Change the Spirit of Your Car 

At Karma Car Wash & Café you will not only get the absolute treatment and thorough cleaning of your automobile, but you will also get the aura cleansed as well.  From the outside you can watch you car being cleaned while relaxing in some amazing tropical patio furniture that is comfy and umbrellas for your shade.  For those who want to go inside for a treat, there’s a lounge-type atmosphere where customers can snack on gourmet tapas and drink exotic beers and wines.   

Don’t expect your car to be done within a few minutes, because your car will be detailed to the highest level of quality and service and with a smiling staff with amazing manners, you won’t mind taking time out of your day to get your car’s chi back in order. With services like hand waxing, you can take another sip of your cocktail, sit back, relax, and enjoy having someone else do your car. 

Audace  

On Las Olas there is a wonderful store just for men’s skivvies and swimwear.  The name of this store is Audace and features a full collection underwear and swimsuits for today’s man.  With such names as:  Whittall & Shon, Mansilk, HOM, Calvin Klein, JM Waves swimwear, C-IN2, Punto Blanco, 2(x)Ist, Sauvage, as well as Ginch Gonch, you can find anything you want at a reasonable price.  They always have things on sale, and with Spring and Summer just around the corner, you will need something new and exciting for the pool or beach. 

Zen Living 

Within the heart of Oakland Park there is no store with the charm, style, and personal assistance like Zen Living.  You can find it at the corner or Oakland Park Blvd. and US1 on the South East Corner.  You can usually find a stone Buddha out front on the street attracting drivers, but once you go inside you will find a treasure trove of Asian delights.  You might find a Chinese Medicine Cabinet, terracotta sitting Buddhas, as well as bamboo items.  Along with a complete bedroom set on display they also have a Antique Chinese Bedroom Chapel that is amazing to look at and belongs in a museum.  Zen Living is located at 3042 North Federal Highway and can be reached at 954-561-4622.  

Must Have Home Item 

Why not make a better choice better than plastic?  Currently, at Fort Lauderdale’s very own Project Earth Designs in Gateway Plaza, they have potting planters made from rice husks and with natural starches and pigments.  Well, at Ecosource Home and Garden they have a wide variety of planters that are not only Green but are also durable and able to stay outside for five years, and still decomposes easily within landfills.  Why can’t you have high style and still save the planet? 

The Arts Expressions Gallery is Looking For Artists 

The locally owned and operated Arts Expressions Gallery is currently on the lookout for some fresh blood and wants to know Who is up for a challenge? 

They are looking for Mixed Media Artists and do you think your work stands apart from other Mixed Media artists?  Well, they want to talk to you about an upcoming show!  Contact Ric or Francisco at 954-537-9000 to set up an appointment. 

You must come prepared with a biography, Artist Statement, Portfolio, a description of your work, images of your work you can leave with the gallery, and 2 of your pieces that they can judge in person.    

Four River’s Revive Wants Artists 

WilMa Art Walk

Wilton Manors monthly Art Walk, officially known as "The Island City Art Walk," takes place on Friday, March 21^st along Wilton Drive. The vast majority of shops now open for the event. This months (and every month's) walk encompasses the blocks beginning (or ending depending on which end you start) on the South near Sidelines Sports Bar, Naked Grape Wine Bar and One Tea Lounge and continues up to just short of Five Points where Rosie's Bar and Grill is located. As always, we look forward to seeing you on the drive.

Upper Eastside Green Market, Every Saturday 

Little known fact that needs to be brought to light—every Saturday there is a Green Market that takes place at Legion Park in Miami.  This Green Market features homemade products such as honey, baked breads, potpourri, tropical jams, produce, and soaps just to name a few.  The market will continue until March 15^th and starts every Saturday at 9am and goes until 3pm.  Legion Park is located at Biscayne Blvd at 66^th St and if you are an interested Vendor, call 305-775-2166. 

It IS Time for a Love Revolution 

Released just this month is Lenny Kravitz’s latest album It’s Time for a Love Revolution.  Fans will adore this new album and for those part-time admires you will want to get this album.  This album features the singles I’ll Be Waiting and Bring It On and the entire album brings you back to the Love Ins of the 60’s with a Lenny Kravitz soul added to it.  Love Revolution is a powerful 60’s-esque Love Power anthem with heavy bass and drums that will make you want to clap and dance while Bring it On belongs in a Starky & Hutch-mobile and is completely funky and will make you smirk.  Lastly, Good Morning is a perfect Night After Love Song and I can’t wait to see the video on this or any of these songs.  I can only hope that I am not disappointed.  Both true fans and even remote fans will love it and have to get it.   

