The club scene in Rome can be pretty lame if you stick to the most ostensible standbys, the places usually crowded with more done up travelers than actual locals. The scene in those places ends up being as superficial as the worst American scene, and you find yourself wondering how that fits with the laid back temperament of Romans. One of the largest clubs in the city, and one slightly out of the way for non-locals, is Circolo Degli Artisti, a mostly outdoor club with a couple of indoor DJ rooms. A half dozen bars serve as various sitting and lounging areas — and then there’s the swimming pool. Big and small shows alike come through this venue, but just about any night is bound to be pretty damn fun. (You can catch Dinosaur Jr. there in September).

A dozen lifetimes’ worth of collecting all things kitsch lines the high walls of Scenarium, a three story samba club in Lapa, the epicenter of Rio de Janeiro’s nightlife scene. The club is the manifestation of owner Plínio Fróes’ pledge to keep alive the tradition of samba as well as choro, a musical stlye born on the streets of Rio more than 200 years ago.

Clubs in Rio embody a distinct warmth that can be attributed to the attitudes of clubgoers, void of the too-cool dancefloor politics found in the major venues of any American city. Image goes out the window once the band starts playing, and it no longer matters wether you know the dance moves or not. Scenarium enhances this atmosphere with a space unlike any other. Carved into three ancient houses, it’s filled with artifacts from tacky statues of Christ to twisted metal grills of old facades, each set of items grouped in a cluster on a part of the wall. The second floor bar is particularly attractive; an old apothecary shop complete with hundreds of age-old medicine bottles with moth-eaten labels.

Scenarium is the whole experience, lounge to dancefloor. A Wednesday night will leave you room to marvel at the wall treasures, while a Saturday crowd will bring treasures of its own.

Michael Mina’s Clock Bar is the newest collaboration between Mina and the Westin St. Francis, paying homage to the San Francisco hotel’s century-old tradition in Union Square. While the namesake — the Magneta grandfather clock — proudly stands outside the bar, the interior (designed by the Rockwell Group) is a modern throwback. Hand-woven metallic screens allude to the gold from the face of the clock, and the “speakeasy” cubby bar proudly shelves an amazing selection of premium alcohol. The aesthetic is phenomenal, but it’s the drinks that really steal the show. Head bartender, Marco “Cocktail Geek” Dionysos has created a deliciously complex cocktail menu. My favorite creation is also one of the most innovative. The refreshing “Chartreuse Swizzle” showcases the mastery of the very complicated ingredient: green chartreuse. The emphasis here is on local purveyors, with in-house preparation of the drink elements that use old school ingredients like egg whites. Marco's research spans his personal library of over 300 cocktail books, bringing classic cocktails back to their roots. Order the Aviation — a gin, maraschino liquor, lemon drink with crème de violette — and bask in its Lindberg-era glory. The Clock Bar just opened, but be certain that it’s only a matter of time until it’s the hottest spot in S.F.

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We maintain around here that (most) best things in life are preceded by the word “free”, beer being one of those things. Free Beer is actually the name of the concept behind Danish art collective Superflex’s exhibit at Sao Paulo’s Galeria Vermelho, which builds upon the idea that more is merrier. Instead of guarding the secret formula behind a tasty beer as the majority of breweries are apt to create, Superflex are sharing the recipe with the world so everyone can have a drunken good time. As an individual you can follow the recipe, add your own little magic and sell the resulting alcohol, but the only rule you have to adhere is that you need to publish your recipe so that others can produce it themselves if they want. Sound familiar? It’s called Creative Commons. The current, fourth incarnation of Free Beer is a result of a partnership between Superflex and Cervejaria Germania, a Brazilian brewery, and has been tweaked slightly in order to suit the Brazilians’ taste. You can buy a can or keg of the frothy stuff at the gallery after playing all the humorously crafted games Superflex have set up, which teach lessons about distribution, licenses, working together and competing in the marketplace. The exhibit runs until December 22nd.

