From Kelly x at MTV UK:

"Hello. I'm emailing from MTV UK, we're coming out to film the VMA's in Miami from 22nd August. We really want to film in a boat with a boat tour guide for a couple of hours on Tuesday 23rd August with our presenter. We would love the presenter to do links from the boat as well. We have insurance which I can forward onto you as well. Our budget is very limited but it would be a great advertising opportunity for your company- especially for UK viewers who want to visit Miami. If you are interested or know anyone else that might be interested could you email me back to this address."

She says her budget is limited, but don't let that fool. This is MTV. Not to mention, the British Pound is destorying the US Dollar.

If you own a tour boat and are looking for exposure, contact us and I'll send you the details.

Cool Junkie is a music and lifestyle site that follows the nightlife scene in 11 US cities. I came across a section of their site last week called A Girl About Town. A girl named Jipsy goes around town and writes about what's new, what's hot, and what's not so hot. It's great for those of you who want to be in the know, but don't follow the Miami parties every week. Her style is fun and informative. Here is a link to what Jipsy has to say this week.

Gray Hat Search Engine News has a funny take about a Google job posting for two executive chefs.

For the foodies who are interested, you can find a more culinary summary of the job opportunity at the GoogleBlog.

Don Vito from MTV's "Bam Margera Show" was recently at Mansion nightclub in Miami Beach balling it up with a group of friends.

But don't expect to see any apple martinis in Don Vito's hand. He's keepin' it real with a bottle of Bud.

See a gallery of Don Vito party pictures at Wireimage.

So, we ended up at River Oyster Bar last night. The restaurant is small and elegant. We decided to order off the regular menu instead of having Miami Spice. They bring a nice bread basket with black olive tapenade, the tuna tartar was excellent, and so was the organic greens salad with apples, walnuts, and crumbled blue cheese. For dinner I had a pork chop with goat cheese polenta and Gus had braised short ribs. They were both delicious and the portions were just right. For dessert, we shared a piece of keylime cheesecake. Oh, and the service was flawless. I would definitely dine there again.

The bill came to $94. If we had decided to order off the Miami Spice menu, our bill would've come to $87 anyway. At River Oyster Bar, maybe the Miami Spice menu isn't your best option.

Stay tuned for more Miami Spice recommendations.

I'm starving and just remembered that Miami Spice starts today. I am looking forward to eating at River Oyster Bar, Pascal's on Ponce, Ortanique, and my old time favorite, Tuscan Steak. Here is a list of Miami Spice restaurants participating in the program.

Check back later and I'll tell you where I went.

The Learning Channel (TLC) has set up shop in Miami Beach to take viewers inside the world of tattoo artistry in Miami Ink.

"In the series, a motley crew of best friends open and run a custom tattoo parlor. The resident artists — Ami James, Chris Nunez, Chris Garver and Darren Brass — live and work together to promote the art of tattooing while running a new business."

In addition to spotlighting the artists at work, each tattoo in Miami Ink has a story to tell.

Many people get tattoos to signify some pivotal moment or event in their lives. The show will offer insight into each Miami Ink customer and the impetus behind his or her choice of artwork.

The show premieres on Tuesday, July 19, at 10pm on TLC.

Source: TLC, via CriticalMiami

The City of Miami Beach has been holding special movie screenings on the beach. Hotels and cruises are jumping on the bandwagon.

"One of the hottest new amenities at resorts and hotels this summer is the outdoor movie — a film projected onto the side of a building or on a big screen set up around the pool."

Cruise lines are getting into the act. Carnival's newest ship, Liberty, will have a 22-foot-wide screen atop the Lido deck for outdoor movie screenings. Princess, which launched movies on the deck of the Caribbean Princess last year, will have them on three ships this summer and two more by the end of 2007."

Source: USA Today

The BBC is releasing all nine of Beethoven's symphonies (five are up now) as MP3s. I downloaded Symphony 1 (29 MB) using a DSL connection and it took 21 minutes.

