Thickest cranium in rock? Probably Martin Atkins, former drummer for Public Image Ltd., now de facto head of the industrial-rock conglomerate Pigface. Who else would devote insane amounts of time, money, and energy to industrial music -- a subgenre that had its day bathing in the money hydrant during the...
Joe Rose is on the verge of tears. From laughing. The former Miami Dolphin and current cohost of The First Team, the weekday morning sports-talk show on WQAM-AM (560), is listening to two of the program's regular callers debate the likely outcome of the weekend's Dolphins-New York Jets game at...
After several disappointing experiences, some of which I've recounted here, I confess: I'm giving up. I no longer expect food to comfort me. I don't believe ultra-rich ice cream will soothe me. I can't see how mashed potatoes will magically make everything all right. Hamburgers the size of my head?...
Artist and gallery owner William Bock has reason to be happy. He's celebrating the Bock Gallery's third anniversary at its location in the Fountains Shoppes of Distinction in Plantation, where he moved after surviving a financially challenging stint as part of the revival of downtown Hollywood. The Fountains complex is...
Weston shows the bucolic benefits of corporate-sponsored communality. The presence of Arvida, the city's main developer, is evident everywhere: the muted luxury of the homes, the carefully trimmed hedges, and the tidy appearance of nearly every street corner. The very welcome signs planted at the main entrances bear the logo...
Jorge's surrogate strikes back: In regard to Jim Gaines' October 25 article "Potemkin Lawyer," I feel that there was a total lack of accurate information and valid sources in his attempt to defame Jorge Fernandez. Trying to be a hero in "uncovering" something that has already been resolved is, in...
If there were a checklist for a prototypical raw-bar-and-wings joint, it would probably include all the important elements: TV, domestic beers, giveaways, happy-hour prices. In that regard the four-month-old eatery Planet Krypton Wings and Grille, located on Stirling Road in Davie, fulfills expectations. TV tuned to Monday Night Football? Check...
Like a lot of great compilation albums, 1999's first volume of The Funky Precedent got to have it both ways -- celebrating the past while dropping hints about the future. To hear the assembled Angelenos of Vol. 1 tell it, the destiny of hip-hop was a fusion of old-school funk...
Dr. James E. Tylke is fidgety. At 35 years old, the anesthesiologist should have his life on cruise control. Since he was in fifth grade, Tylke had dreamed of becoming a doctor. He's outgoing, easy to talk to, the kind of guy you hope to sit beside at a sports...
In the theater world as in society, a happy few are much more fortunate than the rest. Consider the prosperous and respected Florida Stage. Now entering its 15th season, the Stage is blessed with a lovely facility (a 250-seat thrust theater with excellent sightlines), critical acclaim (22 Carbonell nominations for...
I don't know about you, but the lowly infidels hidden away deep in the Bandwidth bunker have always been nonbelievers in the band Tool. Not because of Tool's silly pseudo-intellectual take on heavy metal and prog-rock but largely because of its legion of overzealous, fanatical followers. These people just never...
Flying home after Christmas in New York City six years ago, Janie Axelrad wanted to relax, and the empty rows of seats in the back of the Boeing 757 were calling. So she left her fiancé, Joseph LaPorte, in their ticketed seats in the crowded midsection of the plane and...
By all accounts Björk's albums should be commercial disasters. Her lyrics make little sense to the outside world, and she's known to invite listeners into the depths of her mind. (She also doesn't care one bit about the repercussions of dressing like a swan, but that's beside the point.) On...
Adam Schlesinger is one of rock's most ambitious overachievers. His membership with Fountains of Wayne has been marked by major cultish success, and his penning of the song "That Thing You Do" for the Tom Hanks movie of the same name earned him a pedestal in the power-pop hall of...
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) had terror ringleader Mohamed Atta in its grasp before the September 11 attacks. Then the agency, which stands on the domestic frontline in the war on terrorism, let him go. The 34-year-old Egyptian arrived at Miami International Airport earlier this year on a flight...
There cannot be man, woman, child or beast alive who does not know that on November 6, Fox will debut its new series 24. Long before the fall season was to begin, it had already been appointed the most anticipated and beloved show of the year--by critics who had seen...
An inferiority complex bred their racism: In regard to "The Heart of Whiteness" by Adam Pitluk (September 6), I am not Jewish or African, and I am not a racist. I am of Russian descent, 35 years old, and male. I grew up in north Philly in a rough neighborhood...
Though Modern English just released a greatest-hits collection, the group seems pretty subdued. When a band comes out with one album in 11 years, then follows it with a compilation record, it's pretty safe to say the anthology is the group's swan song. A last-ditch tour should follow in an...
As animals we know instinctively that eating is vital to our existence. Hunger is a primal urge. Without food our bodies can't sustain themselves. As human beings, however, we may suspect that dining out, as well as writing and reading about it, is somewhat less important. And in the wake...
I was hoping to use the upcoming Tangerine Dream show to draw parallels between the "space rock" music of the late 1960s and early 1970s -- the first haul of electronic music made when synthesizers were invented -- and Orbital, perhaps one of the best techno bands operating today. Tangerine...
The mysterious Jordanian flew into South Florida on December 3, 2000, armed only with some fake documents and a ludicrous claim that he was a U.S. citizen. Yet Mohammed Braish, who was 22 years old, still made it past the first obstacle: the Immigration and Naturalization Service. With his Jordanian...
I don't want to be known as "Cancer Boy' for the rest of my life," sighs Eric Alexandrakis. "You know, "That musical cancer guy.' But it is marketable." Alexandrakis, a Miami-based multi-instrumentalist who produces homemade pop songs in relative isolation, doesn't make his bouts with Hodgkin's disease the subject of...