My friend Angela put it best last week when she said, “I’ve reached maximum social networking saturation.” As a one-time rabid Dodgeball member (whose future seems uncertain now, having been abandoned by Dens & Alex under unfortunate circumstances), as well as a light-to-moderate Facebook/IILWY/Twitter user, dispassionate Myspace-er and obsessed Blackberry owner, I think she’s right. I’m connected 101% of the time, and although this isn’t exactly news to me, I still have those moments where I realize that disengaging myself every now and then may be beneficial to not only me, but the people around me.

But then, I find new things like B-List, and I convince myself that because it’s technically “research”, signing up is okay. B-List allows Blackberry Pearl, 7130 and 8700 owners to create lists of their favorite venues to share with other B-List users, with the database having already been populated by over 100 “celebrities” lists from all over the world. I’m really digging the community feel of it (as opposed to a friends-only invite system), and because it’s not primarily city-centric, it could prove an invaluable resource when traveling and looking for the newest, hottest venues.

Late last week I had a chance to check out the two-week-old Tirana, a club in Sao Paulo’s center district. As soon as I entered, I felt an instant wave of nostalgia hit when I reached the second-story venue. It wasn’t just the music (rock, which varies from classic, ’80s and post depending on the night) but the setup of the place itself: dozens of chairs and tables, a separate dance area and two spacious, adjoining rooms that plainly urge you to sit down and relax. This is the type of bar my friends and I like to hang out at when I’m in L.A. Tito Ficarelli, one of the owners, said the goal was to create a space where people could do just that. It’s a different twist on how a lot of clubs are designed here, in which the dance floor takes up the majority of a space. The club and its logo are designed under a mix of communist and homosexual iconography, which co-owner Zoca Moraes explained were chosen in part because they were two social movements that have really upset conservative capitalism. Moraes is a self-proclaimed communist who took part in political movements in the ’70s against the ruling government at the time, so this approach reflects the message Tirana wants to get across: Everyone is welcome. I’ll be back with fellow wallflower friends in tow. Tirana is located on Avenida Sao Joao, 1413, Centro, Sao Paulo.

Apart form the Charles Bridge, Radost FX is the most talked-about evening destination in Praha. There's a café with castle-like upholstery, a restaurant that manages to feature vegetarian selections from Italy, Mexico, China, Thailand and America in one heavy wooden menu, and a club whose widespread cushions seem to be thinking nasty thoughts. Radost means joy in Bulgarian and pleasure in Czech, so you do the math. Local and international DJs. Hip-hop, R & B, the works. Open 10 PM to 5 AM. Free English movies on Mondays. Belehradska Street . Metro A: I.P. Pavlova.

Right around the corner from Musée Du louvre in the 1st Arrondissement, lies an incredibly simple and standard looking restaurant called Cabaret with a view of the neatly table-cloth covered tables on the ground floor — but that’s only from the outside. When my party arrived, we were led downstairs to a comfortable lounge, and at 9pm on a Saturday night, we were basically the only people there. At 9:30, we ate; good modern French food. As our meal progressed, the music became louder, and the lower level became more and more crowded with people. Eventually, at around 11:30 the music was really cranking, and at midnight the candelabras built into the walls began to flash– and the party began. Before we knew it, tables were disappearing, and the restaurant turned into a dance floor– LED lights started glowing out of the cement floors. By 3AM there were people literally dancing on tables, lined up outside the doors to get in– and the entire restaurant turned into a club, the only trace of the earlier dining room was where those who preferred lounging with bottle service on the outside tables instead of dancing. I had an excellent time at Cabaret, it was a great evening, and I’m told it was a classic Paris nightlife experience.

Hakkasan is an exclusive restaurant tucked in the back corner of Hanway Street, a small unassuming side street right off Tottenham Court Road. The space was originally built to be a parking garage, but restaurant mastermind Alan Yau renovated it from top to bottom, adding excruciating detail and charm to the property. A few sets of slate stairs, lit with a red ambient glow take you to the underground restaurant. Everytime I’ve been there the food has been exquisite, I’d call it nouveau-gourmet Chinese. The menu is laced with specials, miso black cod, scallop shumai, belugia cavier, signature noodle dishes– and some of the most amazing desert platters I’ve ever seen. The music is always great, because everytime I’ve been there is a live DJ. If you want to get in, I advise you call a bit ahead of time unless your a super star, even though the place must easily sit 150 people, it’s always packed.