Thanks: Boing Boing

Miami Beach filmmaker Brett Ratner (director of "Rush Hour" and "Red Dragon") has been chosen to replace Matthew Vaughn at the helm of "X-Men 3".

Last week, British director Vaughn quit the third X-Men movie because of personal problems. The filmmaker, who is married to supermodel Claudia Schiffer, flew back to his home in London -- leaving the movie's pre-production in chaos. Enter Brett.

Venue: Jackie Gleason Theatre
Address: 1234 Avenue of the Stars, Miami FL 33139
Phone: (305) 555-1212
Details: Elton John will berform live at the Jackie Gleason Thatre. Buy tickets online, here.

Tonight at Opium and Privé is the Def Jam Memorial Weekend Party hosted by DMX, Redman, Ludacris and Nore with DJs Khaled and Funkmaster Flex. Saturday night Opium's got the Summer in Miami party hosted by Cam'ron, Mike Jones, and Paul Wall among others.

Saturday at Mansion the hosts are Jadakiss and Fat Joe.

On Sunday, Mansion hosts Busta Rhymes' birthday party and at the Marlin Hotel, Twista and the Speedknot Mobstas will host the Memorial Weekend Jump-Off from 3pm -10pm featuring a kissing booth, cotton candy machine, and lemonade stands powered by sexy Miami girls for guests to indulge.

Not so far from Miami Beach is Michael Tronn's Anthem Downtown Marathon on Sunday, featuring DJ Tracy Young from 10pm -4am and Peter Rauhofer from 4am - 10am.

This marathon takes place at Warehouse, yet another all night space near Space, at 90 NE 11th Street

More than 2,000 people are expected to join in the kinky festivities at the Fetish Weekend hosted by Fetish Factory and Strut in Broward County.

Did I miss anyone? Add a party in the comments

Also see:
Hip-hop talent agency opens in Miami (Miami Hearld)
Urban Weekend' Event A Growing Commercial Enterprise (NBC6)
Miami is still the palce to party (KansasCity.com)

The National Football League announced on Wednesday that Tampa Bay will be the host city of Super Bowl XLIII in February of 2009.

Super Bowl XL will be played in February 2006 at Detroit's Ford Field. Miami's Pro Player Stadium will host the game in 2007 and Glendale, Arizona is the site for 2008.

NFL owners voted in March to award the 2010 Super Bowl to New York, provided the Jets get final approval for a 75,000-seat stadium on the West Side of Manhattan.

The Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders met the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders at the second annual Battle of the Beach in South Florida last week. CheerleaderBlog has photos of the event.

For the record, Jennifer Lopez 's pilot for "South Beach" was picked up by UPN, MTV announced Thursday. The singer/actress is one of the producers of the hour-long drama, which will star Vanessa Williams and follow three young adults trying to get ahead in Miami.

Gridskipper, writes a first-hand account about Miami Velvet, and chooses the hottest Miami male escort of the week. Their excuse:

"it’s near the end of the week and we’re just lookin’ for cheap and easy ways to entertain y’all"

If you're looking for new music to take on vacation, Tofu Hut has published a huge list of blogs that have MP3s, arranged by genre.

Three forensic teams studying CAT scans of King Tutankhamen's mummy recently spent months creating images of what he might have looked like.

So, the Egyptian pharaoh is back in the spotlight, just before a blockbuster exhibition of relics from his tomb begins a tour of the United States. The exhibit will visit the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art in December.

The exhibition opens in Los Angeles next month, and already they've sold over 200,000 tickets in advance.

Broward County just authorized $500,000 in improvements to the museum in order to get ready for the more than 400,000 visitors that are expected for the exhibit, putting Fort Lauderdale on the cultural map.

Tickets will go on sale to the public in October. Museum members can purchase tickets in advance.

Links: MOAFL NBC6

The Rolling Stones announce a world tour that will bring them to Miami and Tampa.

Seats go on sale Saturday for a show October 17 at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. Tickets are available May 21 for the Tampa concert set October 19 at the St. Pete Times Forum.

