Dig Art? Then You'll Doubly Dig Art Miami & CONTEXT

Indeed, as Art Miami kingpin Nick Korniloff so helpfully spells out in this NBC6 quickie, mainland Miami's preeminent Art Fair will not only be nearly doubling in size this year, it'll be adding CONTEXT, which, among other spectacles, shall house the wonders of none other than Banksy.

I don't ask my friends, for much -- not my Facebook Friends anyway. (My friend friends is a whole 'nother story.) Only that you check out the latest plug, which, much of the time is about a Friend or a friend of a Friend anyway. Now however I'm asking that you please Like both Art Miami and CONTEXT. Not just for me, but for you, the art and the artists that are so integral to Art Week.

Thanks much and See You at The Fairs!

RIP: Russell The Rock Star Kitty Cat

This cat in the hat is sad to report that Russell The Rock Star Kitty Cat shuffled off to that Arena in the Sky this afternoon, after 18 years on this planet. Russell joined Kimberly Green's flash menagerie back in 1995 after being rescued from a parking lot in a Sante Fe branch of Ross Dress For Less, and he consequently became a colorful and constant fixture at Disgraceland. With his recklessly disheveled appearance and feverish fondness for all flavors of Party Mix, Russell was unquestionably the feline equivalent of Keith Richards.

Kimberly ups the ante further, saying, "If Keith Richards and Captain Jack Sparrow gave birth to a cat it would've been Russell. He lived in more states than most people have ever been, but he was the king of Disgraceland. I named him after Russell Means, the Native American activist who founded A.I.M. He was a rebel lover, he was scrappy, dirty, crazy and he loved me."

And everyone loved Russell too. So in his honor we're dedicating Cisco Houston's resurrection epic "The Cat Came Back". We just bet Rock Star Russell's kickin' back with a bowl of Party Mix digging the scene even as Cisco sings.

Bring Me the Bullies Who Bullied Amanda Todd

I've got some serious comeuppance to deliver on behalf of the late Amanda Todd. First and foremost I wanna go face-to-face with the pitiful punk who initially hounded her; then stalked her from school-to-school, city-to-city, for no good reason at all. Once that's well done I wanna go down the line one-by-one with the cruel fools who followed in the pitiful punk's footsteps, and subject each to their own personal campaigns of harassment and intimidation. I not only want them to be ashamed to live; I want them to be ashamed they took the life of someone who they didn't even deserve to know.

Of course even if I did get my mitts on the culprits, it's highly unlikely they'd change. And as much as each needs a beatdown, it too late to change anything for Amanda Todd. But though dear Amanda has sadly made her final move, the clip she left behind will ensure her mark will be felt for some time. It also proves Amanda had more courage than all of her bullies combined.

Remarkably the taunts haven't stopped since Amanda took her own life, and, as The Toronto Star's Micah Luxen is reporting, the bullies are now taking to Facebook memorial pages. Yet, as The Vancouver Sun's Gillian Shaw shows though, that hasn't stopped Carol Todd from sharing her daughter Amanda's tragic story -- or her own.

"Amanda wanted to tell her story to help other kids. I want to tell my story to help parents, so they can be aware, so they can teach their kids what is right and wrong and how to be safe online."

Take that you cowards.

Consequence of Concerts

How Many of CoS's Top 100 Have You Seen?

To celebrate their 5th Anniversary, the highly influential, consistently compelling, ever engaging (and heavily trafficked) Consequence of Sound has come up with their list of the Top 100 Songs Ever.

Now it's a cinch everyone's heard recorded versions of each and every one of the songs (or else!), and it's a blast to scroll through and read why they're considered so, er, consequential. What compounds the fun is seeing how many of the songs one has heard sung live, by the original artists.

Me? Well, from bottom to top I can proudly boast to having been present at the performances of 48 of the 93 who comprise the Top 100. Okay, so three of those I only kinda caught. But though there's certainly a difference between catching The Birthday Party rather than Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Big Boi instead of Outkast, and The Jackson 5 as a group and not Michael Jackson on his own; it's a mitigated difference. Especially since it's offset by offshoots of The Clash (Mescaderos, B.A.D.), The Stooges (Iggy), Black Flag (Henry Rollins, Rollins Band), Black Sabbath (Ozzy), Beastie Boys (The Young and the Useless), Talking Heads (David Byrne) and David Bowie (Tin Machine), as well as multiples of Sonic Youth, Leonard Cohen, Metallica, The Cure, Jay-Z, Depeche Mode, Blondie, Prince and Public Enemy.

