with everything you need including kite assembly and tips on how to get up and flying. So spend Sunday afternoon in the fresh air, by the water, flying a kite. Lots of laughter, a few hugs, some kisses...see where we’re going with this? Get kitted out for around five bucks. We say spring for a bigger kite and get more air. Skyward Kites, Haulover Beach Park, 10800 Collins Ave. Sunny Isles Beach,. For info: 305-944-3040 or hauloverbeach.org
DO YOU HAVE A WALLET FRIENDLY DATE SUGGESTION? SUBMIT IT TO
DATES@MIAMISUNPOST.COM. IF YOUR DATE IS PUBLISHED YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING FOR A FREE DINNER FOR TWO AT A LOCAL RESTAURANT.
MORE DETAILS TO COME.
Page 16 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
THEATRE In the Looking Glass This musical version of Alice in Wonderland by British Composer and lyricist, Paul Boyd, tells this glorious fairy tale in song. Comes complete with the customary wacky costumes, whimsical characters and magic. Part of the Actor's Playhouse series for kids, it is a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. 2pm. $15. Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables. For info: 305-444-9293 or actorsplayhouse.org.
DO YOU HAVE A KID FRIENDLY PLAYDATE SUGGESTION? SUBMIT IT TO KIDS@ MIAMISUNPOST. COM. I F YOUR DATE IS PUBLISHED, YOU WILL WIN FREE TICKETS TO THE M IAMI CHILDREN'S MUSEUM. To contribute events, please email info. and images to events@miamisunpost.com
GRAND OPENING of NEW location November 1st 2009
THEY WON'T TAKE YOUR DIAMONDS AND JEWELRY BUT WE WILL! WE BUY AND SELL DIAMONDS, LOOSE, AND UNMOUNTED We Pay Cash on the Spot, Free Appraisals No matter how large or small your transaction, we pay cash
305.454.0019
15540 Biscayne Blvd, North Miami Directly across the North Dade Justice Center www.goldbuyerflorida.com
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • Page 17
The 411
Dolphins Owners' Hispanic Heritage Celebration Viceroy Marc Anthony & Jennifer Lopez
COLUMN
Boobs! By Mary Jo Almeida-Shore Photography by Mary Jo Almeida-Shore
maryjoshore@aol.com
It’s no secret that we’re all a little boob-obsessed. What’s not to love? How else would you explain the success of silicone, Girls Gone Wild, Maxim and Mardi Gras? And don’t even try to tell us that Dolly Parton is best known for her singing voice. But for millions of women (and those who love them), boobs have become a source of trouble. Therefore, it’s fitting that Oct. is dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer, and the 411 has compiled a list of events and organizations working toward this great cause. Here are some ways you can get involved this month.
GET YOUR RUN ON! This Saturday, Oct. 17, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure at Bayfront Park (301 N. Biscayne Blvd.) takes place in downtown Miami, and includes a 5K Run/Walk and One Mile Fun Walk, Tot Run and Celebration. The fun starts at 7:30 a.m. (registration at 6 a.m.) with an inspirational Survivor Procession and Ceremony. Whether you run, walk or stroll (there’s even an option to sleep), you can make a difference. Cost for the race is as follows: 5K Run/Walk, $30 by Oct. 16, $35 on race day; One Mile Fun Walk, $30 by Oct. 16, $35 on race day; Tot Run for ages 2-7, $10 through race day; Sleep-In for the Cure, $27 through race day. For more information, or to register for the race
online, go to: http://www.komenmiaftl.org/ or call FootWorks at 305-666 -RACE ext. 7223 for all racerelated questions. This year, a special local Race for the Cure team named "Miles for Meredith & Brooke" has been formed in support of local girls Meredith Israel, who will make an appearance with baby daughter Niomi, and Brooke Pallot, who will also participate with daughter Sora in tow. Team members are strongly encouraged to purchase a custom-designed "Miles for Meredith & Booke" T-shirt to wear during the race. This special team has gotten a slew of sponsors together and is even hosting a post-run party with food and cocktails after the race. Contact race team co-captains: Jackie Mailhe, jackielisseth@gmail.com or Yami Alvarado, yami.alvarado@southbeachgroup.com to join the team, buy the special shirts and/or make donations.
SALES KEY TO THE CURE Saks Fifth Avenue Dadeland (7687 N. Kendall Drive) will host the 2009 Key to the Cure charityshopping weekend from Oct. 15-18. A percentage of the weekend’s sales will benefit the new Baptist Health Breast Center. Saks Fifth Avenue Bal Harbour (9700 Collins Ave.) will participate in Key to the Cure by hosting an event alongside Sylvester’s Young Philanthropists in the cosmetics department on Sat-
Page 18 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
Dolphins Owners' Hispanic Heritage Celebration Viceroy-Marc Anthony, Jorge Perez, Emilio Estefan, Steve Ross
urday, Oct. 17, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. The $40 entry free will get you the limited edition Key to the Cure Tshirt and makeup by Dolce & Gabbana. The party will feature entertainment, refreshments by Segafredo Bal Harbour and goodie bags with special gifts. For more information contact Jeanne Kushner at jkushner@med.miami.edu or 305-243-9088. Saks will also offer a limited-edition, Michael Kors-designed Key to the Cure T-shirt for $40 during the entire month of October in Saks stores, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH stores and on saks.com. More than 80 percent of the proceeds from shirt sales will be donated to local charity partners. Supermodel Heidi Klum is the 2009 Ambassador for Saks Fifth Avenue’s Key to the Cure. In support of this program, Ms. Klum will appear in a national public service announcement (PSA) wearing the Michael Kors limited-edition T-shirt.
