Daily Loaf

Miami’s annual Winter Music Conference and its corresponding Ultra Music Fest first drew electronica artists to Florida. But once they discovered audiences ripe and ready to get down rave-style, any time of the year and not just in South Florida, music makers spanning the electro spectrum began appearing in Tampa more and more often. We are fortunate enough to see a virtual who’s who of hot talents in the upcoming months. DC’s Thievery Corporation — made up of DJ duo Rob Garza, Eric Hilton and their vibrantly diverse ensemble of performers — produces a lounge-lush fusion of electronica, reggae, acid jazz, psychedelia and the world flavors of India and Brazil. Sat., Oct. 10, The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City, $42). Tiësto (pictured) is a famed Dutch DJ and progressive trance producer (Sun., Oct. 18, The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City, $40). (Video after the jump) Read the rest of this entry »

“Hi dream momma. I’ve had the exact same dream twice. I don’t really do much during the dream, but it is so vivid that i had to post it. So it starts off with me and my friend Alex in Miami. We quickly board a plane to Chicago,  and when we land I notice from the window that the airport and city does not look like Chicago (I’ve been there before). Instead it looks like a remote airstrip in the Pacific Northwest. Soon we meet a middle-aged dude (I forgot his name) and he explains that he has work for us. We ride in the back of his truck through a sinuous two-track dirt road through redwood-type trees for what seems like forever. We finally arrive at a warehouse complex in the middle of a temperate rain forest. It is snowing but all the vegetation is verdant and green. I change into winter clothes and soon I am doing menial tasks like screwing nails into the wall, climbing a ladder, and painting. Then I wake up … very confusing. However, I had almost this exact same dream a week ago, same place, Chicago, airstrip, same tasks, and warehouse … weird! What’s your take on it? Read the rest of this entry »

Men’s Health magazine has a feature called MetroGrades, where the Top 100 cities are ranked in various categories: Noisiest, Best For Men 2009, etc. They use empirical data to draw their conclusions, although at best the science is inexact. Still, it makes for good discussion fodder.

The July/August issue’s MetroGrade is “America’s Top Sports Towns.”

Results in a bit, but first the criteria:

• How many people attend baseball, basketball and football games (college and pro) and those showing up at high school sporting events.

• NASCAR attendance and who’s catching their sports on TV and the radio (source: SimplyMap).

• The number of people vying for tickets to any sport, who is buying the most team apparel, and how many people call themselves “foam-finger-waving fanatics” (source: Scarborough Sports Marketing).

Here are the Top 10: Read the rest of this entry »

SUMMER

Florida’s Fetish Weekend. Itching to break in a whip or have your nipples electrocuted? Toss your best fetish gear in the Honda and head over to Fort Lauderdale for the 14th annual Fetish Weekend. The largest fetish event in North America, this 3-day fiesta attracts 2,000 enthusiasts to its main ball and themed socials: “The Beat & Greet,” “Extreme Players Bash” and the pool party. Dress code is strictly enforced so if you’re wearing chaps make sure they’re ass-less. May 22-24. fetishfactory.com.

Gay Days Orlando. Gay Days began 19 years ago as a single day when members of the GLBT community made an organized show of visibility by wearing bright red shirts and invading Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Since then, it’s expanded to a weeklong festival with over 135,000 people attending 40 citywide events, including wine tastings, female impersonator pageants, musical performances, comedy shows and a slew of club and hotel parties. Though Disney has more than a few pants-less, sexually ambiguous characters, the company doesn’t officially sponsor Gay Days, but plenty of other area businesses are out and proud in their support. June 2-8. gaydays.com.

(PICS Below break are NSFW) Read the rest of this entry »

Fri-Sun. May 8-10. Exxxotica Miami. The largest adult event and expo on the east coast, featuring adult entertainers Jesse Jane, Stoya, Angelina Armani, Riley Steele, Jenna Haze, Ron Jeremy, Sasha Grey, Teagan Presley, Savanna Samson, Bree Olson, Kaydeb Kross, Sunny Leone, Eva Angelina, Alexis Texas, Joanna Angel, and Gina Lynn.

Fri. May 8. Clothing Optional Foam Party. Live Bands, DJ, Foam, a potluck dinner, a pool, hot tub, camping, and nudity. What more could you want? A music video will also be shot on location so bring some friends to fill out the crowd. 7pm. $10. The Riverboat Nudist Club. www.NaturallyNude.com.

Sat. May 9. Foot Party at the Quest. The Fabulous Mistress Diana and friends will be hosting a foot, show, and boot fetish play party. Bring all your fabulous fetish shoes, high heel spikes, your skit kicker boots and your cute little twinkle toes and join us for a stomping good time cleaning, licking, sucking, and worshiping Tampa Bays most fabulous feet. 10pm. $30. The Quest. 12517 66th St. N. Largo, FL 33773. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the second installment of Michael Troy’s new blog. (Check out Vol. 1.)

Suicide Betty, who we called Miami Betty until she killed herself, was a young woman whose life had been filled with bad luck. She was a beauty — part Seminole Indian, part Cuban, part white trash — who already looked considerably older than her 22 years.

She’d grown up in foster homes around the Miami area. Her foster parents, men and women alike, had spent most of the time that Betty was in their care fucking her and then beating her up, or beating her up and then fucking her.

She would run away constantly. On the streets, she’d turn tricks or sell drugs. Much of her time was spent at Miami-Dade Women’s Correctional Facility. But it didn’t matter what city she took off to; wherever she went she had a near genius for finding the worst part of town, turning the wrong trick, and winding up busted.

During her time in prison she grew to mistrust men and to rely on women. Betty wasn’t big or tough. Her only hope for survival was in being adopted by the roughest of the older prison dykes and the most hooked-up of the guards.

Read the rest of this entry »

America’s favorite white “rapper” got into a tussle with a mouthy fan in Miami last night. Fortunately, someone with a video camera was there and got the footage up on YouTube. After Phoenix hits the floor, pandemonium breaks out and it’s hard to tell if any punches are actually thrown. Still, gotta love the chaos.

After The Abbey, Rosebud and I stumbled on down to Zeke’s Roadhouse, 625 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, 305-672-3118. Now basically Zeke’s looks like someone threw around some bright colors, put a palm tree in the window, hung some string lights and opened a bar (in stark contrast to the uber design of the rest of South Beach) but you can’t beat it for value: 180 beers for $4 each! I had one of my favorites, the Acme IPA. Made with over a pound of fresh whole hops per barrel, it’s always delicious. Rosebud had the Left Hand Brewing Company Milk Stout, chocolate/coffee/malty/roasted goodness.

After one more negligible stop, we decided to call it a night. The next morning, with the help of large doses of caffeine and after laying down a good base layer of fat and protein, we trekked down to the soon-to-be wine-drenched sands at 13th and Ocean for the SOBE Wine and Food Festival. We started in the south tent at the Vin di Vino corner to see if a friend of mine was working the event and to check out some of the great Italian wines they import. This time, though, they decided to concentrate on their Austrian portfolio. They had examples from Domane Wachau, Heinrich, Kracher, Loimer and Wieninger. Representing Heinrich and Loimer was Andreas Wickhoff, Managing Director, Salzburg office for Premium Estates of Austria. The Lois from Loimer, their entry level Gruner Veltliner (the most widely planted grape in Austria), was very good with notes of green apple, grapefruit and lime. Crisp and refreshing, Lois is an abbreviation of the nearby town of Langenlois and also the name of owner/winemaker Fred Loimer’s son.

In my limited experience with red wines from the region, I’ve never really found any I was crazy about. I’ve liked them in the past but have never really been blown away. However, the three red examples from Heinrich were very good. First was the Red, a blend of Zweigelt, St Laurent and Blaufrankisch (a grape native to Austria), with a mix of red and black fruit and notes of dried cherries and plums. The single varietal bottling of Zweigelt was juicy with cherry and dark plum flavors and a hint of vanilla. Finally, the single varietal bottling of St Laurent had flavors of blueberry and dark cherry with touches of dark chocolate and spice, very nice. At the other table, we first tried Wieninger’s Gemischter Satz which translates as “mixed up sentence” and is in reference to the mixed field blend traditional to the Vienna region that may contain: Weissburgunder, Neuberger, Welschriesling, Gruner Veltliner, Sylvaner, Zierfandeler, Traminer and Riesling. It would be a great little summer wine, easy to drink with tart citrus notes.

Next came the wines from Domane Wachau. The best-known wine lands of Austria lie along the banks of the Danube and the most famous of these areas is probably the Wachau. The Domane Wachau is a cooperative winery originated in the middle ages when it belonged to the Catholic Church. We tried a number of their wines beginning with the Wachau Collection through to the Terrassen (signifying the wine is sourced from terraced vineyards) and finally the Einzellagen (or basically single vineyard) wines. Even Rosebud, who usually doesn’t really care for white wines, was highly impressed. Our favorites were probably the Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten and Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Kellerberg, both 2007’s. Smaragd denotes the highest level of quality in the Wachau and are made from grapes that are physiologically completely ripe and have over 12% alcohol content (and also the most aging potential). Achleiten and Kellerberg are vineyard sites. They both had peach and apricot flavors and the Kellerberg, especially, showed the white pepper for which Gruner Veltliner is known, pretty amazing stuff. After another couple of hours of tasting, we meandered back up to The National for cocktails and schmoozing in the hopes of working some tickets to the next day’s event. Stay tuned……

That was one of my favorite t-shirt slogans among the many hanging in windows along Collins Avenue. I just got back from the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and, along with my birthday, am glad that I only celebrate it once a year. What with all the weapons of mass cirrhotic destruction leading to subsequent losses of brain cells, once a year is about all I can take.

Instead of regaling you with four days worth of stories in one fell swoop, leading I’m sure to a catatonic stupor, I’ll break down my experience into more manageable nibbly bits. Read the rest of this entry »

This is just coming down the pipe: New York Yankees‘ third baseman Alex Rodriguez sat down for an interview with Peter Gammons of ESPN this afternoon when he admitted to using steroids between 2001-2003. The interview will air on Sportscenter at 6 p.m. tonight.

Here’s an exerpt:

His voice shaking at times, Alex Rodriguez met head-on allegations that he tested positive for steroids six years ago, telling ESPN on Monday that he did take performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers during a three-year period beginning in 2001.

“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day,” Rodriguez told ESPN’s Peter Gammons in an interview in Miami Beach, Fla. “Back then, [baseball] was a different culture…

Read the rest of this entry »

Late afternoon on Xmas Eve saw my friend and I renewing our membership in the +100 mph Alligator Alley club in a pair of German autobahn cruisers; we saw SW Miami in 3.5 hours! My brain’s hunger center had me in race mode. We were impatiently making a pilgrimage for a Trinidadian Xmas: a five day celebration where shopping and presents are irrelevant, and food, drink and laughter are staples. West Indian hospitality is quite unforgettable, however you best not refuse any offerings, lest you become the butt of jokes and earn a nickname not of your choosing. Read the rest of this entry »

Sooner Holley: About halfway through regular season play, my husband and I started talking about college football armageddon: The Florida Gators made an incredible turnaround after Tim Tebow’s moving speech following the Ole Miss game, and the Oklahoma Sooners started racking up touchdown after touchdown against every opponent following the Texas game.  Could it be possible that our two teams might meet in the BCS National Championship Game?

When conference championship weekend came to an end, we looked at each other and with a single glance; the battle line was drawn.  Not only would our teams, who had never in history met on the gridiron, see each other in a BCS match-up, it would be for the National Title.  Ever since, I have been inundated with Tebow propaganda… Read the rest of this entry »