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SATURDAY: Lunar Activity
Full Moon Party Gets Groovy
Good vibes infused with metaphysical energy reign supreme at this month’s gathering of conscious souls celebrating the inaugural full moon of 2013. A hybrid of a traveling hippie commune and one bad ass dance party, the wildly popular Downtown Full Moon celebration takes place at the Moksha Family Artist Collective. There will be an open mic session, the opportunity to show off mad dance skills and reflect on words of wisdom spewed by those enlightened in attendance. Naturally, drums are welcomed.
The Downtown Full Moon Party is happening at the Moksha Family Artist Collective (228 NE 59th St., Lemon City) on Saturday the 26th. Check out the details by visiting the official Facebook page.

The chat was fast and furiously fun. In a stairwell off to side of the summertime madness going down at the pool at Arkadia, DJ Irie, Lil Jon, and yours truly cracked wise, laughed loud, and caused a small ruckus. It was just us three, lensman Presscott McDonald, and ace handler Felicia Quaning. By the time we were finished, there was a break-off crowd of 50+ clicking away as if their day depended on it.

What is it going to take to get you to try Hennessy Black? How about a renowned DJ performing for a party in Miami Beach while suspended from a helicopter hovering 350 feet above the ocean. Would that do the trick? Because that's what the world's largest cognac producer did last weekend at the Fontainebleau to celebrate its latest spirit, and frankly, I don't know how they could top it. Your move, Courvoisier.

Steamy, sexy, and red-hot: three words that describe Camille Austin, the city where she works, and her signature cocktails. Austin trained under a master mixologist for her gig at haute Chinese boîte Hakkasan at the Fontainebleau in Miami, where the Mexico native lives, works, and pours. The Betty Page look-alike has a flair for all things retro, and she likes her cocktails with a kick—like her White Pom and muddled apple-infused Red-Hot Passion—as much as she likes Luis Miguel.

Incongruity becomes me. I drive a ’76 Buick Regal and use a 4G phone. I wear suits and ties where shorts and sandals are pretty much de rigueur. I dig listening to The Archies while reading Nietzsche, and reading Mickey Spillane while listening to Wagner. When most of the land lies down to bed for the night, I rise. When everyone’s hell bent on heaven, I’m among the heaven-sent who descend. So it stands to damn good reason that I’d dig Miami Horror, the nightmarishly-named Aussie outfit who make music so beautiful it hurts. I can’t recall exactly when or where I first came across the name, nor what went through my mind in the nanosecond it took for me to click back and see if I could believe my eyes. Some kinda tragic headline, I surmised. Most certainly, I didn’t think music, let alone a sound so robust it makes the disco it emulates almost pale in comparison. And when I did find out Miami Horror was a man (now a band), I figured he’d cribbed his moniker from a tabloid a la New York’s legendary 3 Teens Kill 4. You know, the kinda front page story that grabs folks by the throat.

Semu Namakajo, a.k.a. DJ Reach, is Manhattan’s very own household name when it comes to the world of nightclubs. Bringing his gift for musical mish-mashing to haunts across NYC, Vegas, the Hamptons, and Miami, Reach is best known for being one of the nicest dudes in the biz -- just ask any club owner in town. In a city where the sincere have dwindled down to a mere few, this New York native brings nothing but the realness in his music as well as his life. That’s because the music undoubtedly is his life.

The crapped-out economy has hit Las Vegas hard. With the city’s industry crashing like casinos were Chryslers, everyone from CEOs to chambermaids is muttering that “It’s never been this bad.” And, well, it hasn’t. Gambling revenues tumbled, with the take on the Strip’s tables dropping 15% in January (compared to January 2008). Moody’s Investors Service has repeatedly downgraded virtually every casino company -- MGM Mirage twice in a week! -- citing "aggressive and substantial debt-financed development activity and earnings pressure from slowing consumer spending trends that began in fiscal 2008." In short: Casinos went into massive hock to expand extravagantly. Then everyone got The Fear, and blowing five grand on blackjack and bottle service became less appealing. Well, not less appealing, but more difficult to get away with on a regular basis.

The 25th anniversary of Gotham Bar & Grill finds Alfred Portale, the executive chef and co-owner, celebrating his restaurant's continued success but also reflecting wistfully on his own beginnings. He sounds off on the evolutions of both his career and the industry, oversized pork sandwiches, and Top Chef.