PINK DRINKS Two places where imbing is a good choice this month are the Gansevoort South and the Fontainebleau, where proceeds for specialty drinks go toward the cause. Plunge at the Gansevoort is serving the Pink Elephant — a fruity, pear-vodkainfused cocktail created by mixologist Jay Law. For every drink sold, $1 will go toward the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in honor of our very own Meredith Israel and Brooke Pallot. At the Fontainebleau, try the Pinkie Promise, a berry-pink sweet concoction, with $1 of proceeds going toward finding a cure.
BLEAU GOES PINK Also at the Fontainebleau this month, all of the restaurants — Blade Sushi, Gotham Steak, Hakkasan and Scarpetta — are offering the Bleau Goes Pink promotion: a three- course menu for only
$39 — talk about a value meal (less than two drinks at any club) —— and free valet parking. The best part is that $1.50 of each check goes toward Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Certain restrictions apply. For more details, go to fontainebleau.com/pink.
PINK COCKTAIL HOUR AND PINK AUCTION On Oct. 24, there will be a Main Street March through the streets of Miami Lakes from 9 to 11 a.m. (registration starts at 8) to show support for breast cancer awareness. Later that evening, The Spa at Shula’s will host the Pink Cocktail Hour and Pink Auction from 7 to 9 pm. Participants can indulge in a variety of spa amenities, a signature Pink Cocktail and an assortment of hors d’oeuvres throughout the night. There will also be an auction, the proceeds of which will benefit the American Breast Cancer Foundation. For more information, contact: Barbara@prpeople.biz 786-303-8731.
SWEET TREATS Buttercream Cupcakes & Coffee celebrates National Cupcake Day while paying homage to Breast Cancer Awareness Month this Sunday, Oct. 18. Even the calorie-conscious can make an exception as Buttercream will be giving away all its natural, trans-fatfree cupcake minis. Following the self-indulgence, give back by picking up a to-go box of pink-frosted chocolate and vanilla cupcakes ($2.75 each); 25 cents from each cupcake benefits the Susan G. Komen foundation. For more information, go to: buttercreamcupcakes.com.
SEEMS LIKE EVERY MONTH IS HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH ESPN Deportes and the new Dolphins’ owner-
CattSadler_BrettJacobson
ship celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a sophisticated gathering at Club 50 at Viceroy Miami on Sunday night. Dolphins Vice Chairman Jorge Perez hosted the party alongside Marc Anthony, Emilio Estefan, and ESPN Deportes General Manager Lino Garcia. Guests included singer/actress Jennifer Lopez, Dolphins owner Steve Ross, ESPN Deportes Monday Night commentators Alvaro Martin and Raul Allegre, sideline reporter John Sutcliff, former Dolphins player Nat Moore, former Mets player Carlos Beltran, Dancing with the Stars’ Cristián De La Fuente, CSI Miami actress Eva La Rue and flautist Nestor Torres. The Latin celeb-infused event didn’t seem a whole lot different from other recent Dolphins games, being that most of the new minority owners are, well, celebs and minorities. One of the evening’s highlights was a performance by Latin Grammy Awardwinning Mexican pop duo Jessie & Joy.
COMING UP: HALLOWEEN IS WILD Start Halloweening early this year at Metrozoo this Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Monster Masquerade. For $65 per person ($50 for ZSF members), which helps the Zoological Society of Florida in its mission of wildlife conservation and education, you get cocktails, food, costume contests and dancing. The event is for adults 21 and older at Dr. Wilde’s Screamatorium and goes from 8 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are available online at miamimetrozoo.com.
SIGNATURE CHEFS Start fasting, folks: One of the premier events for those who love food and wine (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?) takes over Jungle Island on Thursday, Oct. 22. The March of Dimes Signature Chefs & Wine Extravaganza will present stellar local celebrity chefs, delicious food, a great variety of wines and an array of fabulous auction items, with all proceeds benefiting the March of Dimes. Celebrity Honorary Chair Jackie Nespral of NBC 6 will emcee the event, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. with an exclusive VIP reception, followed by the eating extravaganza at 7:30. Entertainment for the VIP reception will include an instrumentalist from the New World Symphony. In addition to countless culinary delights, guests will enjoy wines and champagnes from the world's finest vineyards and distilleries, courtesy of Southern Wine
Dolphins Owners' Hispanic Heritage Celebration Viceroy-Designers, Tui and Iran Issa Khan
and Spirits, as well as live and silent auctions. Tickets for the event are $150 per person in advance, $175 per person at the door. VIP tickets, which include the exclusive reception and extravaganza, cost $250 per person. For more information, call 305-4771192 or marchofdimes.com/florida.
