What's HOT South Florida (10/17 - 10/23)

Well, last week was all about Miami and this week it's all about Fort Lauderdale.

Last Monday, the week-long celebration of Village Pub's first anniversary began with a turnabout called "Circus." Tuesday was the monthly Mack Mixer which took place at Chima Brazilian Steak house (yum). This month Mack was also celebrating Danny's birthday. As usual it was a great turnout, but I think a lot of people came out to give Danny his birthday spanks...LOL!

On Wednesday I started the night at Village Pub for the cutting of the anniversary cake and then went to see Chicago at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, which plays until October 20th, so if you haven't seen it yet, there is still time to get tickets! On Thursday, the Law Offices of George Castrataro presented a pre-Gala "Gayla" to support United Way of Broward County at Dapur. I was only there for a bit, as I had to rush to the opening of the 5th annual Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which featured the film GBF (super funny) and a fabulous after party.

Friday night, I headed to Miami (yay, finally a Miami event this week) to see "Mamma Mia" at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. It had been many years since I saw "Mamma Mia" and I had forgotten what a fabulous, uplifting show this is. Go, ABBA!

The whole weekend featured events all over town for Leather Pride. Sunday night was the closing party for the FLGLFF which took place at Alexis Solmar apartments. I personally had never heard of this building, but damn, was it nice; it was the perfect place to hold the closing party. Congrats to Marky G, Emmy, Alexis and the entire staff of the film festival for doing such a GREAT JOB!

Later that night was the much anticipated annual Mr. Ramrod contest. There were three contestants who competed for the packed house of onlookers, and in the end congrats go to the new Mr. Ramrod, Kirk Ruben, as well as to first runner-up Apollo Nixon and second runner-up Alan Aghazadain.

Thursday, October 17

Join a fun group of guys for a monthly freestyle male Life Drawing Event, from 6 pm - 9 pm. All levels welcome - explore your creativity - bring your art supplies. Drawing/painting/charcoal / pencil/ and watercolor. Sessions will be held in a private studio at Leather Werks in Ft. Lauderdale, with guest artists from the community attending. Admission is $25 with advance reservation, and $35 for walk-ins (subject to available space). Internationally published artist Chris Lopez is scheduled to be our guest artist for November.

To secure a reservation please send your name and phone number to [email protected]. You will receive a confirmation email to present at the studio. Please put the word EVENT in the subject line to weed out spam.

Friday, October 18

Latino Salud (2330 Wilton Drive) presents a Hispanic Heritage Food Bazaar at 7pm. For more information go to LatinoSalud.org or call them at 954-765-6239.

Starting today Centaur presents "Naked As We Came" at the Gateway Theatre (1820 East Sunrise Blvd).

Starting tonight and going all weekend long Bill's will be celebrating their 18th anniversary. For more information see the feature in this magazine

Ramrod presents their monthly Mandance starring DJ Herbie James.

Saturday, October 19

Miami Beach Gay Pride presents a VIP Cocktail Reception with a Silent Art Auction from 8 pm to 11 pm on the Rooftop of the Gale South Beach and Regent Hotel. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the 6th annual Miami Beach Gay Pride, which is set to take place on Sunday, April 14th. Miami Beach Gay Pride is paid for by solely by donations from the community and sponsorship. Hosts: Lea Black of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Miami," Craig Stevens WSVN anchor, David Bernard CBS4 chief meteorologist, Richard Jay-Alexander Broadway Director/Producer, Mayor Matti Herrera Bower, Commissioner Michael Gongora, Enrique Santos from Univision Radio, Nestor Paz from SBS Radio and Mega TV, Rodiney Santiago from Logo TV's "A-List: New York," David Pulley from Style Network's "Hot Listings Miami."

Contributing Artists: W. Andre Allen, Pal Stock, Susan Feliciano, Laz Lmnoq, Beatricia Sagar, Havi, Frank Ciliberti. Cocktails will be compliments of Herradura, Pavon and Ripe Bar Juice. Tickets available at BrownPaperTicket.com, are $100.

Discotekka Miami and Milancita.com present "Circus": The event features body contortionists, aerialists, world class entertainers, international DJ's, exotic animals and the diva Poizon Ivy as the Ring Leader. The night will feature 4 room, and 4 DJ's (Ghost, Sushi, Tony and Carlos G).

