Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County and Miami Light Project are pleased to announce the award-winning composer and recent guest performer on the Fox TV hit show "American Idol," DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN (DBR) WITH SPECIAL GUEST EMELINE MICHEL in concert at the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall on May 1 at 8:00 p.m.

Haitian-American composer and musician DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN (DBR) and his genre-jumping, multicultural, high-energy ensemble, DBR & THE MISSION, will present an electrifying performance described as "an evening of chamber music with the accessible feel of a rock concert" (Albany Times-Union). The group will perform from a diverse selection of DBR's most recent works including Sonata for Violin and Turntables, One Loss Plus, and Darwin's Meditation for the People of Lincoln.  The concert will also feature the queen of Haitian pop, EMELINE MICHEL, as a special guest.

Storytellers from around the world will take center stage in downtown Miami on Saturday May 2, from 10:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., when the Miami-Dade Public Library System celebrates the ninth annual Art of Storytelling (AOS) International Festival, a joint partnership with the Toronto Public Library, Toronto, Canada.

This free family event at the Main Library, 101 W Flagler Street, will highlight the joys of reading and expose children, teens and their families to the many ways in which storytelling is used in different countries to enhance literacy.

A magical adventure awaits as celebrity storytellers from Canada, Brazil, the Caribbean, Japan and the U.S. join the Bit’s ‘N Pieces Puppet Theatre, Mother Goose, Red Riding Hood, Anne of Green Gables and many others to entertain and enthrall.

Unique to this year’s event will be a “Teen Zone” featuring anime, manga and video gaming competitions, plus activities around popular books such as Twilight and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  

Throughout the day there will be magic shows, face-painting, arts and crafts, and music and dancing with local and international entertainers including Blah-Zay- Blah, Steps in Order, the Drumming Circle, the Tallawah Mento Band, the Kehewin Native Dancers and the Bahamian Junkanoo. 

Free parking is available at the Miami-Dade Cultural Center Garage, 50 NW 2^nd Avenue and the Hickman Garage, 270 NW 2^nd Street.

For a full schedule of events log on to www.mdpls.org. or call 305-375-BOOK (2665).

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz today announced groundbreaking energy initiative, Energy Smart Miami, that proposes to use federal economic stimulus funds to help spur a $200 million investment in "Smart Grid" technology and renewable energy over the next two years. He joined Miami Dade College (MDC) president Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón; FPL Group chairman and CEO Lewis Hay III; General Electric chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt; Silver Spring Networks chairman, CEO and president Scott Lang; and Cisco Systems chairman and CEO John T. Chambers to make the announcement at MDC's Wolfson Campus.

MDC, long hailed as a leader in environmental awareness and training, will serve as the training arm of the partnership and also be the recipient of solar power installations and use of "plug-in hybrid electric vehicles."

Finally home and dry; it's time to get my blog on. Today was quite an experience and I'm thrilled to get home in one piece.

My experience on the wet and rainy streets of Miami was much better than the experience of the folks who ventured on the expressway.

I had my plans in place to whittle down my "to do" list but those quickly went by the wayside with today's WaterWorld experience.

Anyhoo, there's loads for me to do so I'd better get a move on. Stay safe and dry, y'all. Peace and Blessings.

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Arrrgh! I am moblogging as I sit in the parking lot of Northside Shopping Center with other drivers waiting for the flooding to subside.

Who knew there was such horrible weather? I'd been inside since this morning. I even had my lunch delivered.

I made it through one deep stretch of road but right here is so bad that trucks are turning around. I'm going to try to make it around the rear of Northside and then home.

Pray for me. I'm missing my Explorer right now.

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Easter Joy

Jesus came to earth,
To show us how to live,
How to put others first,
How to love and how to give.

Then He set about His work,
That God sent Him to do;
He took our punishment on Himself;
He made us clean and new.

He could have saved Himself,
Calling angels from above,
But He chose to pay our price for sin;
He paid it out of love.

Our Lord died on Good Friday,
But the cross did not destroy
His resurrection on Easter morn
That fills our hearts with joy.

Now we know our earthly death,
Like His, is just a rest.
We'll be forever with Him
In heaven, where life is best.

So we live our lives for Jesus,
Think of Him in all we do.
Thank you Savior; Thank you Lord.
Help us love like you!

By Joanna Fuchs

As expected, the Steve Harvey book signing event on Friday at Barnes & Noble in Aventura was packed. People from all ages were present with at least one copy of Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man in hand and there was definitely excitement in the air.

Be the first to get your tickets to the 2009 RRA Presents The Summer Groove Hosted by Zo and D. Wade (ZSG), the summer's hottest event! Fans will have the opportunity to experience the fun and excitement of ZSG in a variety of ways. To start, tickets for Carnival Cruise Lines ZSG All-Star Basketball Game are on sale now.

Jacki Tuckfield, a champion of diversity, was an Assistant Project Manager for the Codina Development Corporation when she passed away suddenly in 1997 at age 25. Her parents, Drs. Jack and Gloria Tuckfield, established this graduate business tuition scholarship Fund as a strategy to carry forward their daughter's vision of improved diversity of career professionals in the executive, administrative, and managerial levels of the South Florida workforce.

This Fund provides financial aid to African-American South Florida residents who are enrolled in master's and doctoral degree business programs at a Florida university during the Fall, Winter, Spring or Summer term of the 2009-2010 academic year. The applicant must plan to pursue his/her professional career in South Florida.