MiamiNights - Miami Night Clubs, Nightlife

Oh Miami how you fail to learn from you past mistakes. Cost overuns on this and that, bailouts for PAC centers and now we had the wool pulled over our eyes by some fake cops called Wackenhut's. The company over billed Miami Dade $6.2 millions smakcers over 3 years and we never noticed.

What's worse is that the inquiry took over 3 years to complete and who knows what documents went un-investigated after we found out the top Wackenhut company manager was shredding documents. Welcome to Miami, the finest Banana Republic in the 21st century.

UPDATE: Carlos Miller has a great post on the Wackenhut debacle and thievery. A street theater was conducted with a faux Wackenhut executive carrying a briefcase of our money followed by giant pointing fingers and "eyes". Go check out Carlos Miller's blog for a great set of pics and summary of the scandal.

Hahaha! I can't fucking stop laughing! DListed.com put this video of a 7-year-old Palm Beach Gardens boy who took his grandmother's SUV for a joyride. This kid has probably given some of the best quotes of 2008. Choice quotes include:

"I wanted to do it, because it's fun. It's fun to do bad things like drive into a car."

When told if he realized if could of killed somebody, he said:

"Yes, but I wanted to do hood rat stuff with my friends."

And when asked if he should get punished, his response was:

"No video games for the whole weekend."

Oh lordy! In the video the grandmother says she would beat his ass if she wasn't afraid of getting arrested. As to why this boy rode off in his grandmother's SUV, "'cause he was mad at [his] mom," naturally.

God, Mansion is the new Ike Turner. Someone else has come forward saying Mansion bouncers used unnecessary force. Rapper Grandaddy Souf alleges he was basically attacked by several bouncers at Mansion, then stripped naked and then taken outside to be "left to die". Here is the Herald's explanation:

The club was packed with recording artists, but at one point, Watts was separated from his group. A bouncer, who is identified only as John Doe 1, asked for Watts' identification, which the rapper did not have on him.

Watts tried to explain who he was, to which the bouncer responded: ''I don't give a [expletive] who you are,'' according to the complaint. Parks said Watts raised his arms and told the security guard that he didn't want any trouble, but that sparked a brawl.

The bouncer struck him, Parks said, then Watts pushed back.

Suddenly, Watts was surrounded by 10 bouncers who began kicking, punching and stomping him before stripping him of his clothing, according to the complaint. The guards also choked Watts until he was unconscious, dumped him outside and ''left him to die,'' the complaint states.

The incident happened back in 2007 when Grandaddy was in town for the Ozone Awards. I'll admit when I started reading this story I automatically thought, "Here is someone trying to take advantage of Mansion when they are down." But he may have a legitimate case since passerbys took pictures of him bloody and beat up on the ground. The photos were then posted on MediaTakeOut.com.

Why do I feel this may turn a lot uglier for Mansion and its parent company the Opium Group?

 

Well not quite yet but Wachovia bank is moving to forclose on the Las Olas property because:

Las Olas Riverfront's owner isn't paying bills, is neglecting the property, and is not following through on getting city approval to level it.

As a result of the foreclosure warning by the bank all plans to demolish and build the "New River Las Olas" project have come to a staggering halt. Apparently some Boca developers were gonna demolish and rejuvenate the area with condos, skyscrapers, a hotel, and a health club, grocery store, and restaurants. Here's my suggestion to those Boca developers, Ft. Lauderdale sucks, Las Olas sucks and your better off not investing a penny in that crappy area. Let's hope they read our blog and get the hint, if the foreclosure isn't evidence enough.

Unbelievable! Monday morning at around 3am a man is shot dead and another is wounded at Studio A during a Hip-Hop event. Of all the years I have been going to Studio A I have never felt un-safe or in any danger whatsoever. It's sad to hear that a place I frequent has had this tragedy happen. Naturally people are going to correlate the shooting with the crowd that was present, mainly the hip-hop genre. Do they have reason to make such a tie? In some respect yes, others no. Let's get things straight here on MN. This is a terrible tragedy that should never ever happen no matter what type of crowd is present. That it happened though begs for some insight.

I think it's pretty apparent that the rap genre is filled with incidents like this. The musical lyrics are inherently violent and the social caste it tailors to is pushed to violence for obvious reasons. The fact is someone is dead at a nightclub, a place where people go to have fun and escape from life's crappy deals. What also sucks is that this happened in a venue where I and many people I know have been having fun and escaping from life for years with no such incidents. The scary thing is that I could have been at Studio A when that happened. Selfish you say? Fuck right, I don't want a stray bullet in my persons ever. There are little details being provided by the police as of yet but the incident effectively just happened. People just don't shoot shit up at nightclubs for no reason. There must have been motive behind this incident and once we have more info we will be sure to tell you the deetz. As of now I am pretty perplexed that this happened at Studio A. If you were at the venue when this happened then leave us some comments to help clear up what happened.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A recent survey that found some Florida teens believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy has prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state.

