2010.04.08

The Story Matters

Calendar p.14 Art, Dance, Music, Film, Theatre and Books are all in this week’s Calendar Highlights.

Vol. XXV No. 14

April 8, 2010

Visit us at miamisunpost.com

CULTURE SHOCK Local Program Provides Students Easy Access to the Arts MAYHEM P.4

NEWS P. 6

POLITICS P. 7

HISTORY P.8

PROFILE P. 10

CALENDAR P.14

411 P.18

FILM P. 22

ART P.24

SEE PAGE 12

FASHION P. 26

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kim Stark kim@miamisunpost.com SOCIETY EDITOR Jeannette Stark jeannette@miamisunpost.com COPY EDITOR Mary Louise English

PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER Kim Stark kim@miamisunpost.com ACCOUNTING Sandie Friedman SALES DIRECTORS Jeannette Stark Stuart Davidson

CALENDAR EDITOR Jake Orsinni calendar@miamisunpost.com

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jeffrey Bradley Stuart Davidson Marguerite Gil Mary Louise English Jennifer Fragoso John Hood Dr. Sonjia Kenya Thomas Quick Ruben Rosario Mary Jo Almeida-Shore Michael Sasser Kim Steiner

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Covering Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Surfside, Bay Harbor Islands, Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami, North Miami Beach and Aventura, Coconut Grove, Brickell Avenue, Downtown, Design District, Wynwood, Upper Eastside, and Miami Shores.

www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • April 8, 2010 • Page 3

Tropical Mayhem BITS AND PIECES OF MIAMI LIFE

Miami through my iphone

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN MIAMI

by Ines Hegedus-Garcia - miamism.com - ines@miamism.com If you have not experienced the Metromover that serves downtown Miami and the Brickell Financial District, you have no idea what you are missing. We decided to ride it to go to dinner one night from Brickell to downtown and was so shocked at the cleanliness and convenience - plus, it's FREE!! Of course I couldn't put my iphone down and here's one of the shots from the moving vehicle going right through our amazing city.

Tie me up tie me down

Check out these fabulous leather bracelets from Miami Beach born jewelry designer Bruce Bronx (Great name) of Bronx and Tonn designs. Copper and silver metallic leather finished with glorious metallic beads. (above).

We are particularly fond of his black and silver studded version. Very dominatrix, darling! The rest of his handcrafted collection has the same charming bohemian esthetic with pieces that have tassles, African krobo beads, feathers, rubber and tons of color. Check out his other pieces at bronxandtonndesign.com Their website is as colorful and as unusual as their pieces.

MIAMI, SPEAK YOUR MIND!

RX Pharmacy – for More than Just Your Meds

BY GEORGE KOTTLER RX Pharmacy is an excellent source for prescription drugs and accepts Medicare, for those who use it.

But the real difference between RX and conventional chain drugstores is the fine array of in-stock health and beauty aids that have been prescreened by the pharmacist and his knowledgeable staff. They stay current with industry publications and stock high-quality vitamins, homeopathic and herbal products by Boiron, Kneipp and others.

With all the stress and uncertainty in the world, how do

you not only survive but thrive in these tumultuous times?

The answer is that the RX staff, which stays current with Oui, Elle, and InStyle, has prescreened and chosen the best high-quality products designed to keep you looking and feeling better than you ever have. Many of these products are made in France including: Avene products are good for irritated skin and endorsed by many dermatologists.

Rene Furterer offers unique volumizing shampoos that maximize the hair nature gave you, leaving it full and radiant.

Page 4 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

Elgydium, also from France, has whitening toothpastes, mouthwashes and toothbrushes.

RX — and its friendly staff — are located at Grand Condominium, 1717 N. Bayshore Drive, Miami, in the retail lobby plaza.

SPEAK YOUR MIND, MIAMI! WE WELCOME YOUR THOUGHTS, REVIEWS, MUSINGS, AND PONTIFICATIONS ON ANYTHING TO DO WITH MIAMI LIFE. PLEASE MAKE IT SUCCINCT, NEWSWORTHY, INTERESTING AND UNDER 300 WORDS. EMAIL YOUR THOUGHTS TO KIM@MIAMISUNPOST.COM ATT: SPEAK YOUR MIND.

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www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • Page 5

News

Return to the Wild, WIld West?

South of Fifth Residents Fearful in Their Own Neighborhood

By Michael W. Sasser It was just hours before a high-profile stabbing of two women at South Pointe Park in March once again attracted regional attention to crime on South Beach. In the predawn hours, clubs in the South of Fifth Street neighborhood closed and a host of young people poured out onto the streets.

“They just decided to have a block party in the middle of the street, drinking, blaring music, making a lot of noise,” said Brad Stevens, a young father who lives at First Street and Collins Avenue. “I called police for an hour. No one showed up. As far as I know, the guy who stabbed those girls could have been at that block party.”

Just this week, Leo Ostreicher was on the porch of his building at Euclid and Fourth Street when a cooler came flying over the fence, hurled by a gang of passing youths, and nearly crushed a female neighbor.

Earlier this year, in January, Karis Fahrer, a resident of an apartment at Meridian and Fourth Street and a nurse by profession, bought a handgun and acquired a permit to carry it.

Residents of the neighborhood generally referred to as “South of Fifth” feel the area, which they complain has long been mismanaged and neglected, is no longer safe.

“I’ve been living here a long time, and I have owned an apartment since the late 1990s, before there was a ‘South Beach,’” Ostreicher said. “I remember the late 1980s when this was a drug-infested neighborhood. I never had a problem with the drug dealers, addicts and criminal element then. They were here, but they made sure to stay out of the spotlight. They did their business, but they didn’t want to attract attention to themselves.

This stuff is going on because of drunken gangs of kids and the city is doing nothing about it. We’ve had a shooting here and there, problems with hip-hop weekends — but never like this. There has never been a year as bad as this.”

Jim Powell is an international pilot who spends a good deal of time overseas and away from his South of Fifth condominium. He says he routinely hears uniform foreign perceptions of South Beach these days.

“The reputation has gone way down and the number one thing is that worldwide, crime is South Beach’s known commodity,” Powell said. “People would be surprised how much the word gets out. People in other countries are aware of the problem — probably more so than a lot of residents.”

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Over the past decade, South of Fifth was routinely marketed as a prestigious new address, as Miami Beach’s Beverly Hills — and as an actual neighborhood.

Only, as has been the case with similar marketing campaigns around Miami Beach, something went very, very wrong en route to the city’s residential utopia. Opinions abound as to the root of today’s many problems.

“The city permitted too many exemptions to building codes and allowed the area to be overpopulated,” Powell said. “We’re bearing that burden. Probably 70 percent of South of Fifth is not occupied and 20 percent of it has probably never even been seen by owners. If everyone showed up one day at the same time, the place would probably explode.”

Fahrer said that seemingly endless city improvement projects have led to a lack of streetlights, ever-changing parking regulations and residents living in a constant construction zone.

“It looks like a state of anarchy,” Fahrer said.

Complaints abound from many different residents on numerous issues of supervision and enforcement, ranging from dubious businesses pouring trash out onto streets; lack of police, parking officer and code enforcement; open containers on and routine trashing of the beach; urinating and defecating on streets; and public sex — to name just a few. Problems are exacerbated on weekends or during high local visitor traffic such as Spring Break and special events on or near the waterfront.

It seems many residents have horror stories they are willing to share.

Two nights after expensive decorative trees were stolen overnight from her building, Fahrer woke to the sound of an elderly neighbor screaming.

“She’d come across two people who had jumped the fence and were having sex right there in the open,” Fahrer said. “They weren’t drunk. They had the look of people who were on meth — a look I’ve become familiar with.”

Calling the police was an ordeal, Fahrer said. When no one responded to her call, Fahrer called back, only to be faced with a combative operator and then supervisor. As to what was done about the actual incident?

Nothing.

That wouldn’t surprise Stevens, who remembers a call he made to police several years ago after noise from a nightclub next door had gotten out of control.

Page 6 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

“One cop said, ‘What did you expect, this is South Beach,’” Stevens said. “Well, I made my investment here in multiple units when I was told that this was a neighborhood. Across the street is commercial — I would have no complaints about noise there. But this is a residential area.”

In reaction to recent complaints that have circulated widely on the Internet about numerous enforcement issues, the Miami Beach City Commission is scheduled to address the issue at its April 14th meeting.

Not that this has many residents confident.

“We’ve gotten the lecture from the government — that we are the problem for complaining and not the people doing the damage,” Powell said.

Several others echoed that sentiment.