Mandarin Oriental HER event
CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: Last Thursday, newly un-engaged celebrity chef Todd English of Fort Lauderdale’s Da Campo Osteria was seen dining with friends at Meat Market (insert cliché post-break-up joke here). Watching "his Sox" play baseball, sipping on ice cold beer and noshing on Chef Sean Brasel’s Kobe beef sliders and the Caesar salad, Bernie Yuman was spotted at Meat Market on Saturday. On Thursday night at LIV, Danny Wood from NKOTB (New Kids on the Block) and Indy race car sensation Sarah Fisher made an appearance at a celebration in honor of Susan G. Komen. Her’s Race for the Cure party took place at Mandarin Oriental on Friday, featuring Catt Sadler of E! News and E!’s Daily 10 and Indy Pro Series champion Alex “Pink” Lloyd, who placed eighth this past Saturday in Homestead. A couple of days later, Sadler and beau Brett Jacobsen (CEO of Her pink energy drink) got engaged at the swank hotel. At the Mondrian on Friday night, Muse and Better than Ezra were seen amidst a trendy crowd for Ben Watt’s Lickshot exhibit. Saturday afternoon, popular Italian shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti hosted an exclusive lunch and shoe signing at Saks Dadeland’s brand new shoe salon, 10022-SHOE. The handsome and friendly designer chatted with guests who bought out the store’s entire collection of Zanotti shoes! Not bad for one afternoon. Did someone say recession? R & B singer Mario celebrated his album release on Sunday at LIV as female rap star MC Lyte celebrated her birthday. Mario serenaded Lyte with his rendition of “Happy Birthday.” Naomi Campbell hung out with Marc Anthony
A Zanotti signed shoe
Giuseppe Zanotti signs shoes at Saks Dadeland
Giuseppe Zanotti and Mary Jo Almeida-Shore
and Jennifer Lopez at Club 50 on Monday before the Dolphins-Jets game.
Giuseppe Zanotti signs shoes at Saks Dadeland
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • October 15, 2009 • Page 19
Bound COLUMN
Japanese and Thai Specialties! "Enjoy Exotic Dishes of the Orient" THE FRESHEST INGREDIENTS: Sushi, Yakitori, Sashimi, Teriyaki, Tempura, Pad Thai, Curry Lunch/Dinner/Drinks Open 7 Days
2775 NE 187th St., Aventura, FL 33180 305-932-8080 Kendall 11768 N. Kendall Drive I 305-275-9003
The Rough-Riding Tree-Hugger Teddy Roosevelt’s Deep Green Militancy By John Hood
There’s a good reason why Teddy Roosevelt’s mug is on Mount Rushmore. Because of all the presidents, he’s the one whose legacy is large enough to stand alongside the likes of Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson. Like our first president, Roosevelt was a war hero, even if the fight he fought was in but “a splendid little war.” Like Lincoln, Roosevelt had a stoic self-reliance, and he never let the fact that he was born in the lap of luxury dispel the notion that he too knew how to rough it. And like Jefferson, Roosevelt was something of a polyglot, as likely to be writing a biography of Oliver Cromwell as conducting a study in ornithology. More importantly, the rough-riding, 26th president of these United States made of himself a myth that he never once failed to live up to. Much of that myth, as it were, involves America’s wilds, the birds and the beasts and the fields
“the biologist was his touchstone, a Noah-like hero.” Even before that though, Teddy, forced to the country by ill health, had become “a skilled field birder,” and was so touched by wildlife that he “saw the face of God” in a fox. This was not an instance of a child being taken in by Aesop’s Fables or Mother Goose. In fact, writes Brinkley, “the cuteness of anthropomorphized animals annoyed” the young lad. And “once Roosevelt grasped the concept of natural selection,” he’d study “the anomalies of the natural world” with “a Darwinian eye.” But Darwin wasn’t the boy’s only hero. Prior to The Origin, Roosevelt would cart around a copy of David Livingstone’s mammoth Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. And once Thomas Huxley got on board with Darwin’s theorizing (and in fact, became “Darwin’s bull-
“Responding to Women’s Rage for Plumage, He Turned Pelican Island into a Federal Bird Reservation.”
