Girl About Town 6.10.2008

June 10, 2008 1:58 PM
by chipi [email]

So I've been taking it easy lately. It could be the weather, the season setting in or maybe the rediscovery of my love for sleep...but I certainly made up for lost time this weekend.

To kick things off this week, I finally made my way over to Soultech at Skybar in the Shore Club. A minimal beach party isn't exactly reinventing the wheel, but a successful, consistent, weekly on the other hand - merits a few gold stars.

It seems the Italians are on to something. The party hotline reports that every week there's been a consistent crowd of mature and musically conscious peoples, beach kids and downtowners alike. I arrived a tad late, but experienced enough to bring me back next week. DJs Andres, Amadeus, Maurizio, and Danielyno carve up a nice dance path for the minimal tech kids that are holding on to that soulful house groove.

On Thursday I cut out of the office with my CoolJunkie Editor in Chief/Lady-killer Marcos Colón for a haircut in the Design District. We'd heard good things about Shampology hair artist Danny Dillon so we opted to drop in. The salon was chic but still warm and comfortable. Definitely an extension of the new MiMo vibe. It's on the second floor of the 180 building on 39th - a neighbor of the Gibson Showroom, a few art galleries and a couple of what downtown can't seem to get enough of - furniture stores.

My boy left the salon looking sharp, with about a pound and a half of his hair lying on the ground. I wish that was an exaggeration. Danny even got a few tufts on the bottoms of his chucks. A former hair extraordinaire for Ego Trip on the beach, Dillon knows hair. Believe me, momma is a hairdresser so I can definitely spot a shabby job when I see one.

While the salon was ready to trod off to Happy Hour at Domo, myself and my CoolJunkie staffer called it a night in anticipation for the mayhem that would surely ensue on the following day.

I rose pretty early and got business out of the way to get the party kicked off as soon as possible. Around 2:30, the animals that are the CoolJunkie staff skipped off to Smith & Wolensky for my special Birthday lunch. For those of you who've never been I advise that you stay away. Smith & Wolensky will ruin every meal you've ever had or might have for the rest of your natural born life. Nothing will ever compare to anything you eat there.

From the service, to the bread sticks to the attention to detail - S&W is some serious business. Our waiter even caught wind of my birthday news and brought me a piece of death German Chocolate Cake on what looked like a Smith & Wolensky Color Me Mine Birthday plate.

Friday afternoon arrived all too soon and with some final run around on my and Lolo's part - things were starting to feel a little crazy. Turned out to be a precursor for the madness that followed. In the redheaded ones infinite wisdom we procured Snocone machines and made some pomegranate and delicious spirit icy treats. While I can't take credit for the idea, I did almost lose a finger to the ice shaving machine so, be grateful, drunk ones.

For those of you who've ever been to the Vagabond on a Friday night, there have been some pretty slammed nights. A few sweltering crowds for special events and a steady flow of people from week to week. Last Friday was by far the most packed I've ever seen the Vagabond since it's opening week at Conference. You could hardly move in the bar room, in the main room or outside. There was a line that circled halfway around the block and kids still dying to get in at around 3am.

By the time the cupcakes were ready to come out, the crowd meshed into a sea of heads, bobbing up and down to the musical stylings of resident cool guy Carmel Ophir and shameless party maker DJ Hottpants. Hordes of Gemini's showed up and people from the industry poured in throughout the night, dependent on their bed time and nightlife schedule. At around 4am I finally caught wind of Aerobar’s unfortunate shut-down from their light engineer. I took a shot of Jäger and reflected on the fate of Miami Ultra Lounge Culture and continued to make a fool of myself for the still bumping bar room.

It was the ideal way to celebrate my birthday - sharing the b-day love with one of the people in this town I truly respect, in a venue I'm enamored with and with real friends.

The festivities continued - after a pre-Poplife birthday munch at Andiamo, I crawled through the doors of the White Room Bar - boo boo kitten and visiting friends in tow (Ciera Galbraith and Joshua Miller of the Sugarbears and the latter is also keyboardist of the well-respected Joy Division tribute band 3 One G). While they were busy being assaulted by the local photog hogs - thrilled over new indie hipster faces at Poplife - I brought out my Polaroid camera and started snapping away at the local know-abouts, people recognizable enough to merit documentation.

The birthday celebration just kept on rolling. Desi and Barbie had managed to pin down a VIP area at the White Room, propping their cupcake-cake (pardon the redundancy) on one of the wooden tables and sipping champagne to ring in another year of awesome for Des.

Inevitably, frosting face and cupcake hair became a part of the scenario. The dance floor was popping and the stage was crammed with the usual hooligans going wild on each other, living la vida Pop. I decided that after a 6am departure the night prior, perhaps it would be well advised to leave before the earliest of birds began their chirping.

This is where the night turns comical. Walking down the street and rounding the corner onto 14th, chatting and laughing with my birthday crew, we were rapidly approached from behind by a group of what were all too obviously 16-year-old girls from Kendall. The ugliest one spoke first, apologizing profusely for interrupting us. Then the pretty one spoke, and she uttered something unintelligible along the lines of “give us the fucking wallet”. At this point I had no idea what they were talking about and I forwarded my questions to the one who seemed to have the most common sense. After a few moments of translating dialect, I recognized that these ex-chongas, in their shorts over spandex pants trying-too-hard get ups, were accusing my friends and I of stealing their wallets and insisting that we allow them to look through our things.

