Miami, FL

Sicko that is. Michael Moore’s latest documentary tackles the heath care industry and America’s poor standing in the world when it comes to taking care of our own.

Roger Ebert’s review is worth the read.

Here are local times curtesy of the big G.

AMC Cocowalk 16
3015 Grand Ave., #322, Miami, FL, USA - Map
1:15 4:05 7:00 9:55

AMC Sunset Place 24
5701 Sunset Drive, Ste. 300, South Miami, FL, USA - Map
11:00 1:45 4:30 7:30 10:30

Regal South Beach Stadium 18
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL, USA - Map
12:00

Cobb Theatres - Dolphin 19 Cinema
Dolphin Mall, Miami, FL, USA - Map
11:15

Cobb Theatres - Miami Lakes 17
6711 Main Street, Miami Lakes, FL, USA - Map
11:15

Cobb Hialeah Grand 18
17355 NW 59th Avenue, Hialeah, FL, USA - Map
11:15

AMC Aventura 24
19501 Biscayne Blvd, Aventura, FL, USA - Map
10:50 1:50 4:40 7:40 10:40

Muvico Paradise 24 Theater
15601 Sheridan Street, Davie, FL, USA - Map
10:40 1:35 4:30 7:25 10:30

Here’s a teaser.

Miami, Sicko, Michael Moore, Roger Ebert, AMC, Aventura

Time for another addition of shot in the wild.

Captured for our pleasure the other night is the lovely Miami resident Anna Kournikova dining with Grass owner and perennial SoBe resident Laurent Bourgade. The tennis star was served at Table 8.

Photo by Seth Browarnik

Miami, Anna Kournikova, Laurent Bourgade, Grass, South Beach, SoBe, Table 8, tennis, seth browarnik

Photo Credit - Tony Dejak - AP

Miami, Apple, Iphone

and highlight that today is drop day for the world’s most anticipated phone release ever. I do think people are crazy for lining up to get these phones.

Time for another edition of Miami on TV.

Seems every producer in Hollywood has re-discovered Miami and south Florida as the perfect local to base a show. And the creators of USA Network’s Burn Notice are no different. Premiering commercial free tonight at 10 PM, the series setup seems a bit original: a CIA agent Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) has been “burned” and put on “notice”. We learn almost from the start that a burn notice is CIA lingo blacklisted. Since he can’t work as a spy anymore, Western:

returns to his hometown of Miami without money and tries to find out why he’s been burned. In the meantime, he uses his skills and training to help people who can’t get help from the police.

Michael is joined by Fiona, played by Gabrielle Anwar– she danced the tango with Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman – an ex-IRA operative who also happens to be an ex-girlfriend; and Sam, played by Bruce Campbell, a washed-out military intelligence contact who’s being used by the feds to keep tabs on Michael.

The show is actually filmed in Miami, unlike Showtime’s Miami based show Dexter.

“We are thrilled to be shooting on location in Miami,’’ said Leslie Oren, senior vice president of publicity and corporate communications for Fox Television Studios. “The city is a character in Burn Notice, too, and it has been amazing to get to harness the authentic flavor and beauty of Miami throughout production.’’

Eight of the planned 13 episodes have been filmed. The exciting thing for south Floridians is that in:

three months of working in Miami-Dade, the show has spent about a quarter of a million dollars just on lumber, supplies and food. The city also figures that close to 200 people in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have been employed to work in some capacity on Burn Notice.

Here’s hoping to a long run.

miami, usa network, jeffrey donovan, gabrielle anwar, al pacino, bruce campbell, burn notice, usa

That’s the word according to local news guy, Brian Andrews. Let’s face it, living in South Beach requires a lot of money, or you got lucky and inherited property from your grandparents.

City officials are finally acknowledging this and are taking steps to keep economic diversity in place by offering $500 per month housing to qualified applicants. Via CBS we learn that:

"If you’re a single person, making about $31,000 a year, you would qualify for housing here," said Assistant City Manager Hilda Fernandez.

The City of Miami Beach is putting up nearly $14 million to help the developer purchase three old hotels near the convention center: The Allen, The London House, and Barclay Plaza.

Sounds good and I like that the city is waking up to the fact that not everyone in South Beach is a celebrity or heiress, and the restaurants, hotels and clubs are staffed by average, hard working people and that they need decent housing. I hope the city keeps adding more addresses to this list. Go here to learn more.