FREELANCE WRITERS NEEDED FOR THE SUNPOST SUBMIT YOUR RESUME AND 3 WRITING SAMPLES TO: kim@miamisunpost.com
and the streams and the forests that make this such a bucolic land. And T.R., as he was commonly called, spent the whole of his life ensuring they’d be around forever. So it is with great good pleasure that we greet Douglas Brinkley’s deliciously eruditious The Wilderness Warrior: Teddy Roosevelt and the Crusade for America (Harper $34.99), a book that is biography in name alone. Sure it’s another in a long line of presidential lives. But Brinkley skews everything to the land, and in so doing shows that Roosevelt was more than just a mythic figure; he was the first Green President. From the get, T.R. was enamored with nature. Born a mere year before Darwin unleashed The Origin of the Species, Teddy’s life ran completely concurrently with the book, and by age 10 or 11,
Page 20 • Thursday, October 15 , 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
dog”), young Ted placed the British biologist at the top of his to-know list. Beyond that there were the 75 works of Irish adventure writer Capt. Mayne Reid, “a school tutor turned frontiersman on the Missouri and Platte rivers [who] wrote about the ‘Wilderness Out There’ in a highly romantic way, as in a cowboy western.” It is that juxtaposition of science and adventure which formed the basis of Roosevelt’s life — and his myth. Unbeknownst to me, a large part of Roosevelt’s early environmentalism concerned Florida, a state that he frequented often and where he never failed to find joy. Responding to women’s rage for plumage, he turned Pelican Island into a Federal Bird Reservation (and “set the stage for the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System”). And Roosevelt’s fondness for herons, terns and ibises would lead
him to insist, as president, “that killing one of these Florida exotics was a federal crime.” Unlike John James Audubon, who traversed our entire state with a paintbox in one hand and a gun in the other, Roosevelt was of a more Thoreaulike mind when it came to “the war on the wilderness.” Unlike the hermit of Walden Pond, however, Roosevelt did align with the gentlemen hunters of the time. For they were the ones who actually helped preserve great swaths of the Northeast. Part of those initial efforts came about after the founding, with George Bird Grinnell, of the Boone and Crockett Club, that still-existing group that at one time or another had among its members Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the United States Forest Service. Brinkley briskly but thoroughly covers it all, until eventually reaching the crescendo we all know: the preservation of some 230 million acres of our most pristine and cherished lands, from Maine to Hawaii. He gets Roosevelt riding alongside the Southwestern bronco busters and cowboys as the Rough Riders take Kettle Hill in the Battle of San Juan Heights. He gets Roosevelt the governor of New York who was ever ready to throw down with a bit of wrestling or boxing in the executive mansion. And he gets Roosevelt the strategist, who’d circumvent the world if it meant saving another precious acre. Mostly though, Brinkley gets Roosevelt the staunch advocate of “the strenuous life.” The man who came “up from asthma” to find himself fit as a fiddle and greeted each day with a robustness few could even fathom, let alone duplicate. It’s the portrait of a man who willed himself into mythhood. And a man who in so doing left the world — wild and otherwise — a much better place.
Coming Soon: The Real Truth
.
A Story about Sex, Money & Politics on Miami Beach Starring the Miami Beach City Commission and Club Madonna Advertorial
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • October 15, 2009 • Page 21
Potation COLUMN
The Beating Heart of Rioja The Wines of Spain By Ewan Lacey The small town of Haro, in Spain sits comfortably upon a natural dais, flanked by the very rugged Sierra de Cantabria to the north and the Sierra de la Demanda in the south. The patchwork green that spreads out from the town beneath the rocky backdrop is the clearest signifier that one is now in the beating heart of Rioja country. The main town square is the place to head to in order to sample tapas and wine. There are traditional bars on all sides and more still that feed into the surrounding cobbled streets. We tried to drop in on as many bars as our capacity would allow, afterall this is a Rioja aficionado’s paradise. The tapas on offer is great; jamon on toast, spicy potatas bravas, meatballs and stuffed peppers and much more, all washed down with glass after glass of different Rioja tintos, all wonderfully priced at under €2 a glass ($3.50). Eating and drinking here should comprise the summary of all expected events as, lets face it, one is in the very ancient town that has, for centuries, enthralled locals and foreigners alike with the smooth, red, fruity vanilla taste of world class wines. On the Friday morning I had prearranged a visit to one of my most coveted Rioja wines, that of Bodegas Muga. It is not that easy to buy in the US but can be found in many Spanish restaurants. Bodegas Muga is famous for its unflinching adherence to traditional methods of production including fermentation in wooden vats, filtration through vine prunings and fining with egg whites (more on this in a moment). The results speak for themselves offering an elegant honeyed nose and a ravishing flavour of wild strawberries. These are wines that for me always instigate a good kink of the lips and a “cat that got the cream” smugness. We strode out of Haro’s main square, down the hill, out of town and into the Bodega district. As we crossed the bridge over the perambulating rivulet we could see the Muga tower erect in the not-too-far distance and trotted on in the warm morning sunshine. On our arrival we were greeted by Jesus, the manager of the bodega, who very generously gave up his morning to take us around the winery. Our first stop was at the cooperage where in the course of a year 1500 barrels are made. It is rare for wineries to have their own coopers on site and Muga