The Orlando Sentinel has a story about Marineland's big plans. Once the pride of Florida's Marine Animal Attractions, the park has suffered for the last few decades. Finally, Hurricane Frances gave it the knock out punch. Or so it seems. Now new investors are hoping to transform the park into an eco-tourism destination, a sort of Flipper fantasy camp:

"The best way I can describe it is to say it will be Dolphin Quest meets a university research lab meets a high-end destination property."

"Visitors will be able to swim with its dolphins, snorkel in its oceanariums and make educational forays into rich surroundings that include oak hammocks, marshes, estuaries, rivers and the ocean."

"There are tentative plans, too, for a resort hotel in which guests will be treated like big fish in a plush pond. I'd like to see the circular oceanarium rebuilt surrounded by a very small luxury hotel, so the suites and upper-end rooms look right into the tanks, and you can see large animals swimming by," he said.

Now that's the sort of hotel I like.

But it's going to take vision and support from the public for this little park that is dreaming big. So if you happen to be near St. Augustine this summer, stop by and send Nellie some love.

The holiday of Cinco de Mayo, the 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of a small, poorly armed Mexican militia over a well outfitted French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. This classic David versus Goliath story gives us all a perfect reason to celebrate at one of our local Mexican restaurants:

Señor Frog’s - 616 Collins Avenue
Señor Frog’s invites you to come and party like a Mexican at their Cinco de Mayo party, starting at 2pm, Thursday, May 5th and going on until the sunrise on the 6th! They'll be offering specials on drinks and Mexican beer with free prizes such as “I survived Cinco de Mayo” t-shirts, and a grand prize trip to Mexico. The music will be supplied by DJ’s & Mariachi bands.

El Rancho Grande - 1626 Pennsylvania Avenue
Come out to El Rancho Grande this Thursday from 2pm until 1am, for their annual block party on Pennsylvania Avenue, between Lincoln & 16th Street. The party features specials on Margaritas, Mexican beer, as well as live music and a DJ.

Paquito's - 16265 Biscayne Blvd., North Miami Beach
All the standards---enchiladas, burritos, tortilla chips---are masterfully prepared. More ambitious cuisine includes tortilla soup with cheese and sour cream; a zesty mole verde with chicken, pork, or beef; turkey meatballs in chipotle (chile) sauce; and dolphinfish (mahimahi) with tomato, capers, and green olives. 305-947-5027

Thanks, MBCC

As the MTV's Video Music Awards head back to Miami, their Latin American sister awards are moving out, and taking the show to Mexico City.

MTV Latin America launched in 1993 from offices on Lincoln Road. Last year's Awards Show broadcast live to 14.1 million cable viewers in Latin America and on MTV2 in the United States, with subsequent showings on other Latin American channels and MTV in the United States.

But the channel's real audience is in Latin America -- except for the awards, it is not broadcast in the United States. And MTV Latin America executives have long said they would like to take the event to its home base. More than one-third of their viewers, or 4.9 million, are in Argentina, followed by Mexico with 3.9 million.

The Latin VMA's face a crowded field in Miami. The media and celebrity blitz that accompanied the mainstream VMAs' Miami debut at the AmericanAirlines Arena last August cast a shadow on the lower-key Latin version less than two months later. Two of Latin music's four major awards shows, Univision's Premio Lo Nuestro and Telemundo's Billboard Latin Music Awards, are held here. The Latin Grammys visited Miami in 2002, but have otherwise stuck to Los Angeles.

Source: Miami Hearld (registration required)

The 2006 Broadway Across America series in Miami Beach has been announced. The Season includes:

Movin' Out playing January 24-29
Hairspray playing February 21-26
Mamma Mia! playing May 2-7

For tickets and showtimes contact the Jackie Gleason Theater.

Victoria Pesce Elliott from the Miami Hearld Dining Section reports:

First the fight, then the wedding
Sexy Miami chef Michelle Bernstein is gearing up for a fight and a wedding.

