For those music fans that might not have heard yet, New Orleans hip-hop emcee Bionik Brown a.k.a Nathan Woods died in car crash this week in Denver, Colorado.

Keith Spera wrote a nice obit for him here

A Denver magazine also had a nice piece on him here.

You can check out his music on his myspace page here.

I knew Nate, a.k.a Bionik, personally and though I can’t find the appropriate words right now, I can honestly say he was one of the most good-hearted, decent, human beings I have ever met. It is really tragic that he is no longer with us.

Visitation for the funeral starts at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Gideon Christian Fellowship International, 3401 Elysian Fields Avenue. The service begins at 11 a.m.

The CBS News 48 Hours episode on the murders of Helen Hill and Dinerral Shavers and the breakdown of New Orleans’ criminal justice system has been nominated for a news Emmy Award. In case you missed the initial airing,  you can watch the first part here, and the rest here (part2,part 3,part 4,part 5,and part 6). You can also read a synopsis of the episode.

By Sam Winston

I will say this straight up. I am not a Lil Wayne fan. Ever since the Hot Boys days, I’ve always found him kind of annoying. Needless to say I’m not the only one that’s shocked he is tearing up the music industry right now having sold a million copies of his latest album Tha Carter III in just one week.

What happened between him being the little kid gimmick of the Cash Money crew to the latest guilty pleasure of every ITunes listener who buys less than three rap albums a year?

I remember an And1 Mixtape Tour at the New Orleans Arena where Lil Wayne, Cash Money record label owner Brian “Baby” or “Birdman” Williams, and producer extraordinaire Manny Fresh performed at halftime about four years ago. They were booed off the floor. Read the rest of this entry »

by Sam Winston

So Turkey just won its second improbable, no unfathomable, game to enter the semi-finals of the Euro Cup against Germany. And every single German just muttered under their breath, “Oh Sh*!”

The Turkish make up the overwhelming largest minority group in Germany, and well, let’s just say relationships between the two can be strained at times. To put it another way, often when I get complimented on my German, its followed by some sort of comparison to the Turkish who never bother to learn the language. The situation is a lot more nuanced of course, but you get the idea.

Now there’s five long days until the two country’s soccer teams will face off. Read the rest of this entry »

Over 244,000 views and counting after making the YouTube front page yesterday. As noted during Jazzfest, she loops herself using a dizzying array of sample pedals to create an entire song live. Video taken in her kitchen in Algiers Point.

UPDATE: Now over 400,000 views

by Sam Winston

Jindal makes the national blog rounds, this time a la some oppo-research-esque writing by Talking Points Memo from an essay Jindal wrote about witnessing/taking part in an exorcism.

Louisiana bloggers have been on the case for some time.

Some voices from the Right call it a desperate move.

This might not get any real play unless the spotlight brightens on Jindal, but the whole thing is just weird. Isn’t it?

by Sam Winston

According to John McCain’s website, he will be at a rally in Kenner tomorrow and a town hall meeting in Baton Rouge on Wednesday.

Aside from peaking more Jindal VP speculation (including this NYT piece calling Jindal the “New Champion” of the Right), his visit and his campaign’s latest charge on Iraq presents an interesting paradox to New Orleanians as well. Read the rest of this entry »

by Sam Winston

My recent post on whether or not all post-Katrina New Orleans are libertarians deep down gets a response on The Huffington Post by John McQuaid. You can also see comments and response to the original post here or pasted below the fold. Read the rest of this entry »

The real reason why Jindal is having barbecue with McCain?

Is it the same reason McCain is just getting around to denouncing two crackpot preachers that endorsed him?

McCain’s health records are being released today. Conveniently, on a Friday afternoon going into a long weekend. Well played.

Click here and here for background.

by Sam Winston

According to this latest assessment of the Recovery by the national policy magazine, City Journal , New Orleans and its rebuilding successes show that…

“restoring neighborhoods is a job far better suited to citizens and organizations than to government. ” - City Journal

The piece goes on to explain where it thinks government should be more of a leader in areas like blighted properties and crime.

I’ve always found it fascinating how the battle of ideas constantly influx in Washington squared off time and time again in New Orleans over the last three years. From charter schools, to charity, to housing, and to law enforcement, it was a non-stop fight. Now, it seems some ideas are clearly winning out. Read the rest of this entry »