“I think the way it will work out is that the city people pretend to care, maybe use a real show of force for a while to get people calmed down, and then everything will go back to normal,” said one resident who did not want to be identified. “In the past that would happen a few times, some people would get irritated enough that they would sell out and leave town. Only now, with so many people underwater in their mortgages, a lot of people can’t bail out and make way for the new round of suckers. This time it’s going to be a problem the city might actually have to address.”

Powell has had his apartment on the market for over a year now with no luck selling it. He actually had one prospective buyer and a deal almost negotiated. Then, the potential buyer was walking down the street and had his life threatened. The deal was off.

“That was during Art Basel, when you wouldn’t expect a real hoodlum crowd,” Powell said.

One clear picture emerges from residents discussing their personal safety concerns in South of Fifth. Over the past few years, the area has been attracting an escalating number of young, rowdy visitors from across the bay who bring in their own booze and drugs, party on the beach, and then roam looking for trouble.

“The word is out that South Beach is the place to drink and to do whatever you want with no worries about police — anything goes,” Ostreicher said. “A friend who came down to visit after a year said that the area looks like Beirut. I grew up in Brooklyn. I’m familiar with rough neighborhoods. But locals are scared to walk in their own neighborhood and it’s spreading.”

As the reputation for lawlessness grows, more and more young people — high school students as opposed to the college youth who made up Spring Break crowds of years ago — will come and express their dangerous and antisocial behavior, residents feel.

“The problem gets worse because of tolerance for it,” Powell said. “The city has a belief that these kids who come across the bridges somehow bring commerce. But it isn’t true. They bring in their own booze and drugs, they consume it here, cause problems here, throw their trash all over and then leave.”

Of course, residents having conflict with young people is historic in Miami Beach. However, what’s notable is that complaints these days aren’t originating with elderly residents — but, rather, with the very young professionals community leaders have long wanted to attract to the city.

Some residents also pointed out the irony of how little Miami Beach has learned from cities with which it has some connections. New York, for example, saw a major renaissance in the wake of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s zero tolerance stance on minor offenses such as those plaguing South of Fifth today. Meanwhile, though many criticized Fort Lauderdale’s decision to effectively end its historic spring break bacchanal a few years ago, the result has been entirely positive — the city is doing well with tourism and its beaches are popular, clean and generally safe.

“I’ve lived all over the world and I have never seen anything like this,” Stevens said.

Residents remain ready to work with city officials, even if many are jaded.

“My apartment is adorable and I don’t want to go anywhere,” Fahrer said. “I’m not one to back out easily.

I want to try to work with the city. I’m cautious. I want to give them another shot.”

Politics COLUMN

Skeleton Coast

By Jeffrey Bradley The coast of Namibia, in Africa, is strewn with the bleached bones and rusting relics of cargo ships that came to grief, ran aground, and were pounded to pieces by wind and wave. Some wrecks are so old they lie wrapped in dunes a half-mile from the restless, shifting shoreline. This Skeleton Coast, as it’s called, is a desolate outcrop where the cruel desert meets the faithless sea. No more barren place exists on Earth…

But let’s talk politics. Real politics, the down and dirty, public-trough piggery that makes our commission fluffball imbroglios look like a scrub team. And we need go no further than the Miami-Dade County Commission. These political impresarios “own” their seats, rule fiefdoms and are assured reelection no matter what infraction they commit, and do it all with an aplomb so breathtaking it would make Tammany Hall blush. Chicago hardball politics? What Chicago hardball politics?

And while the rest of us may fear only fear itself, county commissioners fear only removal by governor edict.

Now, you could make book on just about anybody up on that dais getting nabbed for public corruption, but black commissioners seem to have a particularly vulnerable spot in the Miami International Airport (MIA).

Scores of confidence men and lobbyists have for years gorged themselves on the loot and lucre stolen there, and prominent politicians have over time ensnarled themselves in conspiracy charges, conflict-of-interest and fraud.

Let’s face it: Miami-style black politics are a spectacle. These ladies and gentlemen are bespoke, agleam with jewels, past masters at division politics and have adroitly turned the race card a time or two. Hey, you use the weapons you got at hand, right? And while we’re sure they do great good for their communities (though we’re not quite sure what), we do know they’re awfully good at getting reelected.

Still, joining the political elite has its dark side. For the airport is the veriest graveyard of the commissioners, a bleak landscape rife with the remnants of black political careers. Now, getting caught isn’t a black thing — any more than it’s a Latino or white thing (who, in fact, were doing it long before anyone else). And we know that people of every imaginable stripe have battened onto the public dole that has become the airport. But here’s the difference: They don’t set the laws and they don’t get caught. Or, if they do, we haven’t heard of it yet.

Here’s a roll-call of “victims” in this familiar, sordid story: Commissioner Dorrin Rolle is the most recent casualty to become ethically stuck in the airport morass.

See, those fat dangling government contracts should have alerted him, as chairman of the county's airport and seaport committee, to recuse himself. Otherwise, his business ties with those seeking commission approval crosses the obvious ethical line — especially when the flocks of high-powered lobbyists are factored in.

According to the county's ethics ordinance, and state law, commissioners are barred from participating in or voting on issues pertaining to gain — for themselves or business partners.

Unfortunately, all this occurs just as the commissioner is facing scrutiny over his leadership of the James E. Scott Community Association, an 85-year-old anti-poverty organization. Millions of dollars in the red, it was hard to justify his $200,000 salary as CEO following discovery that retirement accounts were raided and charity funds diverted to pay for executive salaries. The commissioner has since relinquished that post.

Dennis Moss holds the powerful position of chairman of the County Commission. So shouldn’t he know better than to become enmeshed in ethical questions involving the airport? He was most vocal against the effort to pry the airport from the commission’s grasp and turn it over to an independent authority. Why? Hasn’t he heard of the coverage exposing all those high-paying airport jobs handed out to commissioners’ family members and friends, or the endless scandal over sweetheart deals for lobbyists who fork over big bucks to commission campaigns? Quite the contrary; he’s offended even by the suggestion of impropriety in a commissioner’s ability to award airport contracts.

Here’s the thing. While Moss is exercised over perceived slights to commissioners’ “honor,” his wife is a senior procurement contract officer at the airport. Now, if this doesn’t qualify for the term conflict of interest, what does? Sadly, this is just one of many examples arguing for taking MIA away from the commission.

That friends or associates of Barbara Carey-Shuler were deeply involved in airport corruption caused this once-popular commissioner to take an early retirement after becoming caught in the relentless vortex. No charges were filed — lucky that statute of limitations has limitations!

Lastly, there’s the sad story of the wayward Art Teele, who suffered a very public suicidal meltdown in the lobby of the Miami Herald that assured his 15 minutes. His unraveling began with mail-fraud and money-laundering charges that arose from schemes hatched at the airport. Poor Art; the world was too much with him.

(We are not counting Michelle Spence-Jones, a protégé of Carey-Shuler, who got derailed long before she made it as far as the airport, following accusations of stealing county grant money). … They say even today, Africa’s riches lead mariners to desperately wager their fortunes against the shoals and rocks of ruin. And those that lost the bet have left their vessels, their cargoes and their bones, flotsam and jetsam on the high tide line, for vultures to play with a weird ear for music.

PHOTO OP VOTE NO! Captured at deadline was a group of protestors on the 79th street Causeway on Miami Beach. With loud chanting, tambourines, whistles and hand crafted signs the crowd of mostly women and children were protesting a bill in the Florida Legislature, Senate Bill 6 and House Bill 7189. The bill ties half of teachers’ salaries to how well students perform on tests. In addition, teachers would be put on continuing oneyear contracts. The bill has already passed in the Senate, and the House is getting ready to debate the issue. Photograph by Paula Quinceno.

SEND IN YOUR PHOTOS, MIAMI! IF YOU CATCH BREAKING NEWS HAPPENING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, SNAP A PHOTO OR TWO ON YOUR CELL, DIGITAL OR VIDEO CAMERA AND SUBMIT IT TO US. EMAIL IT TO KIM@MIAMISUNPOST.COM ATT: BREAKING NEWS. IF WE PUBLISH YOUR PHOTO OR VIDEO, YOU WILL RECEIVE A SUNPOST TEE SHIRT OR BASEBALL CAP. www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • April 8, 2010 • Page 7

A Special Moment in Time COLUMN

The Time of the Trolley: Part One

By Seth H. Bramson mrfec@yahoo.com

To paraphrase a wonderful New York Globe editorial from the very early years of the 20th century, “Yes, totteleh, there were trolley cars in Miami! And Coral Gables! And Miami Beach!” Indeed, for some 35 glorious years, streetcars or trolley cars — today returning to cities throughout America under the updated moniker “light rail vehicles” — operated in, to and through the then three largest cities in Dade County.

