This is a story about two Fort Lauderdale golf courses. One is the Coral Ridge Country Club, a tidy, 52-year-old gem of a course where Sam Snead and Ben Hogan once dazzled fans as the city's upper crust sipped martinis in the sedate privacy of a clubhouse, with delectable panoramas...
Sometimes, all it takes is a single, seemingly benign question to disturb the balance of a deeply complacent town. So it is in Sunrise, a community that from all its outward appearances is just another sprawling west Broward County suburb where nothing as interesting as political scandal ever seems to...
(L to R) Mamaux, Johnson, Wexler, Katz, and Sofer The debut of the Sundance Channel's documentary series "The Hill" delivered at least half of what it promised last night, especially the part about offering us a "glimpse inside Capitol Hill." First, we got a good taste of Robert Wexler's staff,...
Fake sperm almost sank Professor Todd Shackelford's career. In the winter of 2001 at Florida Atlantic University, Shackelford and his graduate student Aaron Goetz were studying "sperm competition" in human beings — the notion that, just as other male animals try to spread their seed (and genes) widely in the...
Rian Johnson's feature debut as writer-director will wind up as one of the year's best films. A film noir set in a modern-day high school, it's Sam Spade roaming Ridgemont High; kids get doped up and knocked up and even rubbed out while speaking pulp-novel slang, but the gimmick never...
I'm getting bitch-slapped all over the place lately. I've gotten a slew of letters in the past couple of weeks suggesting I need to find myself another profession. I'm a mean-spirited misanthrope who wouldn't know a gourmet dinner if she fell face down in it. If I write a negative...
In 2002, "My Neck, My Back," Khia's bass-heavy ode to oral pleasure, took over the urban airwaves. Despite the song's explicit exhortations, it became an international mainstream hit for the young Tampa rapper (born Khia Finch). Her debut album, Thug Misses, sold 800,000 copies independently. Then the rumors began. First...
When the purveyors of pop culture want to know who'll be hot the next year, they usually look to the dubious cast of characters known as experts. But that title gets thrown around like dollar bills at a strip club. The chance that they'll be on the money is usually...
Not much time this morning, so just a few South Florida media news gems to pass along: -- Scott Hiaasen's report on the continuing fallout of Arthur Teele Jr. A co-defendant in a criminal case is expected to go on trial soon and his lawyer, Richard Sharpstein, promises: "Even in...
In the early 20th Century, a bridge was formed between Cuba and Jamaica. It's a bridge made not of concrete and asphalt but of rhythm and melody. And now the audio architects in Ska Cubano are giving it a 21st-century renovation. The swingin', high-styled outfit is fronted by British ska...
Anthony Green was California dreamin'. In 2003, he left his hometown of Philadelphia for the golden sands of Newport Beach, where he formed Saosin. But a year later, Green exited stage east, back to Philly, where he hooked up with former This Day Forward guitarist Colin Frangicetto to start a...
Imagine a human civilization built on a swamp, surrounded by beaches, and populated by everyone from condo-dwelling retirees to crack dealers. That's South Florida, all right, and it's the perfect setting for the break-core/noise-hop that Hialeah native Otto Von Schirach has been producing. After releasing several albums and remixes, Von...
Maybe there's some truth to that "fair and balanced" slogan after all. Last week, the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) held its national convention in Miami Beach, and the 600 or so attendees owed their fun in the sun partially to Fox News, which donated $10,000 to the...
Earl Johns has been known to show up in overalls at the Coconut Creek government complex to distribute avocados and mangoes to city officials. They smile and accept the fruit from the 87-year-old, fourth-generation South Florida farmer. Behind their smiles, though, they're kinda wishin' Earl Johns would just disappear. It's...
Dolphins fans have never swallowed humility easily. By all rights, Fins fans should be some of the loudest Yankees-level gasbags in the country. Since 1970, when the American Football League merged with the National Football League to create the modern NFL, no team has won more games, and in all...
Emancipation of Mariah You mean she's not singing directly to Cole? The words of Cole Haddon's article about Mariah Carey basically amount to defamation of character (Outtakes, August 3)! I hope Mariah's legal consultants track you down and rip you to shreds. By the way, Cole, are you one of...
The Mexican presidential elections have been a freaking mess. I voted for the conservative candidate, Felipe Calderón, who almost everyone agrees won the election. But the leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador is making a mess out of this by claiming electoral fraud. Does the Mexican have an opinion of Mexican...
When Farris Hassan is late for class and his whereabouts are in question, the joke is inevitable. "Went to Iraq," someone will deadpan, and the room will erupt into giggles. When Hassan walks down the corridors of Pine Crest School, he is sometimes asked to show his passport. And there...
There he sat center stage, his long, jagged beard hanging over his guitar, his sock-covered feet busy pedaling the kick drum and high hat. His cowboy boots were on the floor next to him, his railroad conductor's hat still on his head. Audience members danced to his upbeat, bluesy twang...
There's no doubt that into every marriage creeps, or perhaps floods, moments that inspire you to dream of snuff films with your mate in a starring role. But to truly consider following through? Well, that's another matter, as well as the plot for Michele Lowe's 2002 dark comedy The Smell...
The day Zak Jones died, a westerly breeze was picking up and sun glittered on the deck of the 60-foot double-decker dive vessel, Pro Diver II. It was the early morning of Thanksgiving Day 2005, and the boat was headed for Tenneco Towers, one of Florida's most popular sites with...
