Remembrance

Last Saturday a man was shot in the 2800 block of Chippewa. It was about 8:20 PM. 12 shots were fired off. As the man lay there dead, his pit bull wouldn't leave his side.

Tonight his friends have pulled together to have a vigil at the corner of Sixth and Chippewa. From NOLADIY.ORG:

Brian Turd Vigil
Saturday, November 22. Pete's at 6th Street & Chippewa. 7:30PM. FREE.
There is going to be a candlelight vigil for Brian this Saturday starting at 7:30 pm on the corner of 6th and Chippewa. This is the corner where he got shot. Bring lots of candles and anything else you can think of -- signs, flowers, etc. We are trying to get the message across to whatever (i can't even think of a word bad enough to put here) killed him that people do care about Brian, and we're going to make a big deal out of it. He's not some random guy nobody gives a shit about. We will demand attention for his death from the neighborhood, from the police, and from the media. Who did this to him probably lives RIGHT THERE!. We want them to see us and be nervous and we want their friends to see us and be nervous and turn these murderers in to the police so they can FRY!

I am really sorry for the loss of your friend, honestly. Losing a loved one hurts. However, this doesn't sound like a vigil to me. Rather than engaging in a peaceful remembrance, this group of people wants to come into this neighborhood and try to make people nervous. This ignorance and arrogance enrages me. You think a murder in our neighborhood doesn't impact ALL people that live there? The neighborhood isn't just thugs. There are families, retirees, lawyers, fast food workers, elderly, public servants, and many more people, from all walks of life and broad racial make up. Why do you want to come into a neighborhood that you know nothing about and make everyone nervous? Knowing fully well that your friend was murdered in that area! What are you really accomplishing here by further alienating the people that live in the neighborhood and have stuck it out throughout thick and thin?

Words on various myspaces utter "hugs not thugs" and murmurs of teaching us to take our neighborhood back.

I respect your wanting to honor your friend and seek justice. PLEASE respect the people that live here, though. The words you are using are abrasive and the neighbors are already dreading your presence. Further, please get your facts straight. Your friend was not shot on the corner of Sixth and Chippewa. There is a business on the corner of Sixth and Chippewa that has nothing to do with the events that went down. Rather, the murder took place three houses down towards Washington on Chippewa.

More on this...
Myspace: Brian Turd
WGNO: Friend's Mourn Dog Walker's Death
Humid City: Brian Turd - Vigil and Benefit
Myspace: les turdz - Brian Turd. RIP
Humid City: Getting to the end game
Photobucket: Brian Turd Vigil and Benefit Poster

strange sensation

Yesterday before leaving the office I read about the murder at Josephine and Laurel streets. This is a bit close to home, as most of these shootings near the river are. This wasn't the weird thing, though, it was when I was driving home and turning into the neighborhood that Better Than Ezra's "One More Murder" came on.

And here I was thinking that I was clever blasting "I'm a Thug" in my 'hood. My neighbors think I'm cute.

super

with preliminary information indicating three people had been shot at Club Fabulous

[T-P]

changing lanes

Even though I know how to change my own tire, it's incidents like this that make me glad to be a member of AAA -- Two shot this morning on I-10 while changing a tire.

I mean, I even think twice about giving the finger to drivers in my maddening road rage ever since a friend of mine was followed home, but this article makes it sound like the shooter was on foot. Wow. What is a person to do?

what the fucking fuck

This is the most disturbing thing I have seen on the internet in a long time. It brought tears to my eyes and made my stomach churn.

US Soldier Throws Puppy Off Cliff

I have tried to find something more about this on the internet, like if it's even for real, but all I can come up with is message board threads posted today with the same video.

dog eat dog

This Chinese spy thing is pretty wild. Brad V at Letters in Bottles was even there to document that bust on Bourdeaux. Then there is a bust on Sixth Street.

Watching ABC tonight, my roommate flips shit. Basically, her dog has play dates with the dog that lives at the house where the Chinese spy was busted on Sixth. That makes me like a D-list celebrity! The roommate has spent some time there and knew there was a Chinese lady there they (the dog owners) called Katie. And then Katie was pegged as a spy. It's a small, small world.

I love how WGNO interviews some of the neighbors.

Barbara says, "I just see her typing away on the computer .. sitting on the porch, speaking, that's it.. keep it going."

I wonder how many bloggers' neighbors might say something similar??

A block or so over from this excitement, there was a shooting at Washington and Chipewa. No sources as of yet, but I saw it on WGNO, it must be true!!

gun shots in the night, er, day...well, both

It threw me off, all of this violence during Mardi Gras. I was over on St. Charles near Melpomene when the gun shots broke out that Friday night and the ensuing riot in the Office Depot parking lot that the patrolman on foot and on horse had to break up. Never heard gun shots, but seeing people flock across St. Charles to see what the fuss about said enough. We thought it was just a fight until the headlines the next day confirmed our worst suspicions. Who brings a gun to the parades anyway? It's a fun time to be had by all. And more than likely the shots were fired over something silly and the gun-toter was in a rage. Forget the innocent bystanders around you.

Not that the area is virginal to violence. Summer of 2006 someone was shot down outside the daquiri shop. And then there was the shooting a couple years back in the same vicinity during the parades. Of course, what area of New Orleans has not seen it's share?

Now it's coming back into my 'hood, where I've seen it before, and it always comes in bulk. It's like the same thing, though. Wednesday a driver is shot at the corner of Annunciation and St. Mary, driving into a nearby building. Dejavu? October 2006 a guy was gunned down on Annunciation and Washington and he proceed to lose control of the vehicle as it crashed into the vacant laundromat on the street corner. If Wednesday's shooting wasn't enough, later there was a report of a drive by at Annunciation and Washington. Luckily no one was hurt, but I immediately received worried messages from both of my roommates, one of them contemplating "Maybe I don't want to renew my lease here."

When my mom and sister were visiting in August those two notorious brothers were shot down in the same day. Watching the news with my mom, I was surprised to hear of the second shooting. Seeing the footage, I was even more surprised. I turned to my mom and said "Wow, we could walk out on the corner and probably see the cop lights."

Countless other shootings in my near vicinity over the last year in the half I've lived here (here being this particular residence). I never questioned my safety - I'm not a target. But as a roommate pointed out "We drive by that intersection every day." Am I naive? Aside from the one act of arson down the street never reported in July, the renegade crack head ringing my doorbell at 1 AM, and my roommate's car being gotten into (as she didn't lock it), there have been few other instances of danger. However, it is about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I love my house, couldn't ask for a better landlord, and I, believe it or not, love my neighborhood. I can't imagine moving to another location.

What's a girl to do?

a woman after my own heart...

The 27-year-old Poulsbo woman told police officers she promised sexual favors to a man if he bought her alcohol early Wednesday morning.

But after getting two bottles of inexpensive fortified wine, she used one to hit him in the forehead.

Read the whole thing here.

ridiculous

I have been totally slammed at work. I haven't been able to keep up with the public housing debate. But...peaceful protest. Look it up.

I get a phone call from a guy coming from downtown to my office. He is stuck in a "riot." Come to find out, since he has a radar detector and GPS unit stuck to the inside of his windshield as well as a pair of handcuffs on his rear view mirror, the crowd on Poydras wherever he was thought him a cop. His car got hit with a milkshake, eggs, and other misc. food items. It took him forever to get through the mob surrounding his car. Then he gets stuff all over his suit trying to clean off his vehicle.

This sort of shit pisses me off. I don't care what your cause is. Violence is not the answer. Sure, violence may get you things, but then you're no better (in this case) than common criminals.

Then the Live updates feed just irritates me further.

Where do I sign up?

Over at Drudge, there's a story about some pink-pistol, packin' lesbian gangs terrorizing the streets of many metropolitan areas, as reported on the O'Reilly factor - aptly titled The Oh-Really Factor. You gotta hand it those ladies. How did Wheeler put it?

And they — like I said, they recruit these kids to be members of these gangs."

O'Reilly asked, "Now, when they recruit the kids, are they indoctrinating them into homosexuality?"

"Yes," Wheeler answered. "As a matter of fact, some of the kids have actually reported that they were forced into, you know, performing sex acts and doing sex acts with some of these people."

Maybe they should try indoctinating this young lady. She sounds like she really need some guidance and is prone to acting out of the societal norms.

Next came the pink guns. "Now, the other thing, too, that our viewers are going to find very, very interesting, is the fact that they actually carry—some of these groups carry pink pistols," Wheeler said. "They call themselves the pink-pistol-packing group. And these are lesbians that actually carry pistols. That's 9-millimeter Glocks. They use these. They commit crimes, and they cause a lot of hurt to a lot of people."

The bold text is a nice little addendum to Mr. Wheeler's statement. I mean, out of most women, wouldn't a dyke be the most likely candidate to be slinging a 9-millimeter Glock around her waist? Geeeeeez.