is one of the only 4 in the whole of Spain. Making barrels is an ancient and fascinating process requiring skill and patience. Beyond just making the barrels, there is the additional process of toasting the wood. This practice is a “complexing” factor, giving the wine specific flavours and aromas, and is stringently controlled in order to give us great pleasure in the end result, just as the winemaker intends. Half of the barrels made at Muga are from American oak, for much more overt vanilla flavours, and the other half are made with more subtle flavoured French oak. On our way to see the fermentation vats, Jesus pointed out where the grapes are brought in, inspected and those passed, fed to the destalking machines and onto the press. Once pressed the resultant liquid is fed into the huge oak vats that store the ingredients during fermentation. These gargantuan wine vessels fill the room with wonderful aromas of the oak, wine and spice. It is here that natural fermentation is aloud to take place for 8-9 days and the resultant young wine is pumped through the skins for around 4 weeks to extract colour and develop its structure. The wine is then fined using egg whites to remove all the impurities. Once these free-floating undesirables are collected up in the eggy goo, the wine can be siphoned off ready for aging in oak. From here Jesus led us into the vast cellars where there are 14,000 barrels of wine, stored at various stages of the aging process. Naturally such a sight served only to connect the valves of feeling to the part of my brain that recognises pleasure! Every 4 months the wines are wracked (decanted from one barrel into a clean one) to oxygenate the wine and remove any sediment. This task of decanting and barrel cleaning is in constant process due to the quantity of barrels to work through. We were lucky enough to be able to try the 2005 reserva as it was being decanted. Baring in mind this vintage still has another 1.5 years before release, the fruit burst onto my thirsty palate, and although a little angular in its youth, it certainly could not be denied its prospects! We passed through room after room of wine in barrels, wine in bottles and then back via the cooperage to see our very proud looking completed American oak toasted barrel. There was only one place now
Page 22 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
to go… the tasting room! Here one could admire the historical pictures of the founding father of the bodega, Isaac Muga Martinez, (on a pony up to its thighs in the river) circa 1932 and an array of casks neatly stacked. It was at this point that the young figure of Juan Muga appeared and invited us to taste his wines. Juan explained that he and his brother run the business side of the operation whilst their two cousins are much more hands on in the winery. I suspected that the passionate business of making wine in a family business could leave the door open for disagreements and infighting but Juan assured me that this was in no way the case. Lined up we had a fine compliment of wines made on the Muga estate to indulge and my notes are here as follows: Muga Rosado (Rosé) – Lovely fresh fruits that leave you sucking the long flavours in your mouth. I really liked this wine. If you see it in your local liquor store, you should regard it as a “must buy” at about $13.00. Muga Reserva 2003 – A typically rich colour with traditional Rioja nose of dark fruit and vanilla. It’s the vanilla gained from the oak that endears Rioja to the masses and makes this wine a great combo with meat dishes and casseroles.
Selección Especiale 2003 – More intense fruit and greater complexity than the normal reserva. Reminders of the toasted barrels fresh fruits titillate the senses. Prado Enea Gran Reserva 1998 – The dark rich fruits coming through from the Tempranillo as it is aged for longer. Smooth and elegant, a real treat; perfect with a plate of Iberico, peppers and olives. This is a real classic wine for Rioja fans. Torre Muga 2003 – Even the most traditional Bodega must listen to the creaks of market pressure. Torre Muga is a big busty wine with all the New world qualities one could wish for but with old world credentials. If your palate has recently suffered a fate of death then pour this wine on it liberally and it will bounce back to life. I found it too punchy next to the Prado Enea, however, if the marketing people are to be believed then this will have its audience. Overall the visit was treat and the tasting was gratefully appreciated. Juan eventually had to bow to his demands and left us. Jesus then suggested we try the Muga Cava as an unusual and unexpected finisher. From what little I can recall it slipped down rather nicely and prepared us for the slow stroll back up to the town to unwind with a lethal measure of Gin and tonic.
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • Page 23
Posner cont’d from page 12 not be in the rest of the country. Not only do we get the influx of every great coup that takes place in South America. The flood comes in here from people fleeing their own countries. But in addition, you get people from other areas that say, “Hey, I can get a new start down there,” and you can. Because South Florida is so easy to create a new identity and nobody cares. It's all new. It has no long, great history. So you come down here and you start fresh and you've got a new brand. That's true. How long did you spend researching and writing Miami Babylon? Far too long. I could have written a history of the world by the time it took me to do this. From the start of the first interviews in 2005… so this is a ridiculous amount of time. But I really did it in earnest like full-time from 2006 to early 2007. And the reason it took so long is because I did it in the wrong way. I decided instead of doing my typical research — which is read everything I can, and go and find out the record, and pull the court cases, and do all this stuff — instead I said, “Let me have this as an interview-driven book. I'll do interviews first.” And then of course, what we find out is we ended up doing nine hours of interviews with somebody who at the end isn't in the book. Because your book wasn't about that and you thought it was. I had a whole chapter about the cosmetic surgery industry out here. It didn't make it. I had a whole chapter on the Bass Museum; it didn't get in. And then, of course, there's always somebody who knows somebody else. You end up not interviewing another 200 people you should have interviewed. A whole bunch of people that should have been there. It's a never-ending process. So if you continue doing the interviews, you'd be doing it for 10 years because there's always somebody else to talk to. How many do you estimate that you interviewed in the end? A couple hundred on the record and maybe about two to three dozen off the record. Wow. Were they all generally amenable to being interviewed? Yeah, they were. But the problem is that I come to you with some baggage in the sense that I'm not doing soft, wonderful, fuzzy pieces about Hollywood stars or whatever else. You know that I'm going to be doing the story as accurately as I can but with an edge because that's the nature of my writing. I think people were pretty good. Although there were also people that wouldn't talk to me. Jerry Powers wouldn't talk. Al Malnick didn't want to talk about the old days; I understand that. That's fair enough. Tommy Pooch was very straightforward. I like Tommy. He said, “Are you going to talk about the old stuff, the old days?” I said, “Yeah, I have to cover it. It's on the record.” He said, “I've got a wife and kids now and I just don't want to do that.” That's OK. I understand that. I'd rather have somebody be up-front with me like that than B. S. and say, “Oh, I'll talk to you next week. I'll talk to you next week,” and then he'll put you off for six months. That was my next question. Was there someone on your hit list who refused? So you had Jerry Powers, and Pooch for family reasons. Was there anyone else that you really needed? Jerry never said why. Jerry just ignored it. I've got more respect for Tommy in the sense that Tommy at least tells you why. In the case of Al Malnick, it was through Shareef, it was the same reason. He said he just doesn't want to go through all that old junk. I understand that. That's part of the problem when you are doing like a full history. If it's on the record you've got to
