Monday, October 20

Ponce Business Association Monday Lunch
The Ponce Association welcomes Matt Haggman, Miami Herald real estate journalist. He will speak on: "Fraud and Real Estate Values." Real Estate fraud has often included inflated sale values; the results have led to some large scale property overvaluation for tax purposes. The Ponce Business Association meets every Monday (except holidays) for lunch at JohnMartin's Restaurant, 253 Miracle Mile, at noon. Lunch is $20 for members and $22 for guests. Call 305-443-7973. http://www.PonceAssociation.org

Power Yoga Class With Guillermo Gomez
The Biltmore Fitness Center presents a weekly Power Yoga Class each Monday from noon to 1pm with Guillermo Gomez. Call 305-913-3102. http://www.biltmorefitness.com

Shakra Monday Specials
Shakra will come to your office or home to administer Chair Massages for a special rate of $75/hour. Visit their beautiful and serene Yoga Studio for Yoga for Lunch at all levels from 12:15-1pm, Body Sculpting at all levels from 5:15-6:15pm, Basic Hatha Yoga at all levels from 6:15-7:30pm, and for Belly Dancing at intermediate level from 7:30-8:30pm. Enjoy their Zen-style and fully equipped locker rooms as well as class props for free. The first class for new students (Florida Residents) is always free at Shakra Relaxation Oasis, 271 Alhambra Circle. Call 305-774-1355. http://www.shakramiami.com

USGS Design Excellence Exhibition
An exhibit of federal architecture designed by some of the nation's leading architects will open at the University of Miami School of Architecture. The exhibit, organized by the United States General Services Administration (GSA) is New Federal Architecture: The GSA Design Excellence Program. The event is free and open to the public. The event starts with a lecture at 6pm and is followed by the exhibition opening and reception at 7pm in the Jorge M. Perez Architecture Center at 1215 Dickinson Drive on the University's Coral Gables campus. The lecture will begin with remarks from Thomas Grooms, the Director of the GSA Design Excellence and the Arts Program. The lecture will be by Henry Smith-Miller, of the firm Smith-Miller And Hawkinson, the architect of the Champlain Land Port of Entry in New York. In addition, artist's renderings and maquettes of commissioned artworks by prominent artists Jim Dine, Sol LeWitt and Maya Lin, accompany some of the models. The exhibit will remain open until November 26 from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday. http://www.arc.miami.edu

Martini Monday At The Biltmore Bar
The weekly Martini Monday is an event dedicated to the most chic of cocktails for the choicest of singles at the Biltmore Bar featuring half price Belvedere Vodka, Ciroc Vodka, and Smirnoff Vodka. The hotel's resident expert mixologists have developed a menu of Martinis unlike any other at the Biltmore Bar, 1200 Anastasia, starting at 6pm every Monday. Call 305-445-1926. http://www.biltmorehotel.com

Miami Memorabilia: Jewish History In South Florida
The monthly meeting of the Miami Memorabilia Club will take place at Central Christian Church, 222 Menores with doors open at 6:30pm. Refreshments of soft drinks or punch, cookies, chips and pretzels will be served. The program topic will be the new book, L'chaim! The History Of The Jewish Community Of Greater Miami by Seth Bramson.

Informed Families Drug Prevention and Awareness Program
The Coral Gables High School PTSA would like to invite you to attend a Parent Event being held at Coral Gables High School Auditorium at 7pm. Debbie Korge, Vice President of Development for Informed Families will speak about the Informed Families Drug Prevention and Awareness Program. http://cmif.pictco.org

Fritz And Franz Monday Specials
The Fritz And Franz Bierhaus at 60 Merrick Way will once again be open every Monday with a fresh oven roasted Chicken with mixed salad plate special for $14.95. Call 305-774-0883. http://www.bierhaus.cc

Russell Shorto: Descartes' Bones
On a brutal winter's day in 1650 in Stockholm, the Frenchman René Descartes, the most influential and controversial thinker of his time, was buried after a cold and lonely death far from home. Sixteen years later, the French Ambassador Hugues de Terlon secretly unearthed Descartes' bones and transported them to France. Why would this devoutly Catholic official care so much about the remains of a philosopher who was hounded from country to country on charges of atheism? Why would Descartes' bones take such a strange, serpentine path over the next 350 years -- a path intersecting some of the grandest events imaginable: the birth of science, the rise of democracy, the mind-body problem, the conflict between faith and reason? The answer lies in Descartes' famous phrase: Cogito ergo sum -- "I think, therefore I am." In an age of faith, what Descartes was proposing seemed like heresy. Yet Descartes himself was a good Catholic, who was spurred to write his incendiary book for the most personal of reasons: He had devoted himself to medicine and the study of nature, but when his beloved daughter died at the age of five, he took his ideas deeper. Descartes' Bones (Doubleday, $26) is Russell Shorto's historical detective story about the creation of the modern mind, with twists and turns leading up to the present day -- to the science museum in Paris where the philosopher's skull now resides and to the church a few kilometers away where, not long ago, a philosopher -- priest said a mass for his bones. Meet the author at Books And Books, 265 Aragon at 8pm. Call 305-442-4408. http://www.booksandbooks.com

Late Night Specials At The Bar
Enjoy 2 for 1 drink specials from 11pm to 1am. Enjoy their selection of 48 bottled beers, 10 great brews on tap and the best comfort food at The Bar, 172 Giralda. Call 305-442-2730. http://www.gablesthebar.com