Editorial Voice

Luke’s Gospel: Rappers like Lil Wayne and T.I. have a right to bear arms

Just a few items we wrestled from the jaws of this week’s New Times Broward-Palm Beach print edition.In Music: Aside from massive WMC/Ultra coverage from Miami, Lee Zimmerman confirms that Rodney Atkins really is just a simple guy and Gilberto Gil rolls through the Broward Center.In News: Fighting crime does…

Lex-One and Mike Beatz have been staples in South Florida’s hip-hop scene. Having released tons of group and solo projects (Monster Ink, Major League, more), they’ve shown that hip-hop is deep rooted in their sound. Fast forward to 2010, and these guys have transformed everything they’ve worked on in the…

Browsing the weekly listing of film permits issued in Miami-Dade sometimes yields interesting results. For instance, Vogue will apparently shoot photos in Haulover Park. Yes, that’s home of the nude beach.It also seems the Miami-set fifth season of Oxygen’s reality train wreck Bad Girls Club has begun filming. The permit is for filming on North…

In our Moving Units column, Mike Ramirez at Fort Lauderdale’s Radio-Active Records graciously keeps us up-to-date and comments on the current releases flying out of his store each week.This week, the collaboration between Shins’ lead singer James Mercer and Gnarls Barkley producer Danger Mouse, Broken Bells, leads the pack. A…

Way too much attention these days is heaped upon paying teachers. Look deeply into the Miami-Dade County Public Schools budget and you’ll see that a potentially more disastrous problem lies in the condition of the buildings where our kids study.Later today, on our website and in this week’s print edition,…

It’s here! Winter Music Conference officially begins today. What better way to get pumped up that with a DJ mix. Crossfade obsession and DJ Tamara Sky sent us the follow up to her last year’s Pussy Violence mix, this one titled Pussy Violence II Lip Service.The mix feature hipster dancefloor…

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. Up this week, Luke explains why famous rappers such as Lil Wayne and T.I. get caught with illegal guns.Earlier this…

Are you prepared for what could be the most reality-TV-infected Winter Music Conference week on record? At least three of the genre’s favorite air heads are rumored to be in South Beach this week. This could be the biggest meeting of the minds since the Yalta Conference.The Sisters Kardashian have…

Richard Anastasi, who served as a Miami Beach Police officer until last December, kidnapped a Russian national last week, tortured him with threats of violence and tried to extort $100,000 from his family, federal prosecutors say. Anastasi, who is 47, and an accomplice, 42-year old Francisco Arias, were charged this…

Skinnydipping after dark with a few longhair BFFs is one of the best ways to spend a springtime Friday night. The water’s green, the sky’s green, and there’s no discernible horizon. It’s cold, but not that cold. And the wind whistles like music while puffy, cartoon-ish letters float through the…

This time of year, everything should be decided using tournament brackets. Riptide picks our breakfast by scrawling our kitchen’s options on a whiteboard. Yogurt and oatmeal always get knocked out in the first round, and Honey Bunches of Oats is highly seeded. Today a champion will emerge after a long year…

Local South Florida music bloggers unite! Well, that’s REVMiami’s idea anyhow. Yesterday, the lovely logo we see above popped up on another South Florida music staple site, Made in Miami Music. The idea is simple: so many folks are toiling away covering their local scenes around the country without a…

Do not try to wrap your pretty little head around this track, “Crossing the Frozen Lands.” Nah. That is not the way art works, at least not for me and I’m only a heady guy when it involves booze and whores and narcotics… think about it baby! You’re in the…

Today, to avoid being formally charged with violating county ethics rules, the South Dade couple settled a complaint brought by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.An ethics investigation revealed the Forbes did not disclose payments they received from various sources on their 2005, 2006, and 2007 financial disclosure…

Just a few items we cultivated from in this week’s New Times Broward-Palm Beach print edition.In Music: Alkaline Trio rolls through Revolution next week, Aretha Aretha Aretha, Miami’s Raffa & Rainer rocks a Fort Lauderdale CD release party, and there will be Jazz in the Gardens this weekend.Night Watch: “Large…

Miami Lakes Councilman Richard Pulido can’t stop acting like the town jerk. The part-time college professor continues to pick on town Clerk Marjorie Tejeda.Earlier I reported how Tejeda complained to town Manager Frank Bocanegra that Pulido created a hostile work environment for her.Well at the town council’s last meeting this…

Letters from the issue of March 18, 2010

Luke’s Gospel: Take down slums, not politicians like Michelle Spence-Jones

A well-toned blonde in a red feathered headdress, a thong, and nipple tassels looks down from high above a long, narrow club decked out in cushioned gold walls occasionally licked by a swirling green laser light. Perched on a black swing, she pumps her shapely calves to the tune of…

As Rick Ross preps the release of his fourth studio album, Teflon Don, Rick Ross gathers a team of DJs to collaboratively release an official mixtape that will serve as the warm-up of sorts for the album. The mixtape is interestingly titled A Timeless Audemars Piguet Collection. Presumably a play…

Just in case all of this “music blogging” has gone to everyone’s heads, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! [The Guest Lab]…