And I'm not stopping either. When Parliament (#91 "One Nation Under a Groove") hits Revolution on 10/25 and Pulp sets sail on the SS Coachella on December 16, I'll be on hand to catch their magic too. After all, a top song deserves to be heard in person.

Below lies my long list of catches. How many can you count off?

Sonic Youth (#99 "Teen Age Riot") at CBGB's, Columbia University, Ukrainian National Home (the last two on a bill with Swans, with whom I was then playing)

Kraftwerk (#98 "Autobahn") at The Ritz

A Tribe Called Quest (#97 "Scenario") at SOB's or Trammps (I forget which)

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (#96 "From Her To Eternity). No, but I did catch The Birthday Party at Chase Park and Immaculate Consumptive Tour (with Lydia Lunch, Marc Almond and Jim Thirwell) at Danceteria -- twice!

Underworld (#94 "Born Slippy") at Ultra

Devo (#93 "Uncontrollable Urge") at Emerald City

Kanye West (#89 "Jesus Walks") American Airlines Arena

Buzzcocks (#88 "Ever Fallen in Love" at The Ritz (my first NY concert!)

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (#83 "The Message") at The Roxy

Depeche Mode (#82 "Enjoy the Silence") at Radio City and Miami Arena

Yo La Tengo (#80 "Autumn Sweater") at CBGB's or Maxwell's (I forgot which)

Run-D.M.C. (#78 "Rock Box") at Paradise Garage

Blondie (#75 "Heart of Glass") at Sunrise Amphitheater, Emerald City and either The Vic or the Riviera Theater (Chi)

The Smiths (#74 "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side") at Danceteria (their first U.S. show)

The Ramones (#73 "Blitzkrieg Bop") at Emerald City, CBGB's and The Ritz

James Brown (#72 "I Got You (I Feel Good)") at The Puck Building

The Cure (#69 "Just Like Heaven") at The Ritz, Miami Arena and Ultra

Leonard Cohen (#68b "Suzanne") at The Ritz and Bank Atlantic Center

OutKast (#64 "B.o.B") No, but I did catch and chat with Big Boi

U2 (#63 "Where The Streets Have No Name") at ProPlayer

Johnny Cash (#62 "Hurt") at The Ritz

Black Flag (#58 "Rise Above") at Gildersleeves (plus Henry Rollins at Revolution and Rollins Band at Bayfront Park)

Thin Lizzy (#57 "The Boys Are Back In Town") at Miami Jai-alai Fronton

Pink Floyd (#54 "Comfortably Numb") at Miami Baseball Stadium

Jay-Z (#52 "99 Problems") at Bayfront Park and The Fillmore

The Who (#51 "Baba O’Riley", #27 "My Generation") at Miami Baseball Stadium

Metallica (#49 "One") at Bicentennial Park and The Orange Bowl

The Beach Boys (#47 "Good Vibrations" and #1 "God Only Knows") at The Palladium

Madonna (#46 "Like a Virgin") at Danceteria

LCD Soundsystem (#44 "All My Friends") at The Fillmore

David Bowie (#43 "Space Oddity") at Madison Square Garden (plus Tin Machine at The Cat Club

Michael Jackson (#42 "Billie Jean" and #4 "Man in the Mirror") No, but I did catch The Jackson 5 (#15 "I Want You Back") at Miami Beach Convention Center (my first concert ever)

The Stooges (#40 "Search and Destroy") at Art Basel (plus Iggy at The Roxy)

Talking Heads (#39 "This Must Be The Place" and #2 "Once In a Lifetime") at The Beacon and/or The Ritz (plus David Byrne at The Fillmore)

The Replacements (#37 "I Will Dare") at CBGB's

Daft Punk (#35 "One More Time") at Ultra

The Clash (#33 "London Calling") at Bond's (plus Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros at Chicago's Metro and B.A.D. at Bayfront Park)

