The Art Set ( and the not so arty ) moved on to parties all over town, after open air concerts on the beach. The Delano will be a happening scene all weekend .

Last night was the Pre -opening of Art Basel - attended by thousands. Today marks the official opening . Hours are 12 to 8 ,tickets $24 one day and $36 two days.

Later in the evening MAC showed off it’s cool video exhibition ” A History 1965 - 2005 Centre Pompidou”. Outside there was techno dancing and open bar - a beautiful Miami night under a Full Moon.

Last night was the first round of pre-opening parties for Art Basel. First stop was MOCA , featuring the “Artificial Light ” exhibition featured above. Excellent Bacardi cocktails and ceviche were served.

Bes sure to check out Hotel Aqua for the ultimate in cool up and coming artists. There will be many hotel show around town - this is one of the best. Admission free, but bring your checkbook if you want what you like.

Art Basel will have a lot more than 15 minutes. The world’s biggest art fair is here to stay. One wonders - what parties would Andy have attended - in what clubs would be be holding court ? There should be a lot of his high priced work on sale this week - getting close to the the 20th anniversary of his departure from this planet.

Go here to download a PDF file of all the events over the next few days. Click on publiceventlist. pdf.

As many of you can see, by reading my latest posts, I have been traveling around Latin America extensively the past couple of weeks. Some of the locations, such as Honduras and El Salvador could be classified as Third World, because much of the population lives in substandard conditions. In this case - much of Africa would have to be classified as Fourth or Fifth world -places where there is no infrastructure - roads, electricity, communications, etc - where people live no differently than animals - where the day’s activity centers around trying to survive until the next one. Honduras and El Salvador are far more advanced than that.

Brazil and Argentina would probably be classified as Second World - complete working infrastructure and government, but with unacceptable pockets of poverty. Almost everyone has electricity, access to education, communications etc.

Miami happens to be the nexus of Latin America. Latin American countries look to Miami for leadership - not Washington or New York. New York financial people deal through Miami if they want to be part of the Latin America action. Miami has a rapidly growing infrastructure that is strained at times, but is much more modern than say, New York.

We are much freer than a lot of the United States. It’s much easier to start a business, all lifestyles are acceptable and the bars stay open till 5 AM.

This week the entire art, fashion and much of the business world will flock to Miami for Art Basel. Hardly a “Third World ” experience. Many visitors will end up buying condos while they are here.

Without Aspen, Vail and other ski areas, most jetsetters would have no reason to land their G-5’s in Mr.Trancedo’s (hey what kind of name is that anyway ?) home state.