Some years ago Ed Ridolph wrote a fine, soft-cover book titled Biscayne Bay Trolleys in which he detailed the history of the three separate systems, complete with rosters and photographs. It is in no small part due to Ed’s early research that we have learned so much about those operations, and, as it generally is, it is best to begin at the beginning, which is what, in this column, we shall do.

There is some debate as to whether the first trolleys to operate in Miami were several of the electric variety owned by the Tatum Brothers (in later years they of, yes, you guessed it, Tatum Waterway Drive fame, that street beginning at 77th Street just before you go over the bridge to Biscayne Beach and directly across from the west end of Biscayne Elementary School, at 800 77th Street) or those of the animal-powered type, which departed from the dock near either the Musa Isle or the Carhart Tower, both of those fine edifices early observation towers where one could look from today’s either 12th Avenue or 17th Avenue adjacent to the Miami River toward an Everglades that still came east almost to today’s Northwest Seventh Avenue and wound up at… you guessed it! The tower!

Tatum’s trolleys only lasted for two years while the muleor horse-powered cars, which ran from the Miami River landing to the tower, may have lasted into the early teens. In any case, the city, founded only nine years before the first electric trolleys ran, was simply nowhere near capable of filling the seats of the incipient and long before its time mass transit system.

Sometime around 1913, the second effort to run streetcars on rails occurred in Miami when several enterprising entrepreneurs determined that they could operate a trolley line profitably provided that the power to operate the car was the all-the-rage-and-cominginto-vogue storage battery, a massive set of batteries located under the car that promised to allow the car to run silently and flawlessly all day and until the car ran back to the streetcar barn for its overnight battery recharging. Problem was, it didn’t work.

Most of the time the cars Page 8 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

would, at some point in the work day, run out of battery charge and then have to be pulled back to the barn. That system lasted about three years and for several years thereafter, Miami had no reliable urban transit.

Finally, in 1919, the first electric trolley car, operating with a trolley pole connecting to an overhead wire, rolled silently down 12th Street, which would become Flagler Street under the Chaille street renumbering plan of 1921 that would also create the quadrant system, turn Avenue D into Miami Avenue and install a rational numbering system based on Southeast, Southwest, Northeast and Northwest street numbering. The trolley was an immediate hit and, at various times, the Miami streetcars were run or the system managed by the City of Miami itself, Florida Power and Light Company or the Miami Beach Railway Company, the successor company maintaining that name of the company’s buses until the Dade County MTA buyout of the private transit systems in 1963 or ’64.

At any rate, the Miami trolleys would eventually operate from a large trolley barn and yard at SW Second Street and Second Avenue and serve most downtown streets, NE Second Avenue to 36th Street, Flagler Street west to 22nd Avenue and, among other routes, the Seventh Avenue line, which ran past the then-new Seaboard Depot at 2206 NW Seventh Avenue and all the way up to 35th Street.

Next month, the story continues with a look back at George Merrick’s Coral Gables Rapid Transit Company.

ABOVE: TTHE BATTERY CAR, ALSO ON 12TH STREET, IS DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF BURDINE'S STORE, THE BUILDING AT RIGHT ALMOST OUT OF VIEW WAS THE BISCAYNE HOTEL, WHICH WOULD EVENTUALLY BE TAKEN OVER BY BURDINE'S AND CONVERTED TO RETAIL SPACE.

Seth H. Bramson is Adjunct Professor of History at both Barry University (where he is Historian in Residence) and Florida International University. The Company Historian of the Florida East Coast Railway and the single most-published South Florida history book author in the country, 14 of his 18 books dealing directly with the villages, towns, cities and people of the Gold Coast.

LEFT: IN 1940, WITHIN JUST A FEW MONTHS OF THE END OF STREETCAR SERVICE IN GREATER MIAMI, MIAMI BEACH RAILWAY COMPANY #306 OPERATES ON THE PRIVATE RIGHT OF WAY IN THE ALLEY ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF FLAGLER STREET.. BELOW LEFT: MIAMI'S FIRST STREETCAR LINE, ON 12TH STREET (LATER FLAGLER STREET), WAS BUILT BY THE TATUM BROTHERS, ALSO OF MIAMI BEACH FAME. IN THIS VIEW, THE TROLLEY IS IN FRONT OF THE BANK OF BAY BISCAYNE. BELOW: THE VEHICLE SHOWN HERE OPERATED ON RAILS TO EITHER THE MUSA ISLE OR CARHART TOWER, BOTH ALONG THE MIAMI RIVER, FROM A DOCK USED BY SIGHTSEEING BOATS. ALTHOUGH NOT SHOWN THIS UNIQUE CARRIER WAS PULLED BY EITHER A MULE OR A HORSE.

www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • Page 9

PHOTO: MITCHELL ZACKS/MAGICAL PHOTOS

PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY YOU SHOULD KNOW

Ted Vernon Jack-of-all-Trades

By Thomas Quick

Putting a lid on life was never an option for this jack-of-all-trades. New York born Ted Vernon began his lust for triumph at an early age with nothing more than a short ration of cash and an eagerness to head south. "I had a thousand dollars, that's it. And I owed money too! I wound up trading down the east coast, buying and selling off my trucks like a gypsy.” says Vernon.

The thousand dollars was able to get him several, two hundred dollar antique cars that would in turn, promise some profit. After moving from New York to Cleveland and then from Cleveland to Philadelphia, Vernon ended up setting up stage in Virginia. But, South Florida was calling to him and he has spent the last 40 years reveling in her song.

Although auto dealing and collecting was a grand passion, being let loose from the big city freed Vernon to pursue his interest in entertainment. He has worked in the ring as a professional wrestler and as a professional boxer he has held a twenty-one to one winning record. His love for entertainment nudged him in many directions and he has become a writer, actor, and executive producer.

On the production side, Vernon has had his hand behind the screen on films like Village of the Damned, Scarecrows and his most recent production, Death Print. His acting resume is quite beefy as well, with cameos in The Unholy and The Victims, as well as a stint on the acclaimed USA series Burn Page 10 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

Notice (Season 3, Episode 10 The Dark Road).

But Vernon has not stopped there. He has also dabbled in the world of music where he sang for a doo-wop group known as Ted Vernon and the Bulldogs that broke up eight years ago.

Now working with Accord Productions, Vernon plans to participate in about two movies a year, leaving him free to pursue his first love, automotives. He still gets a thrill buying, selling and trading some of the most classic four wheelers in town. Cars like his 1926 black Essex, a sleek ride that resembles a Bonnie and Clyde getaway wagon, or his 1939 orange Studebaker that looks like it's begging to hit the strip. And then there's Vernon's pride and joy, a 2000 Bentley Azure. It's easy to get blown away by Vernon's astounding collection of classic cars, even for those who don't know a Buick from a Bentley.

But, it's his eccentric, larger than life personality that comes out to play when he is elbows deep in antiques and Americana, that proves that life in the fast lane is a feat and not a phase for this collector.

"I'm in the fun car business.” states Vernon. "I'm not some kind of used car dealer who wants to take your fillings out. That's just me. That's what I do. I play, I have laughs, I treat people fairly, and I do a whole bunch of cars."

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www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • Page 11

BRAZZ DANCE COMPANY

CULTURE SHOCK COVER STORY

Local Program Provides Students Easy Access to the Arts Written by Michael W. Sasser

iami-Dade resident Pippa Milne is

M

sorry to see her sons age and move on to college for reasons beyond just

the traditional parental lamentation.

It’s the end of the line for the family’s participation in Culture Shock Miami, Miami-Dade County's Department of Cultural Affairs student-discount ticketing program.

“I’m sorry they have aged out of it,” Milne said.

“The program is fabulous and our whole family has enjoyed it.”

Milne said she thinks her family’s involvement dates back to the program’s inception about six years ago.

“I was at the ballet and saw something about it in the program,” she said. “I thought it was brilliant and we signed up right away. After that, the boys took us to see and do a lot of things.”

CultureShockMiami.com creates an affordable and easily accessible launching pad for Miami’s students ages 13-22 to explore the South Florida arts scene. Tickets normally priced at $50 or more are only $5 via CultureShockMiami.com. The site

GILLES VONSATTEL

Please see Culture on page 20

Calendar WHAT TO DO IN MIAMI THIS WEEK

ERYKA BADU

Page 14 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

SAVE THE DATE:

April 8

BOOKS Adult Story Time Everyone deserves a bedtime story – no matter how old you are. Some local lights entertain with their own creative reading of children’s bedtime favorites. Classic stories told with a modern flare during a relaxed gathering with coffee and dessert. Kahlua and cookies, comfy couches and casual conversation. Meet new people, hear old books, chill out in a warm setting. 7:30pm. Free. Books & Books, 9700 Collins Ave., Bal Harbour. For info: booksandbooks.com

April 8

MUSIC Erykah Badu The singer, who recently disrobed while walking down a crowded Dallas street, is hitting Miami for a one-night only concert in support of the newly released album New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh). Badu, who was hit with a disorderly conduct charge for said nude Dallas walk, said the entire incident was comstockery. "It's a way to sell tabloids or bring attention to the media. I don't think it was so crazy or bad."

We don't either, Eryka. Come to Miami and film here. You certainly won't get fined or arrested for just taking your clothes off! American Airlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd Miami.

For info: 786-777-1000 or aaarena.com

April 9

MUSIC Rollicking Blues Feted by the likes of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Letterman's Paul Shafer, rock/blues guitarist Ben Robinson and his band will perform in Miami this weekend at Bardot. He was 13 years old when he first played on The Late Show With David Letterman. He has since released a new album Best Served Loud to rave reviews. Concert is free. 10pm.

Bardot, 3456 N Miami Ave; Miami. For info: bardotmiami.com

SATURDAY, APRIL 17

LOCUST PROJECTS’ SPRING FLING IT’S TIME AGAIN FOR SPRING FLING, THE LOCUST PROJECTS’ ANNUAL FUNDRAISER GALA. THIS YEAR’S EVENT WILL BE FILLED WITH FUN AND FRIVOLITY WITH A SILENT AUCTION PACKED WITH ITEMS FROM SOME OF MIAMI’S MOST FETED BUSINESSES. SRA MARTINEZ, EBERJEY, CREAM, BROWNS & CO., FRATELLI LYON, THREADCOUNT AND MANOLO BLAHNIK AT NEIMANS, TO NAME A FEW. PEOPLE WILL HAVE THE MOST FUN THOUGH, WITH THE WHO DONE IT ART AUCTION. BIDDERS WILL CHOOSE TO BID ON ART DONATED BY AREA ARTISTS. THE CATCH IS THE ARTIST’S NAME WILL REMAIN HIDDEN UNTIL AFTER THE BIDDING. SOUNDS FUN! PARTICIPATING ARTISTS INCLUDE NAOMI FISHER. LIAM GILLICK, ADAM PUTNAM, HERENAN BAS, DZINE, MARIE LORENZ AND KORI NEWKIRK. TICKETS ARE $125. 6:30PM TO 9:30PM. AT THE SAGAMORE HOTEL, 1671 COLLINS AVE., MIAMI BEACH. TICKETS ONLINE AT LOCUSTPROJECTS.ORG OR 305.576.8570.

April 9

DANCE Miami Dance Festival Ori, the signature work of Brazz Dance Theater, is an evening of contemporary Afro-Brazilian dance.

The Afro-Fusion style is fun, high energy, and beautiful. Choreographed by Brazilian choreographer Augusto Soledade. 8:30pm. $23. Byron Carlyle Theater, 500 71st Street, Miami Beach. For info: momentumdance.com or 305-867-4194

April 9

MUSIC So Glam Don't expect a traditional rock show when the Athens-based ensemble Of Montreal plays in Miami this weekend. But do expect skits between songs, pantomiming to prerecorded music, surreal props,

ART BY DZINE

whimsical sets and lots of unconventional stuff. But, underneath all that over-the-top staging is some really good music. $24.50. 8:30pm. The Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach.

For info: livenation.com or ofmontreal.net

April 9

DANCE Alta Realitat - Oleles New dance from Barcelona, Spain, as part of a series on Catalan culture. 8:30pm. Colony Theater, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach. For info: tigertail.org or 305-545-8546

April 9

ART en:twined A collaborative exhibition featuring BAC resident artists who have been chosen 'Best in Show' by curators over the past season. en:twined twists together fiber art, photography, painting and street art to create a comprehensive study of our surroundings and its natural reoccurrences. Featured Artists: Cesar Barroso, Martin Carbajal, Daniel Fila, Regina Jestrow. Opening Reception 7-10pm. Bakehouse Art Complex, 561 NW 32nd St. Miami. For info: 305/576-2828

April 10

MUSIC Cat Daddies From Miami restaurateur, Jonathan Eisman comes his newest endeavor, Q American Barbeque in the Design District. Along with the kickin' ribs, slaw and wings is live blues every weekend. This week, The Cat Daddies hit the Q at 10pm. Q American Barbeque, 4029 N Miami Ave; Miami. For info: 305.227.2378 or qamericanbarbeque.com LEFT: THE BODYGUARD, PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUIS GONZALEZ PALMA AT THE BERNICE STEINBAUM GALLERY.

Please see Calendar on page 16

www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • Page 15

Calendar April 4

explores the Surrealist master's response to Lewis Carroll's literary classic Alice in Wonderland. It offers an excellent introduction to the artist, the surrealist movement and one of the most beloved and imaginative stories in Western culture. Ansin Family Art Gallery, 10am to 4pm. Miramar Cultural Center, 2400 Civic Center Place, Miramar. For info: 954-602-4525 or miramarculturalcenter.org

ART Guarded Luis Gonzalez Palma is a Guatemalan photographer whose work not only acknowledges his cultural heritage but also deals with political issues. This exhibition, Guarded represents an overview of the last ten years of Palma’s work. Free. Opening reception 7pm. Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, 3550 N Miami Ave; Miami. For info: bernicesteinbaumgallery.com

April 10

LIBRARY Celebrating Brazil A mini festival celebrating the culture of Brazil with samba demonstrations, an interactive Capoeira show, the Great Kapok Tree show, the King of Leaves puppet show, Brazilian games, and arts & crafts. 10:30am. Free. West Dade Regional Library, 9445 Coral Way, Miami. For info: mdpls.org

April 10 SPORT Boxing

This Saturday Berto will defend his WBC welterweight title against Carlos Quintana on the Fighting for Haiti card promoted by Lou DiBella. Portion of the proceeds will go to the Berto Dynasty Foundation benefiting Project Medishare, the joint effort of two doctors, Barth Green and Arthur Fournier, to improve health conditions in Haiti.

7pm. HBO start 10:30pm. BankAtlantic Center, 1 Panther Pkwy; Sunrise. For info: bankatlanticcenter.com

April 11

FILM Haitian Cinema Playing in Miami at the L'Archipel Cinema at the Haitian Cultural Center in Little Haiti is a weekend festival of Haitian movies in French with English sub-titles. See movies like The Girls Club, Le Peche et le Pardon, Playing in Paris, Dyab Baba and Le Chauffeur. Presented by the Haitian American Association of Filmmakers. $7. Two showings at 6 or 8pm. L'Archipel Cinema, 212 NE 59 Terrace, Miami. For info: haiticinema.com or 305-942-8348.

April 12

ART Twisted Alice Featuring a rare suite of Salvador Dali lithographs, this exhibition Page 16 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

THOMM, KELLY ROY GALLERY

April 12

BOOKS A Lucky Child

Thomas Buergenthal, now a Judge in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, writes about his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his new memoir, A Lucky Child. He arrived at Auschwitz at age 10 after surviving two ghettos and a labor camp. Separated first from his mother and then his father, Buergenthal managed by his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck to survive on his own.

Almost two years after his liberation, Buergenthal was miraculously reunited with his mother and in 1951 arrived in the U.S. to start a new life. 6:30pm. Free. Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave. Coral Gables. For info: 305-442-4408 or booksandbooks.com

April 12

SPORT Celeb Golf Tourney The Dwight Stephenson Hall of Fame Golf Classic is an annual event that raises money for local charities that serve children and families with financial need. Celebrities participating this year are John Hannah, Ted Hendricks, Rickey Jackson, Leroy Kelly, Paul Krause, Larry Little, Dan Marino, Bobby Mitchell, Melvin Renfro, Art Shell, John Stallworth, Lawrence Taylor and Andre Dawson. 9am. Weston Hills Country Club, 2600 Country Club Way, Weston. For info: 954315-7020 or dwightstephenson.org MOVING CURRENT AT BRAZZ DANCE. LEFT: SALVADORE DALI DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. BELOW: OF MONTREAL.

April 14

ART Is it Hairball Art? A fabulous group exhibition with a wacky title, Hairball Cosmology. Move past that and you have an in-depth study by the artists on todayness. Huh? Just go, the artwork is killer. Video and sound performance by Charlie Astro. Kelley Roy Gallery, 50 NE 29 St; Miami. For info: kelleyroygallery.com

March 21

BOOKS A Tale of War An evocative and affecting memoir of childhood during war from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, the Kenyan world-renowned novelist, playwright and critic. He, along with fellow writer and friend Chenjerai Hove will have conversation and answer questions at an author event at Books and Books. Hove is a Zimbabwean author, poet, essayist, playwright, and human rights activist. 7pm. Free.

