From the Apr 14 – Apr 20, 2005 issue

Columns

Letters to the Editor

'EXILES' DESERVED NATIVE-AMERICAN REVIEWER
SEAN NELSON: I understand that sometimes it becomes a burden to write reviews about films that you don't vibe with or understand completely. I felt the same when my girlfriend dragged me to the Jewish Film Festival. It was too much culture, and not my own. The Exiles wasn't your film to review ["The Exhumed," April 7].

You're a great writer, and you wrote a great piece from your perspective. It's true--the film has crappy audio; it has funny voice-overs normally reserved for action, or plot points. If it were a studio release in 1961 it would have been a joke. We live in such a polished film world that I don't blame you for finding faults or disinterest technically. But…

I've studied Native-American film my whole life; I've dedicated my entire existence to it. I grew up on the rez; my friends all make Native film. I make Native film. I won last year's 28-Second Film Contest for The Stranger using a drunk, homeless Indian. My film, Like Totems, will debut at Sundance 2006. I know Native film. And to be honest, The Exiles was the most exciting document of young Natives that I've ever seen. Ever. I mean, think of the stigma attached to Indians. Or at least look at Capitol Hill's viewpoint. We're drunks, begging for change and walking Broadway Avenue with our canes and backpacks until the social services van picks us up. We're unattractive. We don't have girlfriends (or boyfriends). We wear dreamcatchers, and steal your money with our fucking casinos. And if we're good then we're hippies. We hang with earthy white new-agers who talk about Alexie's new book, or the latest sweat lodge going on. We wear tacky chokers. It's a fucked-up portrayal, man. Why? Because it's not how I live, it's not how my friends live. We have jobs, and keep apartments on the Hill. We drink at Linda's and get our hair cut at Shorty's and Sal's. We date sexy men and women of all colors. We get excited about shows at Chop Suey. We rock iPods, and take trips to Portland for skate sessions. We're just like every-fuckin-body else. But, we haven't forgotten the rez. We go home for ceremonies, we hang sweetgrass above our beds, and keep eagle feathers wrapped in handkerchiefs next to our condom stashes. We go home for funerals and smoke salmon for elders during feast time. We know our culture but we love the one we live, here in Seattle. That's the dichotomy. That is what makes The Exiles so amazing.

For the first time, I saw myself. I saw young Natives partying, talking to girls, hustling poker games, and pissing off their girlfriends. It was like looking at myself 40 years ago, and that's the point. It was like looking at MYSELF. Not Sean Nelson.

I don't come from an ethnic culture that has had the luxury of being on TV or film for 100 years, at least positively. For all the smack white people talk about "the beauty" of Indian culture, the representation out there has been shit. The Exiles was dead-on. It filled a gap in my imagination. For the first time I saw contemporary Natives "living." They weren't wearing bell-bottoms and being political. Or dancing under a golden sky in the desert somewhere in Arizona. They just were. And not only were they just kicking it, but they were fucking cool and interesting in the process. Ask anyone who has spent time on a reservation or had Native friends before, and they will all tell you the same. If they've seen the film. The Exiles makes Smoke Signals look like a bad Saturday afternoon special. It makes you ashamed that you've ever called it the first "Indian" movie. If anyone really wants to know the raw, funky pinnacle of Indian filmmaking then The Exiles is what you have to see. Otherwise, you shouldn't even talk about Native film. It's as simple as that. Sincerely.

Ben-Alex Dupris

The Hatchery, A Northwest Native Film Company

NOT ALL REPUBLICANS ARE GREAT SPELLERS

Editor's Note: This letter has not been edited.

EDITOR: Gay rights bill in trouble [Breaking News, Sandeep Kaushik, April 7], quick need need to..FUCK OFF, tell your door nob licking editor he's ruining the once graet paper of fags. fuck you gay dumbass's didn't the election tell you to die or disappear! you will never win your extra rights ecept to be laughed at the rest of your butfucking dildo ramming lifes....you losers!!! Hahahahahah.

