Buster's Showdown With Texas De Brazil On Deco Drive

8 Years In Space!

Its been 8 long and loud years for Downtown Miami's Club Space. In a market where most nightclub owners are lucky to get two successfull season's (if any) out of thier multi-million dollar investment, Club Space has seen it's once desolate, transient laden block of warehouses in Downtown turn into a forrest of empty high priced condos. Now this Saturday night, Club Space celebrates 8 years in it's journey of music, cocktails and sunrises....

Join them this Saturday!

The Electric Hummer H3

Think you need to guzzle gas in order to look cool? Think again....

The A/X Music Lounge - WMC 2008

Brought to you by Sirius Satellite Radio, the A/X music lounge was held high atop the Raleigh Hotel during the annual Winter Music Conference in Miami's South Beach and featured artist like Tommy Lee & DJ Aero, Danny Tenaglia, DJ Skribble, Liquid Todd, Tracy Young and many more.

The Cheek Kiss "Flinch" - You Know Its happened To You!

It always happens to me like this….I meet a girl and lean in to give her a harmless cheek kiss as part of my ritual greeting. As I pull away she turns her face and leans in for the other cheek, but abruptly stops herself as she sees me pulling back. At that same moment my brain registers her movement a millisecond too late and I lean back in just as she realizes I wasn’t going for the full two points. We share a brief moment of physical awkwardness, revealing our mutually deferring social mores. We have just executed the all too familiar “Cheek Flinch.”

Far more common in Europe, the Mediterranean and Latin America than in most of the US, cheek kissing’s most prevalent use in America is arguably right here in Miami. Depending on the local culture, cheek kissing may be considered appropriate between a man and a woman, a parent and a child, two women, or two men. The latter is socially accepted in Eastern and South Eastern Europe and in some countries of South Western Europe and the Middle East but may bring up associations with homosexuality in Asia, Latin America and the US.

Here in South Beach, with so many divergent cultures and backgrounds all melding together, its difficult to know what to go for when meeting someone. In the United States, adult cheek kissing is usually limited to one cheek, but is normally attributed as a “Big City” phenomenon. Here in Miami, with such a massive Latin and European influence it can tend to blow the bell curb, and as individuals from various cultures greet eachother, an epidemic of “Flinches” occur.

Here is a rough breakdown to help you find success in your never-ending act of social intercourse….

American: 1 (if any)
Latin: 1-2
French: 2-3 (depending on how hot the other person is!)
Italian: 2-3 (this is also widely accepted between males and culturally has no homosexual connotations)
Arabic: 3+ (Also widely accepted between males, but in some middle eastern countries it is considered inapropriate between male & female)

Whatever your choice, in Miami I attempt to go by this rule of thumb….

If you are a Gringo, always be consistent with one, but if you hear an accent, go for two….

This of course completely gets screwed up when American girls try and act European….but hey, in the absence of any wide sweeping consistent cultural norm, it’s better than nothing!

Don't Miss The Groove Cruise Los Angeles: July 25th - 28

Funkshion Fashion Week Miami Beach 2008

Here's a report a look at years Funkshion Fashion Week: Miami Beach, with some of the sexiest bikini fashions in the world including styles from Justin Timberlake, Russell Simmons and Heatherette.

DJ ROGER SANCHEZ: Mynt Ultra Lounge - WMC 2008

Lies, Propaganda, Capitalism: Why We Celebrate CINCO DE MAYO!

In bars all over the United States they are preparing their sombreros and tequila shots in advance of one of the biggest drinking holidays of the year, Cinco De Mayo....or for us gringos, the 5th Of May. But Why do we celebrate it?

If you ask most Americans, the popular beleif is that the 5th of May comemorates Mexico's Independance Day....this however is completly false.

Mexico's Independance Day is celebrated on September 16th, and in reality Cinco De Mayo is all but ignored within the borders of our neighbor to the South. The holiday actually commemorates the victory of Mexican troops over the invading French at the first Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

One year later, as a propaganda move in order to rally support and galvanize Mexicans living in California to support then Mexican president Benito Juarez and his troops from a second invasion by the french, Californians threw a party to celebrate the previous years victory of Puebla on the 5th of May. Cinco De Mayo.....

Unfortunately the celebration didn't work quite the way they were expecting and after two months of heavy fighting the French defeated the Mexican troops, but the struggle became a symbol of heroic resistance for Mexicans living in California, and has been celebrated every year since.

Today, like most holidays certain commercial interests, in this case beer a liquor companies, have taken it upon themselves to diligently market the holiday nation-wide throughout in order to do what they do best......sell stuff.

.....and as we all know, most americans need little in the way of an excuse to party.

So this Cinco De Mayo, as you raise your Corona or that shot of Cuervo remember, VIVA AMERICAN CONSUMERISM!........and don't forget to tip you bartender....