Arts & Culture

Every year a Spanish village honors a saint by dropping a goat off the church tower. Casual observers might find this particularly odd, but cradle Catholics know how to take it in stride. Catholicism — what with its complex rituals, politics, history, and secrets — is a culture of mystery…

If someone like sake educator John Gaunter were around to give advice during career day, life might’ve looked different for those of us who were struggling to find that perfect gig: one that allows you to see the world through booze-colored glasses. Gaunter’s a sake journalist, evangelist, and expert of…

Let the Gentiles feast on pork. It’s a small concession; after all, the Jews are taking back rock ‘n’ roll. Rob Tannenbaum and David Fagan make up the lounge/pop/rock and hilariously kosher shtick Good for the Jews. Songs like “Shiksas are for Practice,” and “They Tried to Kill Us (We…

While the Heat contends for the Worst Record in the Eastern Conference title, Miami can take solace in the knowledge that the Minnesota Timberwolves have comfortably settled into the position of Worst Team in the Entire NBA. The big difference is that the Wolves have an excuse: They were built…

If Andy Rooney were doing commentary for the 2007 Winterfest Boat Parade, it would sound something like this: “Have you ever wondered why people on boats always wave at the people on shore? It’s like they’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re on a boat, and you’re not.’ Why not just blow kisses…

While most art we view daily is spray-painted graffiti by world-renowned masters like “Biatsch” and “Neckface” (though it should be said, we love Neckface), one local group is showing the world what painters can do with a more traditional medium: the canvas. The group goes by the handle The Barn…

In terms of pure Xs and Os, there’s probably a better chance of Ricky Williams’ torn pectoral muscle donning pads and winning the rushing title than the Dolphins notching a win this week against the Ravens. Which is why fans need to turn to a more creative system — divorced…

It’s no secret that ghosts never age — the fluffy specters gain all the benefits of growing older and wiser without ever experiencing an added wrinkle or blemish. And since they love to mature (you never have to console them when they pout about their graying hair), ghost birthday parties…

Frank Sinatra painted on a spider web. Two-trunked elephants. Shrunken heads. If an oddity is worthy of a proper sideshow, roadside attraction, or even its own heavily guarded museum exhibit, you don’t have to tell Edward Meyer: he’s already intimately familiar with it. After all, you don’t become curator (and…

Led Zeppelin is one of those bands whose songs can be played in just about any configuration and still rock. Case in point: Puff Daddy’s cover of “Kashmir.” It was an unholy marriage, but you still wanted to tap your feet whenever Puffy shut his fat hole (however briefly). A…

Quick, what’s the best way to keep an inanimate body in good condition for 100 years? If you answered that question, seek professional help. But for those of you who aren’t aspiring coroners or mad scientists, here’s what you do: Put it on ice. We all know that the fatal…

What’s it take to get a Mixed Martial Arts organization off the ground? Ricky Folse knows. The MMA/boxing/kickboxing vet of 45 bouts was getting frustrated with the lack of fights in his home state of Louisiana (stemming, he says, from controversy over the “brutal” nature of the sport). So Folse…

The artists assembling for Y100’s Jingle Ball seem to have nothing in common. Failed American Idol Elliot Yamin, the nasally Plain White T’s, good-girl Brit Natasha Bedingfield, master of the universe Timbaland, baby-faced genre-bender Sean Kingston, Good Charlotte, some band called “Florida,” wimp-rockers One Republic — what’s the explanation? I…

There have been many influential men throughout our country’s illustrious history: presidents, arbiters of peace, technological masterminds, but few have influenced our lives with the same impact as one man. His name? I’ll give you all three: Charles Nelson Reilly. While he sashayed into our world through off-Broadway stages, he’s…

Reuniting with your family during the Holidays isn’t always a joyous experience: You and your siblings may be all grown up now, but you still bicker and scrap at the dinner table like when you were pimply 12-year-olds. Your mother (bless her soul) gets sloshed on boxed wine, and your…

Quite a few television shows have a “musical” episode. Cop Rock may have been a huge dud, but programs like Buffy, Oz, and Scrubs have relied on strange, but popular musical renditions. It makes you wonder what a musical version of The Sopranos would have been like. Imagine: Tony Soprano…

The 1920s were a great party had by all. Women sheared their hair into boyish bobs, voted, smoked, drank, got around, and called themselves flappers. The stock market climbed toward infinity. Radios soaked Americans in ether, families hit the road in cars, and refrigerators kept their meals cold while the…

Roaming through Jorge Pardo’s newest exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art (770 NE 125th St., North Miami): “House” is nothing like fumbling through your own stack of bricks. You won’t find cat hair-matted rugs, dirty dishes, and mismatched appliances. Instead, you ascend into a world of perfect mid-century design,…

There are few places in the world as scandalous as Naples, Italy. From streetside pickpockets to the maniacal scooterists and absent traffic laws, to the underworld mafia, it can be a downright scary place — and they say that nowadays, street action aside, it’s at a law-abiding zenith. So imagine…

Ferrets are the perpetual children of the animal world – give one an old cereal box and an excised pant leg to crawl through, and she’ll imagine it into a beautiful castle with long hallways fit for a regal procession. There, Queen Snickers will reign over her all her miniature…

The little press release that went out in advance of Mosaic Theatre’s new production, Guest Artist, was uncharacteristically misleading. It said: “In his most autobiographical work yet, Jeff Daniels explores the glory of theater, hero worship and the nature of artistic risk in a gentle and poignant comedy about a…