KD Will Make You Open a Bottle of Wine 

Also, be sure to check out KD Lang’s latest album, Watershed which is an amazing album that will make you want to sit back on a Sunday afternoon and open a bottle of red wine or take that long awaited Road Trip in the convertible along the coast.  For more information about her go to her website www.kdlang.com. 

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B-52s Funplex

Code of Conduct

Here’s a book that I, personally, find interesting.  Being a former gay Sailor, I can understand what it is like being in the military and homosexual.  Well, at thirty-three, Don Hawkins had spent the better part of his life, in every sense, as a U.S. Marine. Enlisting to escape an alcoholic father and stepmother, he became the unofficial leader of a group of gay servicemen and women, all compelled to guard their sexual identity as faithfully as they serve their country. But with newly inaugurated President Clinton's promise to lift the ban on gays in the military, Don was optimistic that a brighter era is dawning-and not just politically. Ten years now since his lover died in Beirut, Don is finally ready to love again, and falls headlong for Patrick, a handsome young helicopter pilot. Drawing on his own experiences as a Marine, Rich Merritt has crafted an extraordinary story of love, loss, duty, betrayal, and hope. Most of all, Code of Conduct is a deeply compelling exploration of the power of loyalty-to friends, lovers, country, and the unwavering dictates of our own hearts.  

Books & Books Has The Dancer & The Theif, Monday, March 10, Gables 

With prisons overflowing in Chile, the president declares a general amnesty for all nonviolent criminals. Santiago, a youth determined to avenge abuse he received in jail, seeks out the notorious bank robber Nicolás Vergara Grey, whose front-page exploits won him a reputation he would rather leave behind. Their plan for an ambitious and daring robbery is complicated by the galvanizing presence of Victoria Ponce, a virtuosic dancer and high-school dropout whose father was a victim of the regime. Author Antonio Skármeta sets this exuberant love story, against the backdrop of the new Chile, free from the Pinochet dictatorship but beholden to the perils of globalization. The Dancer and the Thief  has won Spain's prestigious Planeta Prize, is a remarkable new novel from one of South America's finest storytellers. This is presented in collaboration with Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College at the Books & Books location at 265 Aragon Avenue in Coral Gables and can be reached at 305-442-4408 or www.booksandbooks.com. 

Aperture Eight:  Eight Photographers - Eight Views
Saturday, through March 28th

This March, the walls of Art Expressions Gallery will be covered with an eclectic show of photographs that are as diverse as our core group of artists. Ranging from traditional prints to digital photographs, this exhibition demonstrates the diversity of approaches in a medium still trying to be understood, still ripe with conflict and purpose. Eight local photographers will be filling the gallery with their personal sightings, offering up eight views through eight lenses. The artists included in this exhibit are: Greg Lindeblom, Eileen J. Mulvey, Paul Harris, Candy Childrey, Le Fletcher, Tiffany Russotto, Luisiana Kafure and Doug Houston. 

The exhibition will be on display all month long until the 28^th and the Arts Expressions Gallery is located at 1438 NE 26^th Street in Wilton Manors and can be reached at 954-537-9000. 

Jeffrey Batchelor at New River

Just recently was the unveiling of local artist Jeffrey Batchelor’s collection of portraits titled Four Seasons, which also has one Abstract, and one Still Life.  This collection is amazing, and sadly, the only pieces left are authorized prints which will remain in the gallery for a few more weeks.  The originals have found a home at The Grand Bohemian Hotel in St. Petersburg, FL which is scheduled to open in 2009 and will blend perfectly with the Asian design and modern architectural aesthetic.  For more information about these pieces or more like that contact them at www.newriverfineart.com which is located at 914 East Las Olas Blvd in Fort Lauderdale.  

Carlos Cesar Alves' At Stonewall 

Opening this week was the Stonewall’s Artist of the Month, Carlo Cesar Alves.  Carlos is a Mixed Media Brazilian artist who was born in Monte Castelo and began earning a living at the age of 11 by weaving colorful tapestries and rugs.  After moving to the United States in 1999 Alves began painting and what began as a hobby quickly evolved into a profession. 