Books and Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables. For info: booksandbooks.com

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www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, April 8 2010 • Page 17

The 411

Gingi Beltran, Carlos Betancourt, Alicia Cervera, & Serge Rivera at the St. Regis Topping Off event.

Lara Shriftman and Lucas at the One Bal Harbour Kids' Program launch

COLUMN

Louis Aguirre and Jillian Jacobson-Altit

A Break from Spring Break

By Mary Jo Almeida-Shore maryjoshore@miamisocialholic.com Photos by Mary Jo Almeida-Shore

HEAVENLY BODIES

John and Nancy Batchelor at the St. Regis

If you spent any time in Miami Beach the last few weeks you may have noticed the spring break takeover. One dead giveaway it was in full force was the sheer number of half-naked/bikini-clad bodies on the beach, not to mention shopping on Lincoln Road and Washington Avenue, where some shoppers donned nothing but a bikini (ever heard of a sarong?), a purse, heels and big sunglasses! While most of these sightings warranted a fashion citation (or 10), several heavenly bodies graced the runway at the Setai Hotel for the closing night of Funkshion last week, where Colombian swimsuit designer Chechy Benedetti debuted her 2010 Pitahaya Swimwear collection. A chic crowd turned out for the show and afterparty.

TOPPING OFF THE ST. REGIS

Socializing at the St. Regis Topping Off Bash

More than 300 guests were greeted at the valet area by St. Regis butlers and whisked through the shops up to the third floor, where they were welcomed by another St. Regis butler and escorted to the “front desk” for check-in during the topping-off celebration for the St. Regis Hotel and Residences in Bal Harbour last Wednesday. The event theme and décor, conceptualized by Sharon Rauvola, resembled a chic, tranquil hotel setting, complete with check-in and concierge desk. Out on the terrace, where the party took place, staff and models were outfitted by the Bal Harbour Shops’ 100% Capri collection to complement the theme, while guests enjoyed champagne and delicious bites by Le Basque, with the beautifully lit St. Regis towers serving as the perfect backdrop. Live music was provided by DJ Shlomi. One of the evening’s highlights was the unveiling of A Gilded Ascension, a new work by visual artist Carlos Betancourt. Betancourt was exclusively commissioned by the project’s developer, Starwood Hotels & Resorts,

Page 18 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

to commemorate the completion of vertical construction — “topping off” — of all three 27-story towers. The entire project is scheduled for completion in 2011. Guests in attendance included: Louis Aguirre, Gingi Beltran, Susie Wahab, Arin and Christina Getty Maercks, Susanne Birbragher, Carlos Betancourt, Gigi Ganatra, Carol Bell, Serge Rivera, Jillian Jacobson Altit, John and Nancy Batchelor, Maya Ezratti, Tara Elias-Schuchts and Shari Liu, to name a few.

PEOPLE WE LOVE AT CAFEINA Miami Beach publicist and philanthropist Brian Long celebrated his birthday last Thursday night at Cafeina with a who’s who of guests including international “IT” girl and model Ivana Berendika, the wife of Netscape co-founder Thomas Jermoluk.

Long played host to the lounge’s first installment of its “People We Love” party series, which honors Miami’s influencers, tastemakers and community leaders. International mix-master DJ Joe Dert kept the birthday bashers dancing into the early hours of the morning, when Berendika joined Long and his partner, Todd Codder, in singing “Happy Birthday.” Lily Zanardi will serve as the host for the Wynwood hotspot’s April 15 installment of “People We Love.”

YOU’RE NEVER TOO YOUNG TO PARTY Last Saturday, chic youngsters Jonah and Isabella Koopman; Audrey and India Harrelson; Kito, Bella and Sophia Brod; Max and Rocco Shore; and Abie and Scarlett Dornbusch were joined by other fashionable tots, with parents in tow, for the launch of One Bal Harbour’s kids’ program. Other special guests included Nobu’s Richie Notar, celeb chef Ingrid Hoffman, FOX 7’s Belkys Nerey, Richard David Story of Departures, Alejandra Torres, One Bal Harbour Resort & Spa hoteliers Juan and Jorge Arevalo,

Models at the Pitahaya Swimwear show at the Setai Hotel during Funkshion

Jillian Jacobson-Altit and Sarah Harrelson. The fun-filled afternoon included rides, Nobu sushi rolling, custom T-shirt creations courtesy of C By Me, and fun and healthy treats. Guests made on-site donations that benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida, which grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

COMING UP: DESIGN HOUSE OPEN HOUSE Osirys Mendez, renowned interior designer, will share her top five tips for decorating and "must have" pieces for spring at DCOTA, this Saturday, April 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the only Saturday that the general public will have access to Design House, so don’t miss out. In addition to receiving complimentary design consultations, you can shop floor samples from 60 showrooms priced at up to 80 percent off. DCOTA is located at 1855 Griffin Road, Dania Beach.

VOLLEYPALOOZA 2010?

2010 Model Beach Volleyball tournament hits the sands of Nikki Beach this weekend, featuring gorgeous, scantily clad models who will showcase their athletic abilities, among other “assets,” on Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11th, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Miami celebrities and spectators are invited to the open event to watch models from seven renowned agencies such as Next, CGM, MC2, Front, Green Agency and Wilhelmina, as they spike their way to glory in the co-ed beach volleyball competition. In addition to bathing suits, each model will be wearing a colorful RumbaTime watch, in a color to represent their agency. Lucky guests will also receive a RumbaTime Watch from the brand’s signature collection in their gift bag, while supplies last.

ART: NC-17 Calix Gustav Gallery's newest exhibit, Sticky & Sweet, which explores sexual freedom, expression and all related taboos, will be feted with an opening reception on Saturday, April 10, from 7-10 p.m. We understand that the show is quite risqué and, as usual, in tune with the gallery's m.o. of pushing the envelope, so leave the

kids and prudes at home! During the reception, complimentary cocktails and beats by DJ Johnny the Boy will be provided.

LAUGH AT PLAY Play Nightclub in South Beach will hold Comedy Nights every Wednesday evening, featuring up and coming local comics. On Wednesdays, Play will open at 9 p.m. and the comedy will continue until 11:30. After 11:30 Play returns to its regular nightclub format.

Admission costs $10 for the comedy show with a special dinner and appetizer menu available for purchase, as well as drink specials throughout the evening. Play Nightclub is located at 1045 Fifth Street (Lenox and Fifth) with a convenient, attached parking lot. For table reservations please call 305-532-4340.

Jess Okon, Gino Campodonico, Stacey Russell & Alex Simkovitz at Ra Sushi

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MANSION Mansion, South Beach’s biggest nightclub, celebrates six years of dance, decadence and delight with an all-star lineup starting April 14. You are invited to join the Mansion family for nightly celebrations featuring club kid extraordinaire Richie Rich’s Tabloid Hero fashion show Wednesday, Busta Rhymes live Thursday, Fabolous and Trey Songz live Friday, DJ Steve Aoki Saturday and more. For more information, visit mansionmiami.com or call 305-531-5535.

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS Tuesday night, the dashing Nacho Figueras, polo star and Ralph Lauren model, hosted Ocean Drive magazine’s cover party at Coco de Ville.

On Friday night, Rosie O’Donnell was spotted at Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge with a group of tweens and a few adults. O’Donnell reportedly bowled two rounds and scored a 91 on game one.

Also on Friday night, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian enjoyed a “sisters’ night out” at Coco de Ville. Sources tell us they toasted with a glass of champagne and then went crazy dancing when I’m in Miami Trick came on. At one point Khloe asked to play bartender and got behind the bar to take drink orders and pass out shots to partygoers.

On Wednesday, Serena Williams and five of her friends, including Jeremy Shockey, enjoyed meatballs at Macaluso’s in Miami Beach.

Brian Long, Ivette Naranjo, Ivana Berendika and ToddCodder at Ra Sushi

Ra Sushi eating contest winners, Jorge Tameron, Eric Pineres, and Brad Goodwin

www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • April 8, 2010 • Page 19

COVER STORY

Culture Shock cont’d from page 13 provides a great portal to Miami-Dade County’s premier cultural events.

Culture Shock Miami was launched when the Knight Foundation approached Miami-Dade County.

“It’s modeled after a similar program in New York,” said Gerry Landreth, project administrator for Culture Shock Miami. “The Knight Foundation and the county fund the program.”

Administered through the county Department of Cultural Affairs, Culture Shock Miami was developed to address a need of many arts and culture organizations.

“It’s important to grow audiences and the biggest challenge for many is to attract and grow young audiences,” Landreth said. “Many organizations are focused on the audiences of today. Culture Shock Miami enables us to focus on developing the audiences of tomorrow.”

The key to the program is marketing directly to the target audience and eliminating the barrier of cost. Information is disseminated through schools

and colleges and to teachers and parents. The website consolidates all information about the program and its offerings and there is even a new iPhone application available from Apple to help keep youths apprised of updates.

The program works simply enough. With student ID, students can buy two $5 tickets to a variety of events and attractions. The second ticket can be used by a parent, guardian, babysitter — anyone.

“We have over 70 organizations that participate regularly,” Landreth said.

Participating groups donate tickets to Culture Shock Miami. Landreth said participants view it as advertising.

“It’s a very big mix of participants, from the Museum of Contemporary Art to Art Basel; lots of music, from jazz to chamber music to some of the more avant-garde productions of Miami Light Project; an eclectic mix of theater, and more,” Landreth said.

Milne said her children’s participation has led to the family enjoying time together at many different types of art and cultural events. She said her sons were raised with an appreciation of the arts and that has been furthered by Culture Shock Miami.

“If children are brought up with that appreciation, then they will have it as adults,” Milne said.

“With student ID, students can buy two $5 tickets to a variety

BOMBA ESTEREO

Page 20 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

ON THE COVER: ESPERANZA SPAULDING

VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ

Those who perhaps can’t afford the expense of such cultural exposure also benefit from the program.

Angel Cabrera visited a museum for his first time as an adult and attended his first classical music performance while babysitting his nephew, who acquired tickets through Culture Shock Miami.

“I never would have gone otherwise,” Cabrera said. “I actually really like going.”

Milne said the cost makes art and cultural programs “accessible to everyone.”

“A family of four can go for $20, less than the price of a movie and much more fun,” Milne said.

Landreth said that last year 7,000 people utilized Culture Shock Miami tickets, an increase of 35 percent from the previous year.

“This year we’re on track for a 25 - 35 percent increase as well,” he said.

Through the program, young people can become immersed in or at least aware of arts and culture, which in turn helps institutions build audiences for the future.

“Kids start to understand that the arts is more than dancers in tutus and costume theater pieces like Shakespeare,” Landreth said.

For more information, a complete list of participating organizations, schedules and ticket information, visit www.CultureShockMiami.com.

of events and attractions.”

DANIEL ANDAI

Health COLUMN

Being Me Smoke-Free

By Jennifer fragoso

Name: Jennifer Fragoso Age: 38 Years smoking: 23 SMOKE FREE: Five Weeks

WEEK 6: ADDICTION |əˈdik sh ən| noun the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity : he committed the theft to finance his drug addiction | an addiction to gambling. (Source: Apple Dictionary) We are all addicted to one thing or another. Some of us rely a little too heavily on caffeine while others seek the solace of sweet treats to help them get through most afternoons.

As for me, it seemed my addiction was indeed smoking but as I continue to look closer and delve deeper into my smoke-free life, I realize smoking was merely the symptom of a deeper problem. I’ve always thought of myself as a sort of open wound —someone who is expressive, feeling, sensitive and completely open. Coming in on week six, I see that my former interpretation of myself was slightly skewed. Smoking helped me push away a lot of stuff like anger, boredom and betrayal. As I’ve said in past weeks, smoking was a crutch for me and now that I’ve taken that bracing away, I’m left to feel what needs to be felt all on my own and by golly it “feels” great! I get it now. I get the pattern of addiction — you want so badly not to feel something that you turn to something else as an escape. That escape can be anything and often it is a heck of a lot easier to replace unhealthy addictions like smoking or drinking with healthy alternatives like running or bicycling.

Since I began writing this journal, I have received some emails from other people living their lives smoke-free and I was impressed with one in particular. The story of Peter Politis really grabbed me. Peter had been a smoker for 17 years and like most smokers tried several times to quit, only to crash and begin burning over and over again. But when his wife told him he was going to be a daddy, something inside him clicked. As Peter put it, “For the next nine months I was going to finally battle my addiction once and for all and this time I was going to win.” It has been said that “necessity is the mother of invention” but in this case it seems the right incentive made Peter the smoker invent Peter the father.

He became smoke-free on May 29, 2009, the day his daughter Maya was born. To keep busy and control his anxiety, Peter began exercising. He decided to take control of his own body and began jogging, biking and even learned to swim. Eventually Peter found his sweet spot and competes in marathons and triathlons and remains smoke-free to this day.

Peter chose to replace his unhealthy smoking habit by challenging himself physically, while I have chosen to dive into my own psyche headfirst (no pun intended) and allow myself to feel every little thing and hopefully heal through literary introspection. Every time I hear from a reader I feel so much love and support. So if you can, please help me cheer Peter on while he competes in the Nautica South Beach Triathlon on Sunday, April 11. A portion of the proceeds will benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital so let’s get out there and show Peter some love, SoBe style.

Log on to www.southbeachtri.com for more information. www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • April 8, 2010 • Page 21

Cinema COLUMN

Head Cases

By Ruben Rosario What draws us toward movies dealing with mentally unstable people? Is it the chance to see familiar faces flex their acting muscles? Or do these films also tap into a primal urge to explore darker, unrestrained aspects of our psyche from the comfort of our theater seat?

Three recent releases from internationally renowned directors peer into the abyss of troubled souls who have been touched, to varying degrees, by madness.

For The Squid and the Whale director Noah Baumbach, his interest lies in what happens after one recovers from a nervous breakdown. In his latest character study, the blistering, wryly observant Greenberg, Baumbach turns his unblinking gaze to the emotional damage inflicted by a 40-year-old man-child whose self-absorption and arrogance has ruined his chances of making a lasting connection throughout his adult life. As played by Ben Stiller in a careerjump-starting performance, Roger Greenberg is bitterness incarnate, an egomaniacal New Yorker recently released from a psychiatric hospital who accepts his brother’s invitation to stay at his Hollywood home while the latter vacations in Vietnam with his family. When Roger establishes a rapport with Florence, his brother’s reticent personal assistant (well played by The House of the Devil’s Greta Gerwig), I barely resisted the temptation to wave my hands to the poor woman and scream at her to run away and never look back.

Despite the abusive behavior Roger displays toward his newfound object of “affection,” Florence continues to be smitten, and their tentative relationship mirrors the one I have with Greenberg: The more cruel behavior we witness out of Stiller, the more fascinating the movie becomes. Baumbach dares us to hate this tightly coiled ball of contempt and entitlement, and while redemption might be out of Roger’s reach, we do arrive at a deeper understanding of what makes him tick.

Grizzly Man auteur Werner Herzog pulls off a similar feat in his deliriously off-kilter, in-name-only remake Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Unfairly dumped in theaters late last year, this deadpan comedy masquerading as a police thriller arrives on DVD and Blu-ray this week, and you shouldn’t miss the chance to see what Herzog does to the morally corrupt character portrayed by Harvey Keitel in Abel Ferrara’s 1992 envelope-pushing shocker. In the new version, we first see Detective Terence McDonagh rescuing a prison inmate in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

As played by Nicolas Cage in his juiciest performance since Adaptation, the law enforcer becomes addicted to painkillers, then to stronger substances, as a domino effect of back injuries suffered during this initial selfless act.

The plot of the new Bad Lieutenant, which follows McDonagh’s investigation into the drug-related execution of a Senegalese family, is merely window dressing, the better for Herzog to luxuriate in Cage’s unhinged line readings. Add a game supporting cast that includes Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Coolidge and Brad Dourif, and you’ve got an irresistibly over-the-top Southern concoction. It’s hard not to be fond of a movie that features shots taken from an iguana’s point of view. (It’s IGUANACAM!) Over the top doesn’t begin to describe the young Benito Mussolini’s lust for power. Portrayed with smoldering intensity by the gifted Filippo Timi in veteran Italian director Marco Bellocchio’s electrifying tour de force Vincere, the future dictator is first seen attempting to disprove the existence of God during a Socialist Party meeting in the early 1900s.

What follows is the farthest thing you can imagine from a standard biopic. Vincere, which storms the Miami Beach Cinematheque this weekend, is actually not Mussolini’s story, but a dizzyingly impressionistic portrait of the tumultuous love affair he had with Ida Dalser, the headstrong woman who became his first wife.

In dramatizing their ill-fated liaison, Bellocchio has fused the theatricality of grand opera with an innately cinematic mise-en-scène. Restless camerawork sweeps the viewer along with the lovers, and their violently intoxicating chemistry fuels the film. Bellocchio also juxtaposes newsreel footage with his staged scenes, not only to situate the viewer in a particular time period, but to comment on the film’s events. “It’s no sacrifice, it’s a joy,” Ida tells Mussolini when she reveals she’s sold all her possessions to finance Il Popolo d’Italia, the newspaper that chronicled the budding fascist’s rise to power. Ida (Love in the Time of Cholera’s Giovanna Mezzogiorno) eventually learns that no good deed goes unpunished, and her descent into despair and self-delusion lands her in a series of mental institutions.

The beauty of Mezzogiorno’s nuanced portrayal is that she lets us see that Dalser retains her sanity, even if she never stops believing Il Duce will recognize the love they once had. Her final scenes reach a transcendental grace that turns Bellocchio’s fever dream into one of the best movies of the year.

Page 22 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

Art Glass Blowing at Sea

By Marguerite Gil (megs@famae.org) On a recent Caribbean cruise, I can truthfully state that I was very pleasantly surprised to sit in on a glass-blowing demonstration.

We were meandering on the highest deck of the Celebrity Solstice two weeks ago, searching for a peaceful spot (no direct sun, no noise, no high winds, no crowds), in order to get started on our selected novels. We eventually found a seating area with an extensive patch of green grass (yes, real green grass), plenty of benches and practically no people. It seemed perfect. After a few pages, I noticed some passengers arriving and starting to sit at some of the empty nearby benches. Several pages later, I looked up and realized that some 30 people were now surrounding us. As it turned out, we were going to be part of one of the cruise line’s newest endeavors — hard-core glass blowing… and it was HOT! Three young men — Eric, Matt and Gab — were setting up the glass studio and getting ready to share their expertise with the eager audience, which by sheer luck included us. Eric Meek took the lead and began showing everyone the ovens they would be using. There was a glass-melting furnace (2,100 F), an annealer (950 F) and several warming ovens that either kept the finished pieces very warm (1000 F) or allowed them to slowly cool down to room temperature, which is usually an overnight process.

According to Eric, glassblowing dates back to the last century B. C. It involves blowing air into a molten blob of glass. Today glassblowers use silica, colorful oxides, crushed frit, etc. and style the glass with stainless steel rods and a vast assortment of creative tools that have brought the industry out of practical glass making (drinking cups and window glass), and elevated the profession into the world of fine art.

The three men worked as a finely oiled machine and managed, over the seven-day cruise, to produce a few dozen pieces that they raffled off to grateful winners. Celebrity will offer glass- blowing demonstrations on the Solstice as well as the Eclipse, which is slated to launch this month.

If a cruise is not on your “to do in the near future” list, check out the Palley Wing in the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami. The Palleys have donated a portion of their magnificent glass collection to the Lowe. The works on view are stunning and definitely worth the drive there.

Music COLUMN

Bon Jovi Cranks Out Another Hit Album

By Alan Sculley

For more almost 25 years, Bon Jovi has been cranking out hit albums and playing arenas and stadiums, while establishing a level of enduring popularity that only a handful of acts have ever achieved.

Some would suggest that one of the secrets to Bon Jovi’s success has been the band’s ability to craft a signature style arena-friendly brand of melodic rock that has stayed pretty consistent since the days of the group’s 1986 breakthrough album, Slippery When Wet. Band members Richie Sambora and Tico Torres, though, have a rather opposing theory to explain Bon Jovi’s longevity and continued popularity.

“I think basically what keeps us fresh is the fact that, you know, we try to reinvent ourselves musically and listen to what’s happening sound wise,” drummer Torres said during a recent teleconference interview. “Then when it comes out to do a record, you know, it’s the writing. I think you try not to emulate anything you did in the past, but try to grow.”

Torres’ observation could be taken as the kind of talk that occurs whenever musicians discuss a new album – much the way that musicians usually say the new CD is always their best record. But Torres actually makes a valid point.

As much as signature songs like “Living on a Prayer,” “It’s My Life” or “Wanted Dead Or Alive” might seem to fit a pretty similar stylistic template, Bon Jovi (which also includes keyboardist David Bryan) hasn’t simply been making the same kind of albums for all these years.

Formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey, the band established its signature sound with its third CD, Slippery When Wet, which included hits like “Livin’ on a Prayer,” “You Give Love A Bad Name” and “Wanted Dead or Alive.” That CD, coupled with the 1988 follow-up album New Jersey (another chart-topper with hits like “Bad Medicine” and “Born to Be My Baby”), sold a combined 19 million copies in the United States alone.

On subsequent albums, the band’s signature sound has remained intact, but the group has frequently tinkered around within that framework.

On the 1992 album, Keep The Faith, the band went for a bit grittier edge, while on 1995’s “These Days” took on a darker feel lyrically. Then of course, there was the 2007 CD, “Lost Highway,” on which Bon Jovi and Sambora wrote songs with several country tunesmiths and injected a notable country accent into some of the CD’s songs.

Now comes The Circle. This time Bon Jovi has returned to its familiar rock sound, cranking

out anthems like “We Weren’t Born To Follow” and “Thorn In My Side” and power ballads like “When We Were Beautiful” that wouldn’t feel out of place on “New Jersey.”

But Sambora, who also participated in the teleconference interview, said once again there are some twists within the music on The Circle that epitomize the band’s tendency to experiment with its sound.

“We’re actually moving in different sonic territory, I think, for Bon Jovi than I think we’ve ever done before,” he said. “And songs like ‘When We Were Beautiful’ and ‘Broken Promised Land’ and things like that. There are all these different sounds that are coming in that we’ve never used before either.”

What’s an even bigger new wrinkle is the lyrical direction of The Circle. Sambora said when he and Bon Jovi began writing new songs, the plan was to finish a handful of new tunes to round out a greatest hits CD. Instead, the songs started coming fast and furious, and Bon Jovi and Sambora found themselves tapping into topical themes (such as the recession and the arrival of President Barack Obama) that served as a notable departure from the group’s more common romantic fare.

“There was a lot of stuff, a lot of people, you know, how people were reacting to all these things that were happening all over the world,” Sambora said. “And Jon and I kind of plugged into that and -- songs like ‘Work For The Working Man.’ You know, people were losing their jobs all over the place.

“We couldn’t have written this album if the world wasn’t in the state it was in,” Sambora said.

The group figures to give fans a chance to hear the latest turns in the Bon Jovi sound as the band (joined by touring bassist Hugh McDonald and guitarist Bobby Bandiera) begins a tour that will eventually number some 135 shows and extend into summer 2011.

“I’m sure that we’ll do The Circle in it’s entirety a few times on this tour because we’re really, really proud of this record and proud of the evolution that happened with this record for us as far as musically and songwriting and all that stuff,” Sambora said.

But there will be plenty of variety in the song set even at shows that find the band playing The Circle (or other albums like Slippery When Wet or Lost Highway – two possibilities mentioned by Sambora).

“We’re going to go back and we’re going to play some stuff that we haven’t played in 20 years like, stuff from the maybe first two albums,” Sambora said. “And we have so many records to choose from and so many songs to choose from.”

Even though Sambora has played the Bon Jovi hits hundreds – if not thousands of times – over the years, he said he never gets tired of performing them. The setting, he said, makes all the difference.

“Lets put it this way, I’m not going to sit around in my house and play ‘Livin’ on a Prayer,” the guitarist said. “But when I’m playing in front of people and I’m playing it for people, it becomes something different. And it becomes an experience.”

Bon Jovi will be playing South Florida on April 18 at the Bank Atlantic Center, One Panther Parkway, Ft. Lauderdale. Tickets are $ $19.50 to $502.75. 7:30pm. For info: bankatlanticcenter.com

www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • April 8, 2010 • Page 23

Sex COLUMN

Bare in Brickell

By Dr. Sonjia Kenya Who uses condoms in Miami?

I’m asking because HIV/AIDS rates in this town are among the highest in the nation, and no one has explained why. Are tourists liberating from latex in South Beach? Are undocumented immigrants baring it all for an American wedding? Are locals just loose?

As a local HIV/AIDS researcher with a doctorate and a handful of advanced degrees from America’s best institutions, I know how to conduct a scientific study to answer my question. But the research process has a way of forcing filters on subjective, yet meaningful information. A scientific study would point to objective factors, like poverty, that we already know increase HIV risk. But this doesn’t explain Miami’s sky-high AIDS rates. Many other cities have higher rates of poverty and lower rates of HIV. From a very subjective perspective (that of a single professional woman living in Miami), I was interested in condom use among educated, employed people enjoying high-priced, happy hour cocktails. HIV is often transmitted among partners who don’t know each other well, and the intoxicating influence of fresh love (aka LUST) is known to impair judgment and cause relative strangers to feel like they’ve known each other forever.

With this in mind, I specifically wanted to know, “Do professionals in Miami use condoms when having sex with a new partner for the very first time?”

So last Friday, over cocktails at a trendy Brickell bar, I conducted a social, subjective survey of convenience.

I asked five men and five women, “Have you ever had sex for the first time with someone without using a condom?

If not, can you think of a circumstance where you would?” The hypothetical framing of the second question was my brilliant boyfriend’s idea. As an attorney, he knew that if the question was posed hypothetically, people would be more apt to respond truthfully. As it turned out, responses to this part of the question yielded the juiciest information.

“Yes, and I would again if she wasn’t a drug addict or a prostitute,” said one fairly handsome, salt-and-pepperhaired federal prosecutor who appeared to be in his late 30s-early 40s. His friend, another federal prosecutor who was a bit older, chunkier and less socially inclined, giggled and said, “Only with my sister.” Friend #3 was in the same line of work and a bit more suspicious of my intentions. Like a hostile witness, he actually began questioning me: “Have you?” and “Why do you want to know?” He wouldn’t stop grilling until I recited my theory — which, by the way, is that most folks in Miami don’t use condoms consistently, regardless of socioeconomic status.

I think the educated and economically secure have the same sex risk behaviors as the poor and impoverished.

We just dip into different pools and have access to healthcare, which means we can get an infection diagnosed before it mutates into a more dangerous condition that is easily transmitted. In many cases, we have the means to be “cured.” People without access to care may not know they have an infection for a very long time, which in turn increases the likelihood they will infect others in their pool of sex partners.

Eager to prove myself right, my attorney/boyfriend/research assistant jumped in to recruit study participants while I tried to communicate warmth and trust as I asked strangers about their sexual history and condom use.

Surprisingly, after an initial giggle and look expressing, “Are you serious?,” most people were quite willing to discuss their bedroom behaviors. Well, they were willing to discuss their “hypothetical” behaviors — which, in all cases, were eventually revealed to be a real part of their sexual history.

While no one flat-out refused to participate, a few contenders were just silly and unable to provide a meaningful contribution. In addition to the quirky prosecutor described above, another joker also said the only person he’d had unprotected sex with was his sister. Every study (scientific or not) needs some exclusion criteria. Hostile, incomplete or ridiculous responses were excluded from our data.

Of 10 professionals surveyed, only one person indicated they never had sex without a condom during their first sexual experience with a new partner. This person was a man. You got it: four men and five women at a Brickell bar on a Friday night admitted they had had sex with a new partner for the first time without using a condom.

One gorgeous man in his late 20s indicated that he only had unprotected sex during the first encounter with women he initially knew as friends. I asked, “How did you know the last person?” He explained that she always hung out at his bar and was available whenever he arrived. He finished with, “She was like a nun.” That surprised me because 12 years of Catholic school conditioned me to recognize a nun hiding anywhere, and I’ve yet to run into one at a bar, much less flirting with Miami’s version of Ashton Kutcher.

A 30-something-year-old couple told me they had sex for the first time without a condom. Of course they knew each other before embarking on unprotected sex, which made the encounter seem safer. She was dating one of his friends and they consummated their relationship after getting drunk one night when his friend wasn’t around.

Before walking away, she whispered in my ear, “Don’t do it without a condom because you give up all your power.

Make him use a condom.”

Page 24 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

My next participant was a gay man in a “semi-committed” relationship. This means “Yes, he’s like my boyfriend but I see other people when I want. We don’t live together. Nothing has been formalized. I see him two-three times per week.” I asked if he’s ever had unprotected sex, and unlike the other respondents, his laugh was not a joke.

He thought my question was so irrelevant, he seriously laughed. “Of course I have! How many times a week, honey?”

He believes there’s no risk of disease transmission if ejaculatory fluids are not exchanged. His potential partners are found online and several different partners may be experienced (for the first and last time) within a couple of days, or hours. Some interactions involve multiple partners and rarely are commitments established before intercourse. When married partners participate, he sends a cab to pick them up and drop them off at discreet locations. I asked, “Does your boyfriend know?” He replied, “We don’t discuss those things.” Compared to above, the remaining responses seem mild, with just one exception. Every woman indicated she knew her lover through a casual friendship or work relationship before having unprotected sex for the first time. The only male who indicated he always uses a condom was a married restaurant manager who flirted heavily with the gay guy I previously interviewed. His flirting was so intense (lifting his shirt so gay man could touch his six-pack), I questioned whether he was heterosexual. Given this observation and his marital status, it’s good to know he’s advocating consistent condom use.

It’s worth noting that the first federal prosecutor interviewed did ask what I did for a living. After learning I am a medical school professor, he looked at my boyfriend and said, “I wouldn’t use a condom with her either. I bet you didn’t.”

So there you have it. Ninety percent of my convenience sample (professionals paying double figures for a drink on Friday night) have done the deed without condoms during their first sexual experience with a new partner.

This may explain why one of every 108 Miami-Dade residents is living with HIV/AIDS and one of every five HIV positive people don’t know they’re infected.

HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. Medical advances have transformed the disease to a manageable condition and many people are living long, healthy lives. Know your status. Know your partner.

Reflecting a genuine understanding of sex risk behaviors in our beachside enclave, the “Test Miami” initiative was launched last year to promote routine HIV testing, improve Miami residents’ understanding of HIV, and reduce HIV transmission. These are goals we can reach as a community and the first step is to get tested to know your HIV status. If you’re infected, treatment is available and you can live. Anyone in the state can call 1-800-FLA-AIDS to find a free testing site. More information about the “Test Miami” initiative is available online at: http://www.dadehealth.org/hiv/HIVservices.asp.

Dr. Sonjia Kenya, Ed.D., M.S., M.A., is a medical professor at a local university focused on reducing racial disparities in health. She writes most often about issues related to health, race and sex. .

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Style COLUMN

Make Your Own Batik This Spring at Hiho Batik

By Jennifer Fragoso (fragosofashion@aim.com)

Hiho Batik, pronounced high hoe as in Hi-ho Silver!, is a boutique that feels like an artist’s retreat. By definition, batik is a method of dying textiles.

At Hiho Batik that definition takes flight and is limited only by the extent of your imagination. You are in the driver’s seat at Hiho Batik. Simply sketch your own design or use one of Hiho Batik’s many masterpieces, outline it in wax and they will take care of the rest.

Hiho Batik is a special place — a real treat, perfect for parties from kid’s birthdays to baby showers. Attendees can be involved in making gifts for the honored guest as well as designing their own party favors to take home with them. What a great way for someone to remember your special day!

Batik is fun and easy as 1-2-3 with the help of Julia Silver Gordon, owner of Hiho Batik, and her gracious staff. Julia credits an orange T-shirt with an ice cream cone batiked on it, a childhood favorite, along with pop artists such as Keith Herring as early inspiration for the truly unique business she has today. Fans of Hiho Batik range from the Obama girls to Jessica Alba and fashion industry legend Betsey Johnson. Read on to learn a little more about the woman behind Hiho Batik, and don’t forget to stop in — you might find your own “orange ice cream cone T-shirt” there to inspire you.

Hiho Batik is more than a boutique, it's a community. Did you envision the retail side of your business that way or did it just evolve into the community that it is today?

Never did I envision 15 years ago when I started selling batik that it would become the brand and community it is today. Over the years Hiho Batik has developed such a great loyal following. I am always so grateful for my customers and fans of the brand, from the Obama kids to my Miami locals.

Can you walk our readers through the ABC's of batik?

No. That they will have to learn from visiting the store. I can say with wax, dye and freedom of expression, the results are amazing.

Page 26 • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • The SunPost • www.miamisunpost.com

ABOVE: JULIA, LEFT IN HER ORANGE IBATIK ICE CREAM TEE WITH FRIEND ILISSA. LEFT: THREE DESIGNS FROM HIHO BATIK.

You credit an orange ice cream cone T-shirt you had when you were a child as your inspiration. As a mother of two, what sort of inspiration do you hope to provide your children with, as both an artist and entrepreneur?

Having my business with kids has been the most unexpected bonus for my kids and me. They are exposed to business and get to see how it works from an early age while art is created. They are also able to see projects from start to finish — and the bonus is I get to have them with me always.

Clothing is wearable art. How do you feel when you see your creations on other people?

Of course I love it. I’m always surprised and thrilled to see people wearing Hiho Batik. It is one of the most satisfying parts of the business, especially when I see someone wearing a design I know is from years ago and they are still sporting it and it still looks great.

What is next for you and Hiho Batik?

I am hoping to open another Hiho Batik in 2011.

Hiho Batik is located at 2174 NE 123rd St., North Miami, 305892-7733. The label can also be found in uber stylish shopping outlets such as Barney’s and Kitson. For more information, log on to hihobatik.com

www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • Page 27

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