B y GERRY BARKER
North Palm Beach Life
Photos by North Palm Beach Life

Are you ready for some football? Red Rooster Overtown, with its historic downtown Miami location, is.

To whet our appetite for the upcoming season, University of Miami defensive lineman Justin Scott has teamed with Red Rooster Overtown's Executive Chef, Charles Page,  to create a special dish from Scott's childhood in Chicago -- a hamburger -- that will be offered at the restaurant for a limited time.

Trading his football pads for an apron, Scott and Page went into the kitchen at a special media event to show how it's made.

"It has a little Asian barbeque influence," said Page, "along with house-made bacon and Korean barbeque aioli," served with their signature fries. "You get a little sweet, a little tangy and a nice salty taste." Page explained how he makes the bacon, a 10-day process: "We cure it, we smoke it, then caramelize and glaze it."

Complementing the burger is a special drink, served in a customized, souvenir cup. "It's made from fresh-squeezed orange juice, fresh-squeezed mango juice, a little but of orange ginger and simple syrup," said Page. 

A portion of the proceeds from the dish will benefit the nearby Dunn's Overtown Farm, a nonprofit, pesticide-free, urban community farm founded by educator and activist Dr. Marvin Dunn. It offers free organic produce to local residents, shelters and after-school programs.

Page has a special appreciation for the farm. "It's definitely great because on busy nights if I run short of an herb or something, we can grab some basil and we're ready to rock. It's definitely clutch," he continued, "and the quality is something we have over other restaurants."

For Scott, a former five-star recruit, it's an opportunity to show support for his adopted community in South Florida with his five-star burger.

Coinciding with Scott's burger, Red Rooster Overtown has upped its game-day experience as well, adding  new televisions throughout the bar, as well as a drop-down, projection screen in the historic, upstairs Clyde Killens Pool Hall.

When Miami takes the field for its first game at Stanford Sept. 4, it's a good bet where those TVs will be tuned.

Red Rooster Overtown is located at 920 NW 2nd Ave. in Miami,. Visit their website at redroosterovertown.com

(Press Release) ​West Palm Beach, FL (July 31, 2026) — Promise Fund has just announced that it has received a $300,000 state appropriation from Florida’s General Revenue Fund to support and expand its patient navigation program for women throughout Palm Beach County.

Promise Fund commemorated the funding with a check presentation and photo opportunity on July 27 at Genesis Community Health’s Boynton Beach Medical Center. The presentation brought together Promise Fund leadership, elected officials, community partners and advocates to celebrate the appropriation and highlight the lifesaving impact of patient navigation.

(Press Release) ​DELRAY BEACH, FL – Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach will host its annual Obon Weekend on August 15-16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Obon is a traditional Japanese festival and holiday observed to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors, who are believed to return home for a short time to visit their living relatives.
 
Bon Alter and Memory Slips
Throughout Obon Weekend, visitors are invited to write the names of departed loved ones and messages on special memory slips, offering a quiet space for remembrance and reflection. Guests may also pay their respects at the bon altar of museum founder George Morikami, on display in the Kamiya Room next to the Membership Desk.

(Press Release) ​(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.) Wednesday, July, 29, 2026- Every day, drivers across Palm Beach and Martin Counties can turn their daily commute into a force for good, one license plate at a time. The Big Brothers Big Sisters Florida specialty plate transforms an everyday drive into a lasting investment in local youth, funding mentoring relationships that help children discover their full potential through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm and Martin Counties.

(Press Release) West Palm Beach, Fla. (July 30, 2026) — Tony Award® winner J. Harrison Ghee will star as "Mary Todd Lincoln" when the Tony Award®- and Olivier Award®-winning comedy Oh, Mary! comes to the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts May 11-16, 2027, producers Kevin McCollum and Lucas McMahon, and Mike Lavoie and Carlee Briglia announced today.

By DEBORAH HAMILTON-LYNNE
Special to North Palm Beach Life
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First of all, I should tell you that in college when I had to read the Iliad and the Odyssey I cheated. I not only relied on Cliff notes but also I will admit to reading papers by sorority sisters that had actually read the book and aced it. However, I did love mythology, so I am also familiar with the story and characters.

Before committing to three hours of watching the modern version of Homer’s classic I decided to cheat once again this time by asking Chat GPT to give me a summary of the story and the characters. This sent me down the rabbit hole of rereading my Dictionary of Mythology to brush up on three C’s - Calypso, Circe and the Cyclops as well as Helen of Troy, daughter of Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo and Athena. I am certainly glad that I metaphorically created another cheat sheet before seeing the film because it enhances the fast moving experience of it all.

I went with a group of friends - those who basically knew very little or nothing about the mythology were shocked and lost a lot of the time and those who knew at least some of the background of the story were sucked into Nolan’s very finely crafted retelling.

So friends, do yourself a favor and trust me - if you prep just a little you will enjoy this film immensely. Fair warning - it is long so make a restroom stop before the movie - it is violent with a fair amount of graphic violence but after all the siege of Troy was a 10-year war and without too much of a spoiler, yes the Cyclops and the multi-headed monster Scylla did enjoy eating men. Honestly, the film is no more violent than Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon and as audiences we have been conditioned to accept fantastical creatures as well as violence in storytelling over the last few years.

I will not nitpick over whether or not the story stays true to Homer because to me it didn’t matter. Close enough was good enough for me. What I will say is that I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. For the most part, the casting is spot on. While Matt Damon is not in Jason Bourne shape he completely becomes the heroic and tortured Odysseus. You feel his pain, his yearning, and his completely fallible human journey. Anne Hathaway overplays the long suffering Penelope a bit, but hey if my husband took off for ten years without a word I would be properly pissed too. Samantha Morton’s Circe is appropriately completely creepy. Charlize Theron as Calypso is beautiful and enchanting but I would have liked to see a little heat considering the mythology that three sons were born of her seven year union/captivity of Odysseus. You will barely recognize John Leguziamo as an elder servant who serves as the voice of wisdom and finally although Zendaya has very few words to say she perfectly captures the presence of Athena and the guiding light that leads Odysseus home.

Nolan’s film version of the Odyssey rightfully deserves its 94 Rotten tomatoes rating and blockbuster status. I say this not because it is a sweeping action film beautifully delivered.

It is exactly that - graphic battle scenes, magical arrows, mythical creatures that make you believe it's all really happening. For me, what makes this film stand out and worth three hours is that underneath it all is a deeply moving story of a man coming to terms with the nature of power, tragic mistakes, regrets, shame, love and loss - all the while knowing that his place in history will expose him as anything but a god and completely human.

Although it totally deviates from Homer, Nolan has Odysseus looking at his sins and place in history, ending the film saying that their broken civilization will rise from the darkness and that inevitably if men don’t learn from his story, darkness that comes from seeking power will come again. Whether it is the action-packed last scenes of Odysseus's final revenge or the lessons he hopes history will preserve, I promise that you will leave the theater talking about the ending. So brush up on your Greek mythology and join the pantheon of Gods for a story that has stood the test of time well told and reimagined for today.