Miami, South Beach, SoBe, Brian Andrews, Hilda Fernandez, City of Miami Beach, Affordable Housing

And it starts.

A tropical wave was expected to bring stormy weather to the region beginning Tuesday evening and likely lasting through the day on Wednesday. It also was to generate winds up to 20 mph along the coast, the National Weather Service in Miami said.

"It may increase the risk of rip currents, too," said meteorologist Andrew Tingler.

As of 3:30 p.m. Monday, the north end of that wave was right over Hispaniola, the island that shares the nations of Haiti and Dominican Republic, and was approaching South Florida from the southeast.

Though sun could peak out on Wednesday morning, more than an inch of rain should fall in some areas by the afternoon. Most areas should see about a half an inch of rain, Tingler said.

"It’s probably going to be wet day," he said. "It just depends if you get stuck under a vigorous thunderstorm."

The forecast calls for a 40 percent chance of rain on Tuesday night, increasing to 60 percent on Wednesday. It also calls for high temperatures in the mid 80s and lows in the mid 70s.

By Thursday, conditions should be back to normal, which in South Florida means there still is a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms, the weather service said.

I am just glad the satellites are picking it up and the forecasters are able to alert us to it.

Miami, Tropical Storm, Hurricane, Andrew Tingler, Haiti, Dominican Republic, National Weather Service

This weekend was the “Deutsche Bank Presents 3rd Annual DJ Irie Weekend - Golf Tournament.” First, the celebrities partied at Cameo on Friday, with the golf tournament Saturday morning. However, not all of the celebrities made it to the event. Lesley reveals:

Paparazzi and paying folk were livid when Jamie Foxx and Kevin Federline were no shows at the DJ Irie charity golf tournament at Miami Beach Golf Club Saturday afternoon. According to our spy, sponsors and product placement types were “very, very upset” by their absences.

Wow, I questioned earlier just how much Foxx was being paid to host the party at Cameo. I wonder how much the golf tournament was part of the deal?

One celebrity that did show up was former *NYSNC member Chris Kirkpatrick. I like the photo, it reminds me of old Jackie Gleason pics.

UPDATE: Alfonso Ribeiro made the rounds too.

Miami, South Beach, SoBe, Deutsche Bank Presents 3rd Annual DJ Irie Weekend, DJ Irie Weekend, Jamie Foxx, KFed, Kevin Federline, NYSNC, Chris Kirkpatrick, Alfonso Ribeiro

Time for another edition of Million Dollar Monday where I highlight what you could buy if you had several million dollars in your back pocket, $4.1 to be exact. This week’s property is located at 25 Grand Bay Estates, Key Biscayne. Oh, if you don’t have that much cash laying around, you can rent it for $20K per month - unfurnished of course. Wow, what a bargain. This nice polyglot would be happy to show you around.

Miami, Key Biscayne, Biscayne Bay, Miami Real Estate, Million Dollar Properties, Grand Bay Estates,

Jamie Foxx hosted the kickoff party for Irie Weekend, Friday; the latest corporate sponsored weekend at Cameo. This one was sponsored by Deutsche Bank. Yeah, that seems weird to me too. Looks like a corporate v.p. using his access to corporate funds to "justify" hangin’ with celebrities. No word on what this cost to get Foxx to host. Here are some exclusive pics.

Former *NSYNC Band Member Chris Kirtpatrick attended last year’s weekend too.

DJ Irie with the former Mr. Britney Spears

Jamie Foxx - I assume pointing at K.Fed telling him to stop jumping in every picture.

Kevin Federline, Dwyane Wade & Reggie Bush and unknown woman hoping that by closing her eyes she will not appear in this photo.

Miami, South Beach, SoBe, Cameo, Jamie Foxx, DJ Irie, K Fed, Kevin Federline, Dwyane Wade, Reggie Bush, Britney Spears, Chris Kirtpatrick, NSYNC, Alfonso Ribeiro, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Deutsche Bank

Miami Dolphins defensive tackles Howard Green (left) and Fred Evans (right) run a blocking drill during a mini-camp practice session on June 10, 2006

No, this isn’t a story about south Florida resident O.J. Simpson. Rather, Miami Dolphins defensive tackle, Fred Evans, 23. According to police reports, Evans was arrested in South Beach early Saturday after refusing to vacate his taxi. The six-foot-four, 305-pound player resisted arrest and police tasered him twice. TSN tells us that:

Evans was charged with multiple counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting with violence, along with single counts of disorderly intoxication and trespassing.