Now, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - ain’t nothin' wrong with being from Kendall. Sure it’s a practically undefined neighborhood in Miami with zero personality or cultural validity, but if you’re a cool kid it doesn’t matter where you’re from - no one will care or question you about it because you’re not acting like a git. Also, who hasn’t lost their purse, wallet, cell phone or dignity in a club before? I would’ve been all too sympathetic and willing to help fattylocks and the three dumb bitches if they’d approached the situation in a respectful way. I might’ve even walked them back up to the door of the White Room myself and asked Luis or Barbie or anyone to help them out.

Instead, they started with their crazy talk, cursing, crying - no composure. It was so obvious that homegirl was worried about what Daddy was going to say and was acting out of desperation rather than critical thought. When I politely (and I insist, it was extremely respectful) informed her that there was no way on earth I was going to allow her or anyone to look through my bag, she called me a bitch and cried some more, all the while waddling away at top speed.

Since Sunday was relatively uneventful and circled around actual day of birth family fun - this will bring me to this weeks closing remarks. You never know who you’re talking to. As much as some of us may be reticent and informed about the who’s who of the industry, you never know if the okay looking guy thats hitting on you and getting on your nerves a little is the owner of half the world - so why burn bridges? Sure, I'm no hot shot, but for all this girl knew, I could be the Queen of Sheba. Always be respectful, never lose your cool unless absolutely beyond a shadow of a doubt necessary and most importantly, don’t act like a git. It’s embarrassing to us all.

Get out of your house and hit the streets beasts!

Weekly Picks

Tuesday 6.10 - French Tuesdays @ B.E.D.
Wanna get to bed early tonight? Drop by French Tuesdays - an NYC import that satisfies your thirst for fifi.

Wednesday 6.11 - International Wednesdays @ Mansion
With Music by DJ Radamas, the theme this week at International Wednesday is Kama Sutra. The always sophisticated Mansion will be showcasing the erotic art of India and featuring a "raw exhibition of Kama Sutra"....I'm not sure what that entails but I'm hoping no one gets pregnant.

Thursday 6.12 - Cocktails, Anyone? @ Domo Japones
Happy Hour Thursdays at Domo have become a staple for the young and trendy and a great way to kick off the weekend after a long day at the office. Things get to popping at around 7pm.

Friday 6.13 - Sweat Records (still holding it down) Friday's @ the Vagabond
After last weeks rage of a party, some of those new faces are sure to turn up again this week. Be there for a repeat of the carnage.

Saturday 6.14 - 142 Revisited @ Space
Space Miami and the CoolJunkie Family present a night to celebrate the original Space. For those of us too young to recognize the reference, the "Old Space" building was number 142 rather than 34. All of the original DJs, classic records and free stuff. Who doesn't like comp at the door and open bar til 1am? Sign up on the Guestlist so you don't look like a chump.

For Boy on Boy Action - Thursday 6.12 - Hot Mess @ B.E.D
Another sweaty mess of a party at B.E.D and famed doorman Alan T should be at the helm of things, herding the cattle. It's been huge in past weeks (that's what HE said), so no disappointments here.

For Girl on Girl Calamity - Thursday 6.12 - FREEK MAGNET @ the White Room Bar
Eve Interrupted is closing up shop this week with FREEK MAGNET! Their last all-girl art party. These shindigs have been popping off for a few years now (since '03 if memory serves me correctly) and this last one is going to be a blow out. Steph Taylor and Nabedi live + the Heart Breakerz + DJ Madame Turk and art by local female bad-asses. Put Tavern to bed for a night and give Eve Interrupted a proper send off.

For Live Music Junkies - Wednesday - 06.11 - Ladytron and Datarock @ Studio A
Gather round hipster boys and girls - Ladytron and Datarock return to Studio A for what I've heard will be the last major date at the closing venue.

I can't stop spinning...

In my iPod: Maia Hirasawa - And I found this boy.
Maia Hirasawa came into my musical stratosphere late last week through a fellow fan of Swedish sweet-song band Hello Saferide. Imagine a Swedish-Japanese vintage looking hipster girl with a voice like Bjork and lyrical stylings in the vein of a jazz sensibility. With said combination, you create a Maia Hirasawa. She fluctuates between thoughtful, heartfelt lyrics and bright, infectious ditty pop. "And I found this boy" landed her a spot on the Swedish Grammy's and a little piece of my Pop heart.

On Celluloid: Control
Screening this Saturday from 7pm-10pm at the MOCA in North Miami - Anton Corbijn's black and white biopic of Ian Curtis, the late Joy Division front-man. The film profiles the scene in England, specifically Manchester, in the late 70's and 80's as told through the events in the life of Curtis and his ultimate demise. With powerful performances by Sam Riley in the role of Curtis and Samantha Morton cast as his wife, the film captures the passion, chaos and uncertainty of both Curtis and Joy Division as they launched a sound that changed music forever.

See you around town junkies.

peace love and music,

chipi

To be notified when G.A.T is updated please click here and send me an email.