Via Orlando Local 6

Oh those crazy people to the north. To get a better understanding of the situation up there with the youngsters and their mountain dew/bleach concoctions I decided to contact a reputable source who says he has been teaching the ways of Dew Bleaching for years, Mr. Pauly Crush. Upon hearing the news Orlando DJ Pauly Crush vigorously defended the campaign he started some years ago to get mountain dew and bleach approved to be sold over the counter. Crush emphatically states "you see, it's all in how you mix it". According to Mr. Crush the state is to fault because of lack of educational funding, "the kids these days have no background in chemistry. When I started DJing chemistry was required as a gen-ed. Now it's all yoga and botany."

Have the editors and writers at Forbes ever been to Miami? This city by far is one of the dirtiest cities I've ever lived in -- and I've lived in third-world countries. Air pollution and water okay, but the amount of garbage I see on the streets and the fact that the general population ignore the wastebaskets placed around is reason enough to rank Miami dead last. First of all, I think the city and county in general don't put out enough trash cans, and the county just cut funding for its recycling program. I mean come on, the Miami River smells like sewage. And can't even begin to tell you how many people I see flinging fast-food bags out their car windows!

Seattle got robbed.

[via Transit Miami]

Sometimes I feel like taking a rolled-up newspaper and smacking Miami-Dade government over the head and scream "Bad Miami-Dade! No! No!" I mean reading the Herald's article today on how Miami-Dade royally fucked up in maintaining and replacing the old Metro-Rail cars is astonishing but not really that surprising -- I mean this is Miami-Dade we are talking about here.

The county insists the Metro-Rail is safe, but I don't know how many of you have ridden it. I rode it all of last year and basically a crackhouse is nicer than those cars. It's embarrassing that this county doesn't have a clean, safe and reliable rapid mass transit system. It's bad enough it doesn't go anywhere, so the county might as well take people nowhere in style.

Really I don't no what else to say. I want to put Miami-Dade on a time out. 

No U.S. community has worked harder than Fort Lauderdale to shun spring breakers. The South Florida city - where the annual beach exodus was born in 1935, boosted by the 1960 film "Where the Boys Are" and bumped to new heights by MTV - suddenly choked off the chugathon 22 years ago. Now, Fort Lauderdale even teaches other resort towns how to get out of that boozy money pool.

Laudy Laudy Laudy, long gone are the days when we 305'ers (me in particular) had any shred of respect for your beaches and nightlife. The article on MSNBC details the pains the city of Ft. Lauderdale went through to curb raucous and fun seeking teens flooding the city during Spring Break. While the locals are happy us youngins are heading to other Florida cities to spend wads of cash retailers are, who wish not to be named for fear of Lauderdale style drive by shooting at the hands of seniors, say how the city is viewed as a dying area. Much like Miami before the Cocaine Cowboys graced us with their contraband.

As a result of the more family friendly facade Laudy propped up, many large retailers began pulling out or shutting down. Granted the tourist industry is now a year round destination for Laudy so the plan to exterminate promiscuous youths seems to have come to fruition. Though it took 20 some odd years. I could've told those kids Ft. Lauderdale sucked ages ago.

I thought it might be cool to include some poolside events and hotel party's. These events are free and are a great way to see your fellow electronic music peers in the light of day as opposed to trying to guess if him or her is hot or not in the low lights of da club. Because I hate being caught off guard in the Taco Bell on Biscayne while gorging on pinto & beans when a girl says hello to me and I realize that is not the same person I was talking to last night.

Anyhow below are the events being held at the Delano and Skybar @ The Shore Club. Get your ass out of bed at a reasonable time and enjoy the Miami "Winter".