Black Sabbath (#32 "War Pigs) at Hollywood Sportatorium (plus Ozzy at Madison Square Garden)

Patti Smith Group (#31 "Rock N Roll Nigger") at Miami Jai-Alai Fronton

Beastie Boys (#26 "Shadrach") at The Ritz (plus The Young and the Useless at CBGB's)

The Rolling Stones (#24 "Gimme Shelter" and #7 "Sympathy for the Devil") at Joe Robbie

Public Enemy (#21 "Fight the Power") at The Ritz and La Fee Verte

Kate Bush (#20 "Running Up that Hill") at The Ritz

Prince (#19 "When Doves Cry") at The Palladium, Roseland and Glam Slam

Bruce Springsteen (#16 "Jungleland") at Miami Jai-Alai Fronton

Nirvana (#11 "Smells Like Teen Spirit") at Bayfront Park

Radiohead (#10 "Idioteque") at American Airlines Arena. (Guardian UK review; BlackBook recap)

Bold-Face Book Deals (& A Chance to Ink Your Own!)

Earlier this week the Mediabistro newsletter reported that Kevin Costner, Jessica Lange and Carlos Santana all recently inked book deals.

Costner’s project, which will be undertaken with writer and art director Jon Baird and illustrated by Rick Ross, is a for a serialized adventure series for Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books imprint, that “begins with The Explorers Guild, Volume One: Passage to Shambhala, [and is slated to debut] in 2014.”

Lange’s deal is for a picture book entitled It Is About a Bird for Sourcebooks’ Jabberwocky imprint that will hit bookstores in fall 2013. “The book itself will contain photographs taken and hand-colored by Lange, inspired by a story she told her grandchildren.”

Santana’s deal is with Hachette’s Little, Brown and Co. imprint and promises a more conventional memoir about his life, or at least as conventional as a memoir can be where the subject is “expected to tell stories of such friends and peers as Miles Davis, Eric Clapton and Herbie Hancock”. Little, Brown is the same house that published Keith Richards’ bestselling Life, so it’s a cinch it’ll be revealing.

Lest you aspiring authors out there think book deals only go to those with famous names, you’ll be happy to hear that Mediabistro's Galley Cat is also reporting Harper Voyager will be accepting unagented manuscripts from October 1-14. Bear in mind this is HarperCollins’ sci-fi and fantasy imprint, so you’re stories will have to adhere accordingly, but it is a rather encouraging open call nonetheless. Good luck!

Get Your Kicks, Baby!

NBC6 ran a quickie preview interview; Wasabi Fashion Kult did likewise, only longer, and for Fordistas. Soul of Miami gave it a thorough plugging, and the Sun-Sentinel saw fit to make of it something meatier than a mere listing. Then there's the Culture Designers drive-by with the evening's featured ace spin man, and another NBC6 quickie, this time with a closely allied maker of sublime magic. Add the mad chatter that can be heard wherever keener folks are found, and it's a cinch this is gonna be one bona fide hot August night. What's all this crazy fuss about? Krisp, that's what. And the Mamani EP release party being thrown at Bardot. Backing the boys with a badass blend of sight and special effects will be VJ AV8 and Kryogenifex. While the booth will bright with the beat of a cat called Baio (yes, he also happens to be bassist for Vampire Weekend). So if you're seeking to get your kicks this Saturday night, you need look no further than Krisp.

In High Praise of Car2Go

Anyone who's been anywhere between the Grove and the Upper East Side the past few weeks has seen the peppering of cars fielded by Car2Go, which made its official Miami launch at Wynwood Walls two weeks back and is rapidly making a whole lotta local folks' days. I got with C2G Communications chick Katie Stafford for NBC6 in advance of the launch; then C2G CTO Helmuth Ritzer for Culture Designers at the event itself. I also documented the fever gripping our town for Transit Miami. But it was when I took out a Car2Go of my own over last weekend where I really got to get with the concept. That is was keen, cool and eminently diggable pretty much goes without saying (Why else would I write about it four times?); that you too will find it likewise is a bet I'm more than willing to make. You can read all about my hotspot hopping over at Beached Miami. (Car2Go: Above at Lagniappe; below at Joey's)