Ah, the rich and self-entitled. What is it this summer with celebrities and their inability to hold their alcohol?

The Herald has more.

Miami, South Beach, SoBe, Miami Dolphins, Fred Evans, Howard Green, O.J. Simpson

Paranormal radio host Bill Metz is seeking a local, south Florida radio station to broadcast his weekly, Seattle based radio show, strangely titled, The Paranormal Awareness Radio Show. (I couldn’t begin to make this up.)

According to Bill’s press release he,

has 13 years of experience in the Paranormal field and has 1 year of
experience in Live Radio Broadcasting. Host and show staff are very
committed to their audience. The host is extremely knowledgable [sic] in all
aspects of the Paranormal Field, which make for a great opportunity to
bring a fresh show and subject matter into the market that is not
covered much. In fact, 70% of the population in one way or another
believe in the field and support the paranormal field and its topics
like ghosts, UFO’s, cryptozoology, the mysteries of the world, etc.

I beg Bill to have as his first south Florida guest, James Randi, a.k.a. The Amazing Randi.

Personally, I like my weekly dose of paranormal activity through a different Medium.

Side note, I looked it up so you wouldn’t have to - cryptozoology.

Miami, James Randi, Amazing Randi, Paranormal, Medium, Patricia Arquette, Bill Metz, Paranormal Awareness Radio Show

A day at the beach always comes with risks: jellyfish, sunburn, cellulite, old men in bikinis, sharks, and now another one - sink holes. The Globe investigates.

While some might see them as freak accidents, Dr. Bradley Maron has spent years studying the phenomena, after twice seeing children almost suffocate to death on a Martha’s Vineyard beach. In a letter in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine, he warns that a pastime as innocent as building a sandcastle could lead to a family tragedy.

Maron was a 23-year-old lab technician with dreams of a medical career when he came across a scene of "total chaos" during an afternoon walk on Edgartown’s South Beach in 1998, he said in an interview. Kids at a birthday party had dug a seven-foot-deep cavity in the sand and were trying to jump over it when one fell in. The walls of the hole caved, obliterating any sign of the 8-year-old girl.

Digging frantically, a lifeguard located the child’s mouth and cupped his hand over it, creating an air pocket. She survived, but the accident made an impression on the young Maron, who had witnessed a similar incident as a student lifeguard three years earlier. "I was probably at that moment of the opinion that most people are, that this must be an isolated, extremely uncommon problem," he said. "In medicine we call it a case report — something you might see once in your whole life."

But as Maron began to investigate, urged on by his father, a cardiologist who researches sudden death in athletes, he quickly uncovered similar sand cave-ins around the country. Though the accidents are rare — you’re about as likely to die from a shark attack in the United States as from falling into a beach hole – they fit a tragic pattern, according to Maron’s research: A buildup of pressure causes the sides of a hole to crumble suddenly, burying alive a child or teenager playing inside. The victim, usually a boy, remains submerged for several minutes as bystanders panic and rescuers, afraid to use a shovel because they might hit the person, struggle to reach them by hand.

Wow, we are always learning of unusual ways to die. Add this to the list.

I attended the Task Force on Citizens Property Insurance Corporation claims handling at Nova Southeastern University in Davie last night and, wow, there are some egregious stories out there. An excellent lawyer brought the sad reality into scope. Not good.

The task force was created to address the state’s largest wind insurer and poor handling of claims for so many south Floridians.

Let’s hope 2007 is a quiet year because Citizens really isn’t equipped to handle another big storm. Couple this sad fact with the aging satellites used to track these storms and we’ve got the recipe for untold destruction of people’s property and lives because not enough planning and personell has been put in place.

Miami, Hurricanes, Nova Southeastern University, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Task Force on Citizens Claims Handling

Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty

Via SitT we learn Janet Jackson is in town recording a new album. Says the über-hipster, a.k.a. Lesley Abravanel:

Jackson is down here with record exec LA Reid for the next three months recording her new album at Circle House Studios.

Ms. Jackson is a favorite and I can’t wait to catch some shots of her around town.

It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t include the most famous "wardrobe malfunction in recent history.

Miami, Janet Jackson, LA Reid, Circle House Studios, Nipple, Wardrobe Malfunction