The most interesting party night of the year is nearly upon us. It’s that special time at the end of October when kids beg to complete strangers, typically stable adults decorate their front yards with fake skeletons and mutilated pumpkins, timid girls strip the excess fabric off timid costumes, and people try and compete for the highest BAC on Himmarshee Street. Luckily for us, there is something going on almost everyday to celebrate this strange and sadistic holiday. The FTLC has highlighted a few:
Take a shot every time you see a Jersey Shore costume
Tuesday
Of all the days this week, this is the least eventful. Today is probably the best day to check out the art exhibit at the Bear and the Bird Gallery above Tate’s Comics in Lauderhill. The show is titled Monsters Under My Bed: Childhood Fears Group Art Mega-Show and focuses on the childhood fears of the artists. Usually, I’m not too keen on art shows without cheap booze or live music, but this one sounds interesting.
Wednesday
Here’s your first chance to break out the costume. Monterey Club is hosting an indie dance party titled Ghoulish Gathering. There will be prizes for the best costumes. Andie Sweetswirl and DJ Lindersmash are spinning. No cover.
Thursday
As usual, lots of interesting stuff happening in FAT Arts Village. This year they’re throwing a 3 week celebration of Day Of The Dead. Obviously, we’ve missed some events since it started on October 9th; however, this Thursday they’re hosting some intriguing events, including a free puppet manipulation workshop and a burlesque cabaret.
Friday
One more day until the big street party; no use in trying to save yourself for the big night when The Bubble is having their second annual Halloween party. Like every IWAN party, there will be tons of art by local artists, live music, and cheap keg beer ($10 all you can drink). New Orleans’ band The Green Mantles have returned to play The Bubble, and are joined by The Necrophiles and VJ Dark Intersection. Apparently, there are also less publicized parties on Saturday and Tuesday, November 2.
Saturday
Giant block party on Himmarshee. This is always a fun street party and excellent people watching opportunity. Local crazies Viva Le Vox, as well as The Green Mantles, will be performing at Poorhouse as well.
It ain’t over yet. Most of us have to work on Monday, so you might want to take it kind of easy on the 31st. Trick or treating is always an option (age is just a number). However, it’s probably a better idea to check out some haunted houses. Village of Horrors at the War Memorial in Fort Lauderdale is probably your best bet.
Lastly, in anticipation of my favorite holiday, I’ve decided to watch a horror movie every night until Saturday. I will only be watching movies I’ve never seen before and write only a few sentences for my review of the film.
The first film for inclusion into this week long series titled Mig’s Horror Movie View Party is called The Devil’s Playground.
My two sentence review: I’m a huge fan of zombie movies, but this British movie doesn’t add any new ideas to the subgenre. It’s entertaining and well made, but you might as well re-watch 28 Days Later which does the same plot a whole lot better.
As usual, loads of fun stuff going on this weekend, especially on Saturday. Here’s just a sampling of some of great events in Broward for the next 3 days.
Friday
Fright Night on Las Ola
Save The Tatas, a charity event at Monterey Club with a bunch of bands
Last week, S Jam wrote a post about her 2010 Fort Lauderdale Film Festival (FLIFF) movie recommendations. Given the overwhelming amount of films at this years festival, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to give you a few more picks, this time by yours truly. Anybody who knows me personally knows I that I have an unhealthy passion for frightening films. Unfortunately, horror movies are nonexistant in this year’s lineup; however, I was able to find a slew of quality flicks that are worth your hard earned greenbacks.
Before buying a ticket to Paranormal Craptivity 2 this weekend, here are 7 Mig-approved, FLIFF movies to watch at Cinema Paradiso (click the title of the movie for showtime info):
127 HOURS is the new film from Danny Boyle, the Academy Award winning director of 2008’s Best Picture, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. 127 HOURS is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolate canyon in Utah.
A bizarre and unsettling mystery thriller revolves around the discovery in Europe of a teen who vanished three years earlier from Louisiana. He is brought back to the States and reunited with his dysfunctional family headed by the troubled matriarch.