cover it. But I think people make a mistake in that they think, “The guy's going to be covering a part of my past that I don't want to have out anymore, so I'm not going to talk to him.” Nine times out of 10, people are better off if they actually speak to you because if they're likable, you get to like them. And it doesn't mean you change the story or you change the facts — you can't, they are what they are. But if you like them it affects your writing. You can change the slant. Exactly. If you don't meet them, if you don't talk to them, if they don't talk to you, they just become stick figures who are portrayed by what you hear about them from other people and what you see from the record on them. You have to be a real jerk to meet with an author or a magazine writer or whatever else, and make the story worse for yourself. Right. Well, that must be the case for Mayor Daoud. I mean there's a lot of him in there. He doesn't come off as bad as he could possibly be portrayed if you just stuck to the facts without speaking to him. That's probably true. Although, he's right: I always called Daoud the two C's, charismatic and corrupt. That's what he was and that's how he comes off. A little bit
tion. Then how they tried to shake him down for information and all of this. It ended up being cut because the editors up in New York finally ended up cutting almost everything that didn't relate directly to Miami Beach. And Gary's story was over in Houston. But still, he understood that it would be part of his overall story. So it was fine. It was part of his life. You get on with it and you get a new start. So he was very, very forthcoming. Louis Canales was a big help. He's got a perspective by being outside of the Beach. He can look back and really tell you what was going on. He was unusual that way. You spoke a lot with Jorge Perez, right. I read now that he's not happy with the way he was portrayed. I don't know. I always say the following to anybody I meet: “If you want to be absolutely sure that you're going to like what's in the book about you, you've got to write it yourself. I will try to be fair and honest but I can't guarantee I'm going to write your story.” People get confused after a while. They think when they talk to you a lot that you're writing their story, and not writing just sort of an objective view of what you see as the story of the Beach. I thought I was very fair with Perez. I said to my wife, “You know what? Perez is going to find this hard but fine. He'll be OK with it. He's going to look at it and say, ‘OK, that's my story.’ Boom and bust, right down the middle.” But for whatever reason he didn't like it. Now, I don't know what it is that he didn't like. The New York Post, I think, quoted that “party and pussy” crack, but that wasn't even about him. That was about Kramer and Daley, right? That's what's amazing. I love the fact that it got reported there and then a couple times after and it wasn't even about Perez. That's exactly right. (laughing)
What about Shareef's beef about how you portrayed his father? I mean, you wouldn't have mentioned Meyer Lansky and all that stuff without concrete proof. There are two things on the Shareef part. First of all, I think if you read the Malnik chapter you realize he's not the heir to Meyer Lansky. He's not the Jewish Mob. What he is, is a guy who was well connected to a lot of players who had real connections. He was one of the few guys who were able to go out and get a central state Teamster Fund Loan for property. He knew a lot of the boys. There is Clockwise from above right: 1. Lincoln Road. 2. no question. He skirted right along the Fisher’s Elephants. 3. Ex Beach Mayor, Alex Daoud. line, but he was smart enough never to cross it, never broke the law. So Al's a great story. He's an amazing story of a of a blowhard about what he achieved in office, but hell, every politician is. guy who was a real player in his day, but a legal player, who knew everybody. I think the problem for Shareef is he has spent years coming and getting So he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I'm wondering about the guys around here who didn't get caught. I'll tell you one thing. He's certainly not out of the shadow of his father. Establishing his own identity. So it's no longer the only corrupt politician who’s ever served in Miami Beach in the last 30 Al Malnik; it's Shareef Malnik. And the problem is that here's a long chapter years. So the fact that he's the only one convicted at a high office, just means on his father. So I get it; it's on Al, it's not on Shareef. The parts on Shareef that he had the bad fortune of crossing the line and getting caught. and on the club and everything else that existed in the book that ended up getting shortened down is the worst of two worlds: a) The book has a lot on his He comes off notoriously talkative. Was there anybody else who was father and b) It doesn't have a lot on what he's done with The Forge in recent equally forthcoming? years, which he considers to be the best. Because again the story is not about Gary James was pretty amazing. You know Gary. He was very honest about The Forge, it's about Miami Beach and how it plays in. So I can see how Shahis problems. How he went down on the Ecstasy bust. What it was like in the reef just doesn't like it. Which is unfortunate because I like Shareef. He's a beginning. That was the interesting thing. Here is a guy that — opposed to likable guy. And he's not a guy I can say to you, “Hey, I didn't like Shareef. I some of the other people that didn't want to talk because they had something could care less.” I actually would've loved it if he'd liked it, but again, I'm in their past that they didn't like — Gary understood that what happened with doing the work that I have to do. I'd like people to like the book, but if they him was just part of his story and his life. And it was going to be in perspecdon't there's nothing I can do about that. tive with everything else. As a matter of fact, as it turned out I actually had more on his arrest and You said there were “hair-standing things” that you left out. What are when he went down. It's quite interesting when they caught him at this gas stasome of those things?
Page 24 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
You leave that stuff out for a number of reasons. Most of the time because it's just viewed as gratuitous. The editor will say it's too much. For instance, I had stuff about a former candidate, recent candidate – not this election, the last election for City Commission – who was caught a cell phone videotape being publicly sodomized at a local club. Another candidate with a male call guy coming over to his place and ending up at the wrong apartment and the security going crazy. Stuff like that that was interesting and that was going to be unnamed in terms of the people, but would not be hard to figure out. The editor said it's very interesting but “In the end that type of stuff just makes the book sound National Enquirer. It's not what you're writing.” Yeah. It's like a blind item in the New York Post or something. Exactly. The problem is the general press – and I use this as a broad brush covering you, me and everybody else, but of course it means just in general, like the advanced press. What do they pull out of book. They pull out anything that's sensational. So you read the Page Six stuff and whatever else and you think, “Oh, this must be a tell-all about the secret lives of people in South Beach.” And as you know, you get into the RDA stuff and there will be people who are looking for dirt, dish and scandal and their eyes will glaze over. I try to do a full history but the stuff that gets picked up in the early press is of course the sensational stuff. So everybody thinks it's just trash and burn. That thing about the Steelers doing coke before the Super Bowl; I read that somewhere else or I heard that somewhere else before. Is that from Cocaine Cowboys? Yeah, that's not fresh, that's right. That’s a disclosure. But I just love that story so much. Because it goes against the entire thing that every sports coach ever tells you which is that ‘your body is a temple, take care of it, don't do anything wrong. [Laughs] These guys proved that you can actually party all night long and still win. Either the other team partied even more or it just doesn't make sense. Those guys are just monsters. It probably takes a lot to mow them down. That's true. And steroids, which half of them are probably on, also probably counterbalance the effects of the coke. [Laughs] For all the research, there are a lot of little nuances there. For instance you mentioned my pal Tim Schnellenberger being the face of the Obsession ads. But then there were other instances where you forgot to mention the name of the Miami Police Chief, I think it was during Mariel, or the title of the Sinatra flick that’s set in the Cardoza. Are some facts simply more salient than others?
No. The difficulty is that some things are left out like the police chief – perfect example – are just not in there. The Sinatra film certainly should be. And you put things in and sometimes as you're editing it down and you're squeezing it down. If you're doing a 600-word article and you submit 8[00] and you're cutting down to 6[00] and so you're squeezing out stuff here and there. I published the book first much thicker than they wanted. I mean if you look at the original; I don't know if it's still up but the original estimate for this book said 277 pages. So it ended up much bigger than they expected and more costly for them to publish. I submitted another 200 pages on top of this. And there still would be facts left out of that. In the end you're telling the story as you see it and you're never going to cover all of it. I mean, I had a lot
6th Street.” Was that just my galley. No because [originally] the Art Deco district went from 6th street up. So there was this unusual thing where we think of South Pointe now as just south of 5th Street, which it is. But the RDA was south of 6th Street, so it was 6th Street down, which is really odd. It's like little quirky tidbit which is for some odd reason 5th to 6th street was missed in the Art Deco zone so 6th Street was all South Shore. The crime and the political stuff seems impeccably thorough. The club stuff I found it not so much. Especially in regards to Paciello's entry which I thought followed along Michele McPhee's misinformed Mob over Miami. Very interesting. I tried to talk to Chris and I couldn't get to talk to him. I'd talked to Ingrid, she was very guarded. She would talk about some stuff but not much else. And I found that a difficult thing to do for getting people on the record. And people like Gary James and others who I was talking to weren't around then. For instance, Risk, the whole thing, I was there. There was a place called Mario's. It was owned by the Jews and the Jews were into the Italians and the Italians took over. Fat Black was going the whole time and, I'm blowing my own horn a little bit, but because of its success the Italians had seen what could be done with this venue. And then they came in and took over. So very interesting. One of the things that you do get the benefit of doing is a subsequent edition. So they print 20,000 copies or something. If they do a second edition I can make corrections on errors.
[Laughs] Oh OK. If we ever do a paperback, I can actually do a real change. And so that's the type of stuff that's important. And you were one of the guys – I reClockwise from above right: 1. Crocket and Tubbs, Miami Vice. member when I read your March article when it 2. Time Magazine Cover on Miami. 3. Lunch at the Bath Club. came out, which was really a good piece I more on the Versace murder first time around and they said, “Well, we know all of thought. That one in the Herald? That's when the book was actually closed. I that.” Which I thought was interesting because I actually thought I had stuff think the last cites you'll see in there somewhere around February or March, in there that was fresh, and that nobody would remember about how badly I thought to myself, “Oh shit. John Hood. Great interview. Yeah. I understand.” the police screwed up the hunt for Kunanin. How they had him beforehand from the pawn shop and they missed and all this and that. But the New York Well, that's funny because Tara came to me actually and asked if I minded people thought they had read that, so that was old news to them. So as you're if she used the name when she was going to start it over at Alioli. That's amazing. I don't know if you saw this but there is a review on pressing it down some things get lost and then there's always things you wish Amazon by Andrew Delaplaine. Delaplaine says in there, and I'm paraphrasyou would have had in. ing, ‘I'm assuming that a lot of the mistakes that Posner makes about the club life in today's Miami is a result of people telling him self-serving stories. ’ There's a whole chapter where South Pointe is referred to as “South of www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • October 15, 2009 • Page 25
Fashion COLUMN
Beautiful People Local Handbag Designer Wow’s the Fashion World By Jennifer Fragoso
Deep down every woman wants a handbag that expresses her essence while housing her necessities, and of course, world peace. World peace may be a challenge but handbag enthusiasts everywhere have cause for celebration. Beautiful People, the handbag line, shipped their Fall 2009 collection. The Capulet Collection embodies all of the strength and beauty a modern woman wants with timeless feminine charm. Easy elegance, free form shapes, rich colors and subtle textures exude femininity while PDA pockets, magnetic closures and hidden zipper pockets provide functionality. The Juliet is a hobo bag that conjures up all of the romance of an Elizabethan play while remaining contemporary in its design. Then there is the Little Rose, nominated for an Independent Handbag Designer Award™ as one of the five finalists to be honored by Saks Fifth Avenue for Best Handbag in Overall Style and Design. It looks like a work of art with a sculptural rose body and chic chain link strap that is whimsical without being contrived. This bag can be worn with anything, anywhere, day or night. In contrast to some of the more delicate pieces in the collection is the Big Bucket, a tote that is longer than it is wide and has two pouches on either side which is perfect to slip a laptop and some files into during the work week and casual enough to pack whatever you need for a weekend trip to the Keys. The catalyst of these creations is Johanna Boccardo, an internationally published illustrator, originally from Venezuela, who moved to Miami in 2005 where she set her creative sight on a new endeavor working for a local accessory company as a designer of small leather goods. It was there that Johanna began designing handbags and by May 2008, Beautiful People launched their first collection. Each bag is made by hand in Peru with leather sourced from South America and Italy ranging in price from $350.00 to $600.00. Proving craftsmanship, quality, and wearable art can be obtained at a reasonable price. Find out for yourself the next time you pass by Emporium in the Gables, or hop on a plane to New York City drop by Mitsosa and pick up a Beautiful People holiday treat for yourself or someone else. From artist to entrepreneur Johanna is a visionary. She is focused on seeing her industry and family have Beautiful People in their lives for generations to come. As for world peace if Johanna decided to take on that challenge, based on her history of garnering success in every one of her chosen fields, women could actually have everything they want in a handbag and out of life. Log on to beautifulpeopledesign.com for more store listings. Page 26 • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com
Above: Johanna wearing Little Rose. Below: Little Rose. Left: Big Bucket. Below Left: The Little Rose hybrid Flat Rose clutch
GERMAN HANDYMAN ALL HOME REPAIRS & RENOVATIONS DOORS & WINDOWS ROOF REPAIRS CARPENTRY FLOORING DRYWALL TILING
CALL HEIKO 786-487-6152 LICENSED
& INSURED
HANDYMAN John Serving Greater Miami and Miami Beach for over 15 years Roof Maintenance Repairs SAVE $$$ RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL Custom Kitchen, Bathroom, Windows, Doors, Interior & Exterior Custom Painting, Rough & Finish Carpentry Floor, Wall & Stucco Restoration
30 Years Experience
CALL (305) 987-7614
Senora Rose SOULMATE, LOVE, TAROT CARD READING GOOD LUCK IN FINANCE
One Free Question Satisfaction Guaranteed
954.961.5940 1901 N. 66th Ave, Hollywood FL. 33024
For advertising:
305.538.9797 www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • Page 27
Toss the Walker & Get in the Water! Increase Your Mobility, Strength & Quality of Life. THE EVOLUTION OF FITNESS
POST REHAB THERAPY, OVERWEIGHT, INCREASE STRENGTH AND SPEED, FLEXIBILITY AND CARDIO ENDURANCE. AQUAFIT CAN HELP!
786.220.1799 aquafitmiami.com
PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINING IN YOUR POOL