To Art or Not To Art: That Is the Question The answer is yes to art — but don’t ignore the artist: As someone relatively new to the community, I read Celeste Fraser Delgado’s article about plans for the Miami Art Museum with much interest (“Tumbling Chairs,” May 1). She…
Your Food Critic Has Poor Taste And I don’t mean that he can’t tell polenta from bruschetta: For more than seven years I’ve been reading the wonderful and informative New Times. I always read the restaurant reviews, and have even sent some e-mails voicing my agreement or disagreement. After reading…
Forget about celebrity-filled runway shows and imperious magazine editors. The Dulce de Leche menswear line is receiving a true field test inside the Bay Harbor Islands home of Luis Toro, one of Dulce de Leche’s founding owners. His partners and co-designers Carlos Mejia and Rafael Paris greet visitors as a…
The Truth About George We couldn’t have been more different, but I respected him: Kathy Glasgow and Lissette Corsa finally gave us the truth about former priest George Zirwas and his life in Cuba (“Murdered in Havana,” April 17). I met George just once, about two weeks before his death,…
“No names,” insisted Bud Russell. That was the first ground rule if Kulchur wanted to attend a private $1000-a-head South Beach fundraiser for former Vermont governor Howard Dean’s presidential campaign. Normally Russell would be thrilled with the publicity. The Atlanta-based financial consultant and Democratic Party activist has made it his…
Talking with the Enemy I listen to the Cubans and they listen to me: It was with great interest that I read Kirk Nielsen’s feature “Dialogueros” (April 10). I want to expand on his comment: “Wilhelm could not be reached for comment after the dissident crackdown.” He was not able…
There’s no need to mince words with the BBC’s Miami correspondent, Fergal Parkinson. Kulchur is delicately dancing around the differences between the BBC’s newscasters in England and the local reporters featured on South Florida’s television screens. But Parkinson bluntly jumps in: “You see fat people on the BBC.” Well, now…
My Pal Hector Am I surprised he was shot by those cops? Not at all: I was surprised when I saw one of my old friends on the cover of New Times. Humberto Guida’s story about Hector Torres could not have been more accurate (“The Bad Shoot,” April 3). Though…
Mel and Eunice Safra run a wonderful, authentic bagel shop on Alton Road near 41st Street in Mid-Beach. The tilapia, or salmon with sweet potato and healthy green and yellow veggies, preceded by a plate of noshable munchies and a bowl of Russian cabbage soup to start, will not break…
The first sign that something dramatic was unfolding was the eerie quiet. About 200 young hipsters had poured into Austin, Texas’s Urban Outfitters store for an impromptu afternoon set from Iron & Wine, better known to his Miami neighbors as Sam Beam. The sidewalk outside was abuzz with the frenzy…
I Agree: Miami Is Ugly But I say we have only ourselves to blame: Bravo for Alfredo Triff’s article “Ugly Out There” (March 27)! I’m an environmental-science major and it’s here that two disciplines merge. Environmental aesthetics makes a case for beautiful ecosystems. But I may disagree with Triff on…
He Comes to Praise Michael, Not to Bury Him Others tried to bury Kosnitzky — he wanted to put the trust back in Public Health Trust: Approximately $70 million in taxpayers’ money going from the Public Health Trust (PHT) to University of Miami’s medical school? In a single year? As…
You could feel the frisson in the air inside the darkened theaters of this year’s Miami International Film Fest. For many in the attending audiences, the onscreen themes of a besieged middle class amid insurgent revolutions, endemic civic corruption, and economic crisis weren’t abstract concepts. Those were precisely what led…
You Can Call Him Shlmiel, Shlub, Shmo, or Shnook Just don’t call him Pancho! Francisco Alvarado’s article “MIA: A User’s Manual” (March 13) was excellent, with the exception of the curious fact that only one individual, Norman Abril, was identified by religion — in my opinion unnecessarily so. Furthermore when…
Cutting Hollywood deals often involves massaging the tender egos of overgrown children. The independent film world is much the same, laughs Krysanne Katsoolis, except it involves actual toddlers. As senior vice president of acquisitions and co-productions for Wellspring — one of America’s most prominent indie distributors — Katsoolis is used…
I Cheat Death Therefore I Am They’re passionate in ways you’ll never understand: While Tristram Korten’s article about free-dive champions Pipin Ferreras and Audrey Mestre had tragic overtones, I did enjoy reading it (“The Last Deep Dive,” March 6). The photography on the first couple of pages was remarkable. Being…
There are times when Miami Beach smells like Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean in Kenya. A warmish, dampish camel-flop smell, an old horse blanket, or last year’s sweat socks, curled and grimed from 10 months in the trunk of your Toyota. As Johnny Ruiz, the World Boxing Association Heavyweight Champion…
Miami Beach’s New Organized Crime It may not be Al Capone’s thugs, but it’s still extortion: I was glad to see New Times had the guts to print Rebecca Wakefield’s story about the corrupt taxi industry (“Cabbie’s Crusade,” February 27). I think this “buying of the doors” involving cab drivers…
It started as a quiet weekday evening in Havana like any other, but on this night last November, the city was jolted into action. Squads of Cuban police suddenly began cordoning off La Rampa, the main drag in front of the Charlie Chaplin movie theater. Then they turned to the…
It’s All About Ego The subject may be Cuba, but the object is self-promotion: After reading Kirk Nielsen’s article about Jorge Mas Santos and the Cuban American National Foundation (“Dialogue: The Final Frontier,” February 20) I had to cry me a river over the transformation of those low-life Cuban extremists…
For any crusading liberal of the Watergate era, the only thing worse than earning a spot on President Nixon’s notorious “enemies list,” was not appearing on the list at all. It was troubling enough to find that you were one of the elite so hated by Richard Nixon that his…
Love and Hate and Argentina I may be a female Cuban American, but I sure sound like a pistol-packin’ redneck: I was thoroughly disgusted by Javier Andrade’s article about the February 8 soccer match between the Argentine and U.S. national teams (“Argentina 1; U.S. 0,” February 13). Mr. Andrade began…