On Friday, Michelle will team with pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith ( Nemo, Big Pink, Shoji, Prime 112) to tape an installment of the Food Network's Iron Chef America in New York. Their celebrity opponent is TBA; it might be Bobby Flay. An air date hasn't been set.

While in the big city, Bernstein, 36, will have a chance to shop for a gown for her wedding to long-time, live-in boyfriend David Martinez, 30, formerly a manager at Mosaico.

The ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 12 in Cancun, where Bernstein has been operating MB, her namesake restaurant in the Fiesta Americana Grand Aqua.

Boone is Back
Rob Boone formerly of Bambu and Metro Kitchen, is back on the Beach at Preston's, the hotel dining room at the Loew's Miami Beach.

One For The Books
Veteran New York Times reporter, R.W. ''Johnny'' Apple Jr. shares his takes on 40 U.S. cities including Milwaukee, Seattle, New Orleans, Savannah, Detroit, Tampa, Phoenix and Honolulu.

In our own backyard, Apple delves singles out Norman Van Aken as ''the area's most gifted chef'' and gives nods to Joe's Stone Crab, Azul at the Mandarin Oriental, Blue Door at the Delano and Pacific Time.

Source: Miami Hearld (registration required)

AllHipHop is reporting that female rappers Jacki O and Foxy Brown got into a fight in a recording studio in Miami:

"Miami rapper Jackie O confirmed that an altercation took place between her and Foxy Brown on April 24th at Circle House Studios in Miami, Florida.

According to Jacki O’s account, the altercation ensued after she invited the Brooklyn rapper into the studio, known for its amenities and opulence.

Jacki O said Brown entered the studio and had some words for Jacki O, which she overheard.

According to Jacki O, Brown returned to the studio, words were exchanged and a physical altercation broke out between the two women.

“This was not the way I wanted it to go down," Jacki O stated. "I was looking forward to working with her on a song. We are two women in hip-hop and should be able to come to the table together. She forced me to show her who is the madam of Miami.”

I thought Elaine Lancaster was the "madame of Miami".

The infamous Porn Star Karaoke is coming to Miami Beach on May 2nd. Pornstars Hailey Young, Tricia Oaks, Serena Sin, Kitty Wildwood, and Presley Paige will be in attendance.

Porn Star Karaoke is the longest running weekly event in adult industry history. It’s been a huge success in Los Angeles and has been attended by everyone from Ron Jeremy and Tera Patrick to Kid Rock and Tommy Lee.

Porn Star Karaoke Miami will be held on Monday, May 2nd starting at 9pm. The location is Automatic Slim’s, 1216 Washington Avenue in Miami Beach.

The Bass Museum of Art is winding down "Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Würth Museum Collection".

The exhibit comprising more than 65 collages, drawings, photographs, and scale models of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Central Park, Reichstag, and Paris installations.

Sources: Gridskipper | Miami New Times

Bruce Weber's documentary film "A Letter to True" will screen on April 22 at 8:30pm at Cinematheque.

"Filmmaker/photographer Bruce Weber is a professed animal lover, and his newest film centers on his own dogs, a family of gorgeous golden retrievers.

"A Letter to True" is a stunning look at the affection, loyalty, and unconditional love displayed by these animals - which the filmmaker sees as a metaphor for peace and hope in the world. "A Letter to True" is a little like staying up late with Bruce Weber, listening to great music and peeking into the mind of a world-class connoisseur."

Paul McCartney will start his new North American tour on September 16 at Miami's Amerian Airlines Arena.

Tickets start at $52, and go on sale Saturday at 10am.

Bilingual rapper, Pitbull, will be a featured panelist at the upcoming Billboard Latin Conference on April 27th (2pm-3:30pm at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami).

I like the title of his current album: M.I.A.M.I (Money Is A Major Issue).

The Guardian Observer says Miami is Big Fun Under the Sun:

"A wave of sexy new hotels, galleries and restaurants has got this vibrant city buzzing and a new film of Miami Vice is the icing on the cake."