In the course of seven incredible Tuesdays over seven tumultuous years, eleven New Yorkers are transformed by love, desire, art, ambition, fury, grief, faith, fear, hope and, ultimately, connection with each other in the rousing indie rock musical drama, CLEAR BLUE TUESDAY
Fanny is a developmentally disabled 39-year-old living in a home for dependent adults. Her world starts to implode when the candy factory where she works goes bankrupt.
“You may not believe in ghosts, but you cannot deny terror!” This sentence was one of the advertising lines used to promote Robert Wise’s production of “The Haunting,” listed as “number one” on Martin Scorcese’s list of the “11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time” compiled by the filmmaker for “The Daily Beast” in 2009.
In the Sumatra jungle, a pompous British TV anthropologist stumbles onto a new species of plant – but before he can disclose its whereabouts he is killed by angry locals led by mysterious Danish national Severin Gertsen. Danish Prison System criminal psychologist, Adrian, is sent to Jakarta to interview Severin (who is now in police custody) and establish a defense of insanity
(There might be a trailer to this, but it’s impossible to find because of that damn Pirates Of The Caribbean movie with the same title)
For the most part, I try and take it easy during the week. With the onslaught of concerts and events in the past month, it’s been hard to hit the sack at a decent hour for work the next day. This Wednesday is no different; a couple days ago the New Times reported that Dos Equis sponsored The Most Interesting Show In The World is hitting Revolution this Wednesday. Holla, also known as Bikini Guy on Ft. Lauderdale Beach, has nothing on some of the freaks performing on this tour. Acts include a Hungarian escape artist, some guy named Bubble Man, an erotic performace of houserobics (whatever that is), and a lively performance by party starter Andrew WK (remember that popular song Party Hard. Yeah, that guy). Most importantly, it’s all FREE. Even the Dos Equis is free of charge. Get up to 2 free tickets by clicking on this link. This party should be provide more than enough midweek relief for the hectic work week.
Following RSS feeds of local blogs is my preferred method of acquiring information about local businesses, bands, artists, and events; however, because of my undying need to know everything happening in my neighborhood, I also follow countless, relevant Twitter accounts and Facebook pages/accounts. So maybe 162 followees on Twitter is overkill. Maybe 300+ local fan pages is ridiculous. And maybe I have a problem because I subscribe to 25+ RSS feeds and check them multiple times per day. Ok, I admit it…
My name is Mig and I have a social media addiction.
Now that I got that off my chest, I’d like to introduce you to a new segment entitled Essential Local Social Media (I’ll work on a snazzier name). In this series of posts, I will highlight quality forms of social media to follow in order to know ALMOST everything going on. Each post will include one blog, a handful of related twitter accounts, and couple of active Facebook accounts.
Again, this list is not the be-all end-all. Go find a blog. Start a blog. Recommend a blog. Make your own tweets. Search for tweets. Use Facebook for more than stalking. You get the picture.
These are just some of the sources I use to follow FTL’s ongoings.
The Most Important Blog In South Florida: South Florida Daily Blog
No other blogger in South Florida follows as many RSS feeds as Rick at South Florida Daily Blog. The best part about Rick though, is that he shares only the best information via short summaries on his blog. Not only does he do that once a day with his Morning Sifts, he also has Mid Afternoon Sifts and Evening Sifts. For most people that would be good enough, except that he also posts his own material (usually political), as well as funny Colbert Report and Daily Show clips. Heck, even his blogroll is up to date and thorough. Any respectable list of essential Dade and Broward blogs needs to start with SFDB. For all the times that he’s linked to us, South Florida Daily Blog is due for some love from the FTLC. Thanks Rick for keeping us informed.
Local Music Twitter List
Here’s a twitter list I compiled of some of the music related twitter accounts that I follow on a regular basis. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a tweeter to see this list. If you want, bookmark the page and check back periodically. Although, it’s probably just easier to join Twitter. My only gripe: when you sign up for a Twitter account, try and provide the twitosphere with valuable content. My rule of thumb is it’s useful if a stranger can understand and comment on it.
Broward Music Venues on Facebook
These venue Facebook pages will help you know where the local music is happening:
