Velvet underground: Sept 19-25

Pick up some trash this weekend (and we don't mean at Club Madonna).

Jazmine Sullivan.

Member rating: 2

By Lesley Abravanel

Imagine trying to remember way back to, say, the early '90s, when the place now known as Opium Garden was called Amnesia, and where Sunday Tea Dances and those gimmicky, soapy foam parties ruled. Thanks to Edison Farrow, the Amnesia Tea Dance is once again more than just nostalgia, taking place at Opium from 4-10 p.m. Sunday. Featuring DJ Brett Henrichsen, the tea dance, although it caters to a primarily gay male crowd, is open to anyone paying the $15 cover in advance or $20 at the door. A portion of proceeds will benefit SAVE Dade. VIP tickets, at $60, include a Ciroc vodka open bar. For more information, check out Farrow's website, www.SoBeSocial.

For those lamenting the demise of the mega club -- after all, besides Opium, Mansion, Cameo and Space, where are the big-box clubs these days? -- there are a few promising options off the beached path. One being Voyage Ultra Lounge, 66 SW Sixth St. in Miami, featuring an insane 20,000 square feet of clubbing sprawl, complete with an outdoor cigar lounge and rooftop overlooking the Miami River and skyline. We've been to that space in previous incarnations and, with the right people running it, it really can be prime club real estate. Uptown in the space formerly known as Metropolis, another monstrous space, is Discotekka, 950 NE Second Ave., and unlike its not-so-successful predecessor, is only housed in the corner of the Metropolis compound. After-hours parties in the space's so-called Forbidden Room begin on Fridays, or Saturdays, rather, at 4 a.m. and the only thing prohibited in there, we're sure, is sleep.

After a sleepless night, head over to Island View Park on Purdy Avenue. At 9 a.m., boats will take volunteers to Monument Island, where environmentally conscious types will participate in International Coastal Cleanup Day. In addition to picking up other people's trash, a ceremony will commemorate the first monthly cleanup of the island that used to host awesome parties back in the good old days, as well as the signing of a five-year agreement between Morgans Hotel Group's soon-to-open Mondrian South Beach and The Environmental Coalition of Miami Beach. More than 100 volunteers from the hotel group -- including your fave bartenders from The Florida Room, among other places, will join Miami Beach Mayor Mattie Bower and a slew of other scenesters in the middle of the water for a very good cause. No need to RSVP, just show up at the park by 9 a.m. Saturday.

At less ungodly an hour is The Florida Room and Giant Step's monthly live music showcase, at 10 p.m. Thursday, featuring R&B artist Jazmine Sullivan, who has worked with Missy Elliott and Fantasia, and has written songs for Christina Milian.

In an interesting development, South Beach promoters turned publishers Alan Roth and Tommy Pooch are taking their 944 Magazine Sunset Fridays party across the county line to China Grill Fort Lauderdale beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. If you can make it through the traffic in time, women will receive free Ketel One Cosmos from 6-8 p.m. If not, you'll still get to eat, drink and boogie to the tunes of DJs Anthony Pisano and Joey (son of Steve) Martorano until at least 10 p.m.

Those who fancy themselves singers should check out Moonchine's Wednesday night Karaoke Idol party. If you're a silent type, the Upper East Side Garden offers Classic Movie Night at 8 p.m. every Tuesday. This Tuesday, it's Umberto D, the 1952 Vittorio De Sica-directed classic starring Carlo Battisti and Maria-Pia Casillio. Nostalgia, it seems, is the new noir.