I couldn't agree more. I'm really excited about the Miami Vice movie. I read that Chinese-born actress Gong Li has joined the cast. She'll play Isabella, the Chinese-Cuban wife of the leader of a transnational crime syndicate and Crockett's love interest.

Michael Mann is an great Director. For those of you who don't know, he created the Miami Vice TV series, and then went on to make some powerful, big budget movies. His films include "Heat", "The Insider", and "Last of the Mochaican", but my favorite movie he made was "Manhunter".

George Kalinsky's photographic career started in Miami Beach at the 5th Street Boxing Gym. Today, he's known worldwide as Madison Square Garden's official photographer.

From Muhammad Ali and Elvis Presley to Pope John Paul and John Lennon, George Kalinsky has captured them all in his new photo book, Garden of Dreams.

See more photos, here. My favorite is "Rookie Air".

My friend Brooke and her band Loud Mouth Kitten will perform tonight at Senor Frog's. Brooke can rock the house. She goes at Midnight, and pitchers of beer are only $3.

Regis and Kelly will broadcast live from Disney World in Orlando for three days during the week of May 9th - 13th.

Viewers who live in the Orlando area are invited to attend the tapings May 11th and 12th from the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Information is available here.

Author, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez has extended her vacation in Miami.

"I'm in no rush to get back to the desert. I love the desert, don't get me wrong. But LOOK at this beach!!! And that devlish gleam in my son's eye? This is the look he gets before he does something that makes mommy shriek "travieso!" He loves being ornery. Just like his mom."

Can you blame her?

Jarred's got r-rated pics of rapper, Ice-T and Coco (Ice's wife) balling it up in South Beach. By the look of Coco's site, I don't think Ice is botherd by the pics.

The MTV Video Music Awards will return to Miami's American Airlines Arena on August 28 for a live broadcast.

Carlos Alvarez, Mayor of Miami-Dade county, gave his approval, noting that the event is important to the region, since it promotes their beaches, hotels, restaurants, shopping, attractions, sports, and recreation to a worldwide audience, and "brings together artists and celebrities from around the globe.

Miami Today News talks about the economic impact the evetn will have on the City

Hosts, performers, nominees, and presenters will be announced in the coming months.

In 1982 Barbara Streisand recorded Guilty with Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. Now, 25 years later, Streisand and Gibb are reuniting to work on a new album together. As with Guilty, Gibb will again be writing and producing for the as-yet untitled project.

Gibb will compose a dozen new songs for the reunion album and recording will take place at his studio in Miami, Florida, and at Sony Studios in LA. The album is scheduled for a September release to tie into the silver anniversary of Guilty.

Thanks Jean Luc for the Babs update.

Former Miami radio station, WZTA (ZETA) has risen from the ashes as an online entity. Now, loyal listeners can stream their alternative rock favorites at ZetaRocks.com.

Sadly, WZTA changed from Rock to Hispanic programming in February, as "Mega 94.9.".

Clear Channel says the feedback from a small but vocal group of former Zeta listeners led them to launch the station online. Clear Channel RVP programming Rob Roberts said...

“Honestly, the idea came from one of ZETA’s past loyal listeners. Younger rock listeners (ages 12-34) are very Web oriented, spending an average 18.8 hours per week on the Internet. With the freedom to combine the programming of cutting-edge rock along with the ability to target and narrowcast, an Internet rock music radio station, using the well-known and revered ZETA brand name, made a great deal of sense to our team.”

Thanks for listening to us loyal listeners. Now, will you please bring Howard Stern Back? Pretty please...with sugar on top...

Did you know that you can find links to most of the radio stations in Miami at MiamiBeach411.com?

Who would have guessed Crobar could beat Opium in a Googlefight.

Director, Michael Mann, is bringing his 80's TV series "Miami Vice" to the big screen. The film is scheduled for release in 2006. Actors, Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx will play Crockett and Tubbs.

Winter Music Conference has announced the winners for the 20th Annual International Dance Music Awards. The Ultra Music Festival in Miami wins the award for "Best Global Dance Event".