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Joe's Stone Crab 1

Joe's Stone Crab, plate of food Stone Crab Jumbo. Photo: Roberto Koltun.

Velvet underground: Oct 10-16

By Lesley Abravanel

The success of David Hasselhoff in Germany, Lindsay Lohan,and why some hot spots think they can open anywhere and do well -- some things in life are inexplicable. Take for example the now-defunct Nikki Beach in Coconut Grove, where there was no beach, no vibe and a view of a parking lot. Luckily, the original Nikki Beach on South Beach still continues to thrive, and we'll remember why when Rock the Fashion '08 takes over there Friday night featuring a cocktail of live music, fashion, booze and hors d'oeuvres beginning at 9 p.m. and continuing into the wee hours. The event benefits St. Thomas University's School of Law. For ticket information, go to www.rockthefashion.com.

Not too far from Nikki is Joe's Stone Crab, which is the site for a major benefit Sunday called Claws for a Cause. The champagne, wine and crab brunch benefits the Children's Home Society, which offers services to kids at risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment. Open bar kicks off at noon, with brunch at 1 p.m. Individual tickets are $275 per person and include all of Joe's specialties, wine and bubbly and bloody Marys with Zyr Russian vodka. Sounds like a headache waiting to happen, but at least the hangover will be for a good cause. For tickets, call 305-755-6520.

Same goes for yet another installment of the Amnesia Tea Dance from 4-10 p.m. Sunday at Opium Garden, this time featuring Instinct Magazine's 10 City World Tour with DJ Joe Gauthreaux as well as an underwear fashion show and the debut of a new Latin Room. Advance tix are $15, VIP tix with 360 Eco Luxury Vodka-sponsored open bar and hors d'oeuvres are $60 with a portion of proceeds benefiting the GLBT National Help Center. Tickets are available at Halo or at www.brownpapertickets.com.

For those who simply can't wait for Art Basel Miami Beach and its throngs of jet-setting fabulati -- or for those who can't stand Art Basel Miami Beach for that reason, among others -- consider A-B(O)MB, a juried show of national and international artists presented by Artoconecto, opening from 7 p.m. to midnight Saturday, at the Bakehouse Art Complex, 561 NW 32nd St., Miami. Special preview performances by Mad Cat Theater of their upcoming production Mixtape will take place at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. and a Chinese market with food stalls and arches. I'll have a side of dumplings with that Damien Hirst, please. Oh, and it's free to the public. The show, not the art.

From art to Arsht -- as in the Adrienne Arsht Center and its big, fancy gala Coming Up Roses on Saturday, a hot list of hipsters will host the gala's after party featuring DJs Paul Sevigny, Ruckus and Induce at 10:30 p.m. in the Carnival Studio Theater. Tickets, $100 for members of the Green Room Society and $150 for nonmembers, include cocktails and canapes and can be purchased at the box office or by calling 786-468-2035 or by e-mail, gala@arshtcenter.org.

And now that Miami has a world class performing arts center, the only thing missing is a fabulous '80s night somewhere, but Badrutt's Place is filling that void with a new Tuesday night party featuring the best of the era of the skinny tie and shoulder pad, half-price drinks from 4 to 7 p.m. and free cosmos for women until 10 p.m. Awesome!

Also totally rad are the hot dogs at La Perrada de Edgar in Miami Beach, the Nathan's of Colombia, where you can grab a dog or 10 until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. These aren't your stadium dogs, either. Check out the Spain (with quail eggs, bacon, pineapple and chips) or the Swizz (with corn, bacon and barbecue sauce). Sounds odd, we know, but at 2 a.m. , trust us, just like Hasselhoff's inexplicable popularity and longevity, it's simply, well, sublime.

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