The Stonewall Library and Archives is located at 1717 N Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.  For more information about this artist go to his website www.artccalves.com.   

Art Rouge Gallery has Carson Chase

The Art Rouge Gallery in the Wynwood Art District of Miami is proud to host part performance artist/part painter Carson Chase as she will produce “Je suis l'espirit danseuse” (I am the spirit of dance).  This Opening Reception will also feature an art exhibition with sculptures & paintings on glass and metal by the acclaimed international artist.  

During the opening reception at 7:00 Carson will present an interpretative dance performance on her new artworks. The gallery will create a stage in their parking lot so they are asking our guests to park in the parking meters surrounding the gallery or in Midtown Mall which is located only one block away from our space. The Art Rouge Gallery is located at 46 NW 36^th St in Loft 3 in Miami’s Wynwood Art District.  For more information go to www.artrouge.com or call them at 305-48-2060. 

Confessions of a Mormon Boy, Through March 22^nd  

The Fort Lauderdale based Rising Action Theatre is proud to announce their latest production, Confessions of a Mormon Boy.  This critically acclaimed off-Broadway one man play opened February 28th and will run through March 22nd.  Written by Steven Fale, this work is a compelling yet humorous and inspiring true story abut a gay man who went from being a model Mormon boy in Utah to a high priced Call Boy in New York City.  His captivating tale takes audiences through his excommunication from the Mormon Church, Reparative Therapy, divorce, male prostitution, and drug abuse as he struggled to reclaim himself, his children, and his “Donny Osmond” smile.   

Sol Theatre has Art, Thursdays & Saturdays 8pm 

The Sol Theatre, known for it’s quaint, in your face acting with little room between the actors and the audience has gotten a long overdue makeover.  With one play I literally sat next to the co-star of the play and was startled when he started talking back to the star!  Well, Sol has put on some very interesting, provocative, and scandalous productions in their recent history with such things as Two Naked Men on a Cold Winters Night that was the talk of the town for the complete nakedness of both the bodies of the actors as well as their souls.   

They have another production that needs to be seen and discussed, Art.  Simple enough, but picture three friends, all of whom have different reasons for being friends with each other, all almost coming apart at the seams over one’s purchase of a painting.  Well, the sad part is that it is a $45,000 piece of white on white—crap.  What gives this piece merit, honor, and notoriety is the fact that it was done by someone famous and, well, that’s about it.  The three friends all discuss the reasons why and why not to have the painting, why they are friends in the first place, and where are they going in the future based on their past behaviors.  This is a relatively simple and uncomplicated play at first but as you start thinking about your friends, and what would you do it makes you wonder what you would do.  The owner and previous Director of the Sol Theatre Robert Hooker plays a former Bad Boy with a forked tongue and was idolized by Serge, (Jim Gibbons) for his brashness but now has found himself in a different life path and hobnobbing with Doctors and Dentists and discussing the ramifications of art in the world.  Then there’s Ivan, crazy, eccentric and simple Ivan who is now on the verge of a Nervous Breakdown due to his impending nuptials and the fact that he has switched careers to please his fiancée and work in her family business.  The one thing that is amazing about this play is the fact that the way that they distinguish each other’s apartments is by switching one piece of art on their mantles.  This is a 75 minute non-stop production and will leave your head spinning about your friends.   

The Sol Theatre is located at 1140 N. Flagler Drive (down the street from the original Bill’s location) and can be reached at sol_theatre@comcast.net or by phone at 954-801-9207.  Be on the lookout for their next production Beirut which will be playing on Wednesdays and Fridays! 

The Arsht Center for the Performing Arts presents, 1,000 Homosexuals, April 10^th through 13^th   

The newly renamed Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (formerly Carnival Center) is proud to announce a very significant performance that will take place starting Thursday, April 10^th.  The play, called 1,000 Homosexuals tells the story of Anita Byrant’s 1977 crusade against gay civil rights.  Written by Michael Yawney, this play is a documentary/fantasy/comedy presenting Anita just the way she would want:  as a musical Joan of Arc battling a powerful and perverse Gay Mafia.  The play also bends documentary sources such as government records, newspaper stories, and underground gay manifestos into a hilariously twisted carnival of the 70’s-style sex and faith.  For more information and advance ticket sales, go to www.carnivalcenter.org.