The Delano Hotel:

Thursday March 27
• Demon Days An Official Planet E Selection Featuring: Carl Craig (Miami Exclusive) Gamall and Roland Appel

Friday March 28
• Alex Barck of JAZZANOVA DJ Moni Taylor McFerrin & TK Wonder Darek Mazzone

Saturday March 29
• Turntables on the Hudson Christian Prommer

Skybar @ The Shore Club:

Wednesday, March 26
• Opening Party with SMAC Entertainment
Thursday March 27
• Misshapes Spin Poolside DJ Gomez and DJ Ross 1 in the Redroom Hosted by Roy Alpert, Paulo Cardoso and Tatanka (Favela Chic)
Friday March 28
• Paul Harris (Dirty Vegas) & Friends Spin Poolside and in the Redroom

Oh you tricky tricky Intelligent Designers. Masking your creationist views under the guise of another name, ID, was very crafty. But now you are attempting to hide behind the "academic freedom" legislation up in the Florida Senate. As if Floridian education wasn't already in the shitter we are actually considering giving teachers "academic freedom" to mention this crap in the scientific forum? Howard Simon, a Florida director for the ACLU, expresses my opinion on the matter succinctly:

The strategy is this: Let's call Intelligent Design scientific information, and let's make sure that teachers can teach that scientific information,'' Simon said, adding that his organization would sue if the bill became law and teachers began proselytizing in class.

Forget the fact ID can't even be scientifically tested. I'm all for freedom of speech but science is defined as "systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation". Keyword is experimentation. Shall I begin my ID experiments by praying for rain to the "greater being"? Or perhaps we should all convert to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Get with it legislators, ID was shot down by a federal court already, stop trying to slip it in through the back door. There are more pressing matters to consider, like fixing our shitty educational system. There's a start for ya.

Too many things to point out, too little time. It may be because I started a workout regiment that has left me with little energy which in turn has made me extremely lazy. Don't judge! When I get down to a borderline manorexic weight, you will all be so jealous. Anyway, here are some things I want to touch on:

• Why do people keep acting like Britto is a respectable artist and an icon of this city? Give me Lebo any day over Britto's uninspired "pop-art".
• I think Lesley Abravanel is stalking Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. Aniston just blinked reports Abravanel and fortunately no one cares.
• Miami.com Beta does a nice little write upon everyone's favorite Sunday night party at Purdy Lounge. Oddly enough they make the place sound nicer than it is, when it reality it's a hot mess, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
• Terrorists attack Downtown Miami with foam, or new Sony commercial being filmed? You decide.
• Finally, someone realized R.E.M. sucks. Now if everyone could just agree with Radiohead and U2 as well.
• Miami Beach 411 talks about the Cleve -- ew, sounds like a VD, which it isn't far off -- better known at the Clevelander. Midwesterns, thongs and itchy genitalia unite!

I learn something new every day. Thanks to Plum today I learned that people are fighting to save the Coppertone Girl sign that hangs on the side of the Concord Building at 66 W Flager St. When it was threaten to be torn down in the '90s some people thought it was deeply rooted in Miami's history therefore merited salvation. Here is where I thought "What does Coppertone have to do with Miami?" Well apparently Coppertone was developed by a Miami Beach pharmacist and the sign has been in Downtown -- although not at the same building -- since 1959.

According to the Biscayne Times, that precocious Coppertone Girl will be restore and moved once more. Why? Well the buildings around the area will soon obstruct her view. The MiMo Biscayne Association is looking to move her into the Upper Eastside where she'll probably feel at home among the MiMo architecture.

By the way, the sign is owned by the citizens of Miami and is part of the Dade Heritage Trust, so it's good to see measure are being taken to preserve her and bring her back to her former bare-bottom glory.

[Image via Plum Miami Beach] 

Sorry I've been M.I.A. today, I've got the flu which has me feeling like a semi-truck just hit my body. Last thing I feel like is writing anything. But alas the blog calls me.

The SunPost reports that Miami city commissioners are toying with the idea of installing cameras in the area of Overtown to deter all the criminal activity found the area. The city has had success with surveillance cameras, particularly the entrance to the Port of Miami. The city commissioner Angel Gonzalez say says the camera's will only help police because "What would take 10 officers to do, we’re doing with one."

Oh I think it's time for a reality check courtesy of Duran. Hey city commissioners, maybe police would do a better job if you actually paid them well enough. It's no secret that city police are among the worse paid in the county. With all the money you've lined your pockets with after the real estate boom, did you ever consider raising somebody else's salary other than your own? Higher salaries means you'd be hiring better and more effective officers, not these frat boys I see flirting with two-cent whores that come out of Nocturnal at 3 a.m.

Also, Overtown wouldn't be in the mess it is if police actually patrolled the area. The place is lawless for a reason. Police presence is non-existent! And it's a damn shame because you have some hard working people are trying to provide a home and safe place for their families but can't because their child can't walk to school without stepping over a crack pipe.

Instead of resorting to Orwellian tactics Miami, how about you do your fucking job for a change and provide the services to everyone who lives within your city limits deserves.

Oh yea, and if you're thinking, "I don't care, I don't live in Overtown," most of the Park West entertainment district, along with places like Pawn Shop, PS14, White Room and Karu & Y would fall in the area of surveillance. Think about that!

