MiamiNights - Miami Night Clubs, Nightlife

Tonight, CIFO opens its big clunky gates for Interrogating Systems, its spring grants and awards exhibit. The exhibit comes out of the hundreds of emerging/mid-career applicants considered for the grant, about 10 receive the prestigious award. All the artists are practically exclusively South American (as they always seem to be) hailing this year from Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile and Ecuador. CIFO offers the artists vast space to exhibit whatever the hell they want, a bag full of cash, free transportation, and slaves to install the art for them (people like me!) not to mention a damn good chance of having a piece bought by the collector/director herself, Ella Cisneros, catapulting the young artists into the vein of high profile merit as being apart of a collection like Cisneros' (One of the TOP 100 collectors in America). Seriously, being a part of this show pretty much establishes you as an artist. The art isn't half bad either (for the most part).

The site states the show to open tomorrow, yet B.A.C can attest to the wild cocktail reception that happens the night before. "RSVP required" and "Invite Only" are scare tactics to shoo away the masses, and it works pretty well. If you have never been to CIFO, tonight is the night you want to go. This show is much different than last years as far as having way more traditional 2D media and IMO better, than even their Basel exhibit. I am stunned and impressed. I will not be missing this.   

CIFO is located at 1018 N Miami Ave., one block south (and west) of the 11th Street clubsterfuck (space/studio a/nocturnal/goldrush).

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!

Hey bitches, I'm blogging to you live from Brickell, my temporary home until I sign a lease at a new place. Let me tell you, two guys and a loft make for awkward situations. Well not really, but I expect it to happen soon enough. Unfortunately my gracious host forgot to pay his AT&T bill so I'm stuck blogging from the business center which is cold and has no windows and isn't remotely inspiring. So I may not blog as often as I'd like because I don't want to sit around here the entire day when I could be in the loft soaking up views of the Downtown/Brickell skyline.

Anyway onto to the reason for this post. Seems like Louis Puig is in trouble with the authorities over license issues at the newly opened Parkwest. If anyone notice, all the parties over the weekend at Parkwest were moved to other Puig-owned establishments leaving everyone to wonder what happened.

According to those gossip hounds over at Talknightlife.org, representatives for Parkwest were trying to put the blame on their sound system as the reason why, saying it was "knocking off the power in our neighborhood." Not true says some of the people posting in forum, Parkwest was operating under the assumption that Space and Parkwest were the same building and it only needed one license. Now it's not uncommon for separate venues to share one license, especially if they are in the same building. Snatch/Suite and Prive/Opium Garden can qualify under that, but Parkwest and Space can hardly be considered one in the same.

I know Puig has a lot of pull and will fix this situation pretty quickly, but it will be interesting to see if the city gives him a hard time. Will Parkwest be open this Friday? Not sure, but I'm working on trying to find that out for you.

Didn't the city of Miami already come up with rules about mural advertising? Apparently not according to the SunPost. It seems though mural advertising is here to stay, however the city is going to put in some reasonable rules:

The proposal would mandate strict licensing requirements, background checks for mural advertisers, experience in the outdoor advertising field, public liability insurance among other stipulations. Applicants, who would be chosen through a lottery process, would also have to pay $2,500 to prequalify, secure a $1 million bond and pay $10,000 per year in application fees and between $6,000 and $10,000 per month for each mural. Half of the money generated would go to the Miami Arts and Entertainment Trust Fund, the other half to park site acquisition.

[...] It allows advertisements to cover windows, exempts government buildings, reduces fees to $8,000 per month and allows the ads to cover up to 20,000 square feet of wall space, as opposed to Sarnoff’s 2,000. The new version also increases the size of the permitted zone for murals.

I personally see nothing wrong with mural advertising as long as its regulated properly. I mean look at Times Square in New York, the flashy lights and advertisements are the reason you see millions of tourists snapping pictures. The SunPost points out the mural along Park West on NE 11th Street, which in my opinion actually make the building look somewhat decent and colorful -- don't you think?

[via TalkNightlife] 

What once started as a quaint bar party at the Mark (R.I.P. best place no one knew about), is now moving to bigger digs at Parkwest. Yes, the party Damaged will now hold fort at Parkwest's Rehab Bar.

Damaged was always my favorite out of all of Joshua Menendez' (who now works for Parkwest) parties, but the location and people had more to do with why I liked it so much. After it moved for a short (very short) period to Rokbar, it was obvious it wasn't going to recapture the magic it had at the Mark. But in a Friday night slot, it is poised to give everyone feeling the pain of a obviously absent Revolver something to do again. What I hope is that Parkwest offers a good alternative to their upscale party right next door -- although, I admit, for an open format party I definitely think it's a great one, so I could see myself going to both.

Anyway, Damaged will give an exclusive preview Rehab Bar next Friday, January 11, with Obi T. and special guest Hatchmatik (Montreal). And yes, there will be complimentary drinks from 10 to 11 p.m. 

From the peeps of the latest club in Park West:

We are all very excited to add another venue to the Space and Cameo family. This is a huge venture for not only our family of clubs, but 11th Street, and the Downtown Nightclub Scene as a whole.

NOW HIRING ALL POSITIONS
AT DOWNTOWN MIAMI'S
NEWEST UPSCALE NIGHTCLUB "STEREO"

DOOR PERSONALITIES
BARTENDERS
HOSPITALITY MANAGERS
BARTENDERS
VIP SERVERS
VIP SUPPORT
BACK WAITERS
SECURITY
BAR BACKS
PROMOTIONS
TELEMARKETING/ADMIN

OPEN CASTING SAT. NOV. 17 TH
NOON - 6 PM
ATTACH PICS TO ALL RESUMES.

30 NE 11ST MIAMI FL 33132 DOWNTOWN MIAMI
IF YOU ARE EMAILING YOUR RESUME PLS INCLUDE A PIC OF YOURSELF. THANK YOU.
Send resumes here SPACELAURA92@AOL.COM

I love how Park West is finally evolving into the nightlife mecca of Miami. Soon we won't have to ever cross the causeway and that, my friends, is a good thing in my books.

Stereomiami.com

And by Herald treatment I don't mean shitty news coverage about a kitten nobody cares about that got stuck in a storm drain. Fellow Miami bloggers 2 Live Looks got a nice piece written on them about their Miami trend documenting blog. They even got a narrated slideshow. I'll say it once and I'll say it again, SoBe fashion can't compare the the Parkwest/Wynwood/Design District fashion. Congrats boys and girl.

On occasion I take the times to read some of Miami's other reputable publications. As much as I enjoy browsing our local toilet rag I ran into an interesting article in the Miami Today News talking future development ideas for the revitalization of Downtown, with particular reference to my beloved Park West. I must admit, I have a softspot for the dainty, dingy dilapidated Park West area. Many a times have I stumbled aimlessly in search of my car while being followed by suspicious looking bums and driving down poorly marked one way streets praying to god a cop doesn't find me swerving in between on coming traffic. But alas with all the development in the area it seems those days will soon be over. No longer will I have to fear for my life at 6am, no longer will I have to throw loose change on the floor to distract the wall of vagrants begging for crack and smokes. 

If these dangerous and greedy developers have their way hotels and conference centers will clutter PW with snooty business like people and colorfully dressed obese tourists from god knows where snapping pictures, buying Miami Beach snow globes and raising the price of alcohol for us locals. This could mean the end for Park West as we know it. The fun, casual, liquor filled nights with local Miamians may be surplanted with nights filled with more roaming cops, business suits and tropical Hawaiian button up shirts. Does everything in Miami have to be pristine and overdeveloped?