The Royal Palms Resort and Spa presents a celebration of body art, Ink starting at 2 pm. The whsf inkevent will feature guest DJ Auldin Brown, a runway contest with $500 in prizes and special guests Stevie Moon and Altered State Tattoo. This event is 21 and over with no cover.

The Sugar Chest Antique Mall is featuring a free antique appraisal fair from 11am to 6 pm. Bring any antique or vintage item for a free appraisal. The first item is free and each additional item is only $5. They are proud to feature their expert appraisers with over 25 years of experience.

Epic Saturdays at The Manor features a Lolos Underwear Fashion Show with a performance by Erika Norell and music by Oren Nizri. In the Latin room and patio, Noche Latina Saturdays presents a tribute to Paulina Rubio hosted by Viva Mirage and featuring special guest Dayani La Fontaine along with DJ Larry Larr and Latin papi dancers. 10:30pm to 4 am with no cover.

Sunday, October 20

The Village Pub presents the Fort Lauderdale SFAAA Florida softball after party at 1pm with a complimentary buffet at 2 pm.

Monday, October 21

The Village Pub presents The SmartRide VIP Dragicide hosted by TP Lords. Four teams will be competing, but everyone is a winner. The 4 teams will be: Chris Caputo's Pride Pack, Brian Leonards Alibikers, Michael Norfleet's Team Sunserve and Tim Hayman's Village Pub VIPS. They will feature 50/50 raffles with fabulous prizes and a hilarious show to benefit the winning team. Raffles start at 9pm, with show at 10pm.

Wednesday, October 23

Join the Miami Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as it hosts its Big Networking Luncheon of 2013 from 11:30 am - 1:30pm at the Hyatt Regency Miami (400 SE 2nd Avenue, Miami). Admission is $50 (members) and $65 (non-members). Presenting speaker will be Bill Johnson (Port Miami Director), with guest speakers Carlos Migoya (President Jackson Health System) and George Foyo (Co-Chair One Community/One Goal Committee: The Beacon Council). There is also an opportunity to participate in the Business Expo (10:30 am - 2:00 pm) before and after the lunch (only 20 tables available @ $45 each). Luncheon includes seated style lunch and free raffle and is limited to 200 persons. RSVP required to [email protected], or by calling 305-673-4440 or by visiting: GayBizMiami.com.

Hot Stuff

Congrats to my friend, Edison Farrow, who recently bought a bar with Ed Decaso and will be opening "The Cabaret" a piano bar & live music venue in the heart of South Beach. All of their staff will be a cast of entertainers that will perform for you during their shift. They will have piano players 7 days a week during Happy Hour and 7 nights a week. They are excited to announce that they have hired Carlos Rojas to be their General Manager and are planning for a November opening.

Play for a good cause in October as Boomers Dania Beach joins the local community in the fight against breast cancer. For the month of October, they donate a portion of the proceeds from each Champ Pass sold to help fund breast cancer research. Each Champ Pass is good for unlimited attractions, such as go-karts and miniature golf, and $5 in video game play. A donation is automatically made each time a Champ Pass is purchased. You can purchase your Champ Pass by going to their location or by visiting their website at BoomersParks.com.

Congrats to the Wilton Manors Commission for its unanimous vote on establishing an Equal Benefits Ordinance (EBO). The EBO requires businesses that contract with the city to provide employees' domestic partners with benefits equal to those offered to spouses of married employees. If a company does not currently provide benefits to the spouses of their employees then they are not required to provide benefits to the domestic partners of their employees. Recently, both Broward County and Hallandale Beach passed similar policies.

This is HOT

Season 2 DVD of the award-winning, gay comedy mystery web series, "Where the Bears Are," goes on sale Nov. 1st, at WhereTheBearsAre.tv. "Where the Bears Are" is a comedy mystery web series that recently won AfterElton.com's "Best Gay Web Series Of 2012" and has accumulated over 6 million views after only one year online. The Season 2 DVD is chock full of amazing extras including...The 2 Hour and 20 minute uncensored feature length version of the show in uninterrupted movie form with rear nudity, a very special 20 minute Thanksgiving special, a special 20 minute Travelogue of the bears on a European cruise, bloopers, outtakes, deleted scenes, behind the scenes and much more. The cost is $25 with all proceeds going to finance future seasons of the series