The International Dance Music Awards, held every year during Winter Music Conference, has nominated Space and Mansion as Best US Club along with Cielo, Pacha and Crobar (that shit is closed!) from New York and Ruby Skye from San Francisco. I mean I'm not going to argue with their choices, but same ol' same ol'.

Other nominees with a Miami connection include Ultra Music Festival for Best Dance Event, Robbie Rivera for Best Remixer, and Flo Rida's "Low" for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Dance Track. Most surprising is that the dance music establishment finally seems to be waking up from its slumber and nominating artists who, in my opinion, are truly pushing the genre forward. M.I.A., Justice, Calvin Harris, Daft Punk, Deadmau5 and Digitalism all scored nominations among the old timers of dance music as well.

As if it isn't bad enough that I hear from every Crispin Porter & Bogusky employee about how awesome it is to work there, Gawker reports Microsoft fired their long time ad agency in favor of CP+B. I mean this is huge news for Crispin, whose headquarters are located in Coconut Grove.

The agency has done some pretty memorable ads and their clients include Burger King, Volkswagen and Miller Lite. They've manage to defy the odds by taking on the competition from Miami, when many believe in order to be respected you have to be located in New York. Hopefully Crispin can give Microsoft some of their signature "hipness" especially since they are continuously keep getting ridiculed by the Mac ads. I'd like to see how the company manages to sell everyone a monopolistic company with an inferior product. 

Sorry I've been M.I.A. lately, lots of things going on in my life. I've been jump through hoops trying to land a new job -- and I'm kind of getting tired of being asked to do all of this work to be told at the last minute, "Thanks, but no thanks." Needless to say, by tomorrow I'm officially homeless, so spare me some change if you see me walking around. I'm trying to take everything in stride but it's definitely getting harder and harder to do.

Anyway, here are some things that I've wanted to blog about this week but just haven't had the time to do:

• Miami could get it's very first super-structure if the Empire World Towers breaks ground. At 1,010 feet, it would surpass the current tallest building, the Four Seasons Hotel & Residencies, by well over 200 feet. Why would anyone want to building anything of that magnitude with the real estate market doing so poorly? Well by the time it would be completed, some time well after 2010, the market could be in an upswing.
• (Dis)Unity Boulevard, better known as 27th Avenue is probably the city's most ironically named street. The street which stretches from the county line in the north all the way to Coconut Grove is just one segregated neighborhood after another. Stay tuned as the Herald continues its 5-part series on the thoroughfare.
• You've got this man to thank for the nude beach at Haulover, which from what I hear is made up mostly of old people. Ever wanted to know what your grandpa's dick looks like? Well then head on over to Haulover.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in the Design District was picked out by the New York Times as one of the 10 new restaurants that matter in the entire country. After grabbing lunch there with Lackner a few weeks ago, I can't say I disagree. However, next time owner Michael Schwartz should make sure there is enough chicken liver. I was sorely disappointed when the waiter came back 10 minutes after I gave my order to tell me they had run out.

Is it terrorists? Global warming? George W. Bush? The apocalypse? Where did the power go? Well, I just got my power back, but to according to the Herald, this shit is happening everywhere.

Keeping with the long tradition of winning National Championships, being the best college football team in Florida and having the unruliest thugs in our great state a former Hurricane got arrested in Downtown this weekend for brawling. Some of you may remember Bryant McKinnie as the great offensive tackle who won a championship in '01 with The U, others just might see another towering stalwart who they wouldn't wanna fuck with. Well apparently the bouncer at Club Space, Eric Otero, didn't know either and threw down with the six-foot-eigh-inch, 335-pound NFL football player.

.

After being removed from Club Space for being an "unruly patron" McKinnie couldn't leave it there. After checking out some tits and ass in Goldrush the ex-Cane went back, shoved his phone in Otero's face and then decided to whack him in the head with a silver pole in the back of the head. Just another shinning example of our proud and expensive local private institution. Go U!

Is today blog about Miami people day? Gawker reports Jose "Jochi" Ortiz, contributing editor for Ocean Drive magazine and co-owner of Supermarket Creative Agency, and Nick D'Annunzio, co-owner of Tara Ink and husband of Tara Solomon, are going to be in some new reality show titled Mean Boys along with New York/Miami socialite Fabian Basabe. If the names go over your head you obviously have a life.

Last reality show that centered around Miami that I can remember was 8th & Ocean, and I don't think I need to remind anyone how utterly boring that shit was. I've heard so many rumors about reality shows in Miami, including one that was suppose to focus on Poplife and Pawn Shop back when Dirty Disco was alive, so we'll see if this actually pans out.