Gavin Rollins

FAT BABIES ARE CUTE, TOO
EDITOR: In regards to the recent review of Beck's Guero by Kimberly Chun [CD Reviews, April 7], I was confused. When a reviewer does their job they say whether they like something or not; they aren't supposed to write some self-indulgent diatribe full of created words. If you want to review records, review them. I will submit a sample of two reviews. Your example: Whilst writing about a pastiche of obtuse vernacular, I found myself feeling Kafkaesque trying to fill this impossible endeavor with prattle-esque semiundercurrents of equus caballus excrement. Mine: Your reviews suck a fat baby's ass.

Cameron Betts

CORRECTION: In last week's CounterIntel column, Josh Feit reported that the median price for housing in Seattle was $328,000. That was incorrect. The median price for housing in Seattle is $359,000.

MORE LETTERS

RURAL GREENIE BACKS PROPERTY RIGHTS

DEAR EDITOR AND JOSH FEIT: I hope you will see fit to print my comments about the column done on David Irons and his positions on land use and property rights [CounterIntel, March 31]: I'm a known rural "greenie" and I my positions often conflict with those of David Irons. Yet, I felt the recent CounterIntel column attacking David Irons as being two-faced in his positions on property rights was totally off base, unfair, and distorts the real issues.

Respecting property rights AND enforcing land use rules are not mutually exclusive. Those of us who really do want strong environmental and land use protections in the rural area (even if CAO isn't the perfect answer)strongly support Mr. Irons efforts to shut down illegal property uses by those who ignore past and current laws. One’s property "rights" are only those rights that fall within the law and those are the rights Mr. Irons advocates for.

What he, I, and the majority of rural owners don't support are the illegal "rights" that a minority of property owners demand to be able do whatever they want on their property regardless of the law or the impact to others. These are not "rights," they are illegal actions that Mr. Irons properly seeks enforcement on. His efforts to "rein in" such illegal uses should be applauded.

The property rights Mr. Irons advocates for are those that were allowed prior to CAO and are now impacted by the new rules. None of the examples sited in your column were allowed property uses either pre or post CAO implementation, therefore these owners have no "property rights" do be doing what they're doing.

While I often disagree with Mr. Irons on land use issues, he shouldn't be wrongfully attacked in your paper. He, I, and many others do find common ground in believing that clear land use limits need to be in place to protect the common good, that they must be fairly implemented with property owners, and that those who ignore such limits (and negatively impact others as a result) should be hammered appropriately.

Ken Konigsmark

Issaquah

DEADBERG

EDITOR: I'm shocked that The Stranger didn't mention Mitch Hedberg's passing (on Wed March 30th) in this week’s issue! He was so funny! And he lived in Seattle after leaving his act in Florida. And he almost died on April Fools... all of that has GOT to count for something. You guys had BETTER write an article about him or I'll write one for you.

Heather DuFresne

LOVING LIVE WIRE

JENNIFER: So I just got back in town from San Francisco and read your column mentioning the DFA 1979 show [Live Wire, March 31] and I have to say I quite nearly wept. Well, not really, but I did really regret missing them. I was going to try to catch them in San Fran, but they played there the day before I got there and played here the day after I left. Doh! Anyway, I just want to give you kudos again (I think I've written you with kudos before...) for your exquisite taste in music. It's not many folks I can really trust on their taste in music. You seem to have a great ear. I remember you writing about DFA 1979 before and I eventually checked them out when my friend in Atlanta ripped me a copy the last time I visited. They are by far the most exciting thing I've heard in a long time, and I don't even like metal! I can't stop listening to that CD which is something I can't say very often, even with really good shit. I eventually get tired of it and they are in the hanful of bands that seem to have staying power with me. Cheers! Keep up the great work! Peace!

Kris

CAN I INTEREST YOU IN SOME GENERIC VIAGRA?

EDITOR: Many thanks for listing our band in your 2005 directory. Our popularity has soared because of our listing! I get at least three email “greetings” a day. Unfortunately I am not in the market for wholesale software at the best prices! Either your security is compromised or your scruples are for selling the banddirectory05 list to some idiot who thinks that a bunch of starving musicians need office productivity software for any reason!

Geoff Whitall

STREETBEAT VS. FANKICK REVISITED I

BRENDAN: If you think that 'streetbeat' is good, you should check out the group that started this dance-busk craze, fankick! Not only are they better dancers, but they've been doing it for the last couple of years—without any writeups. If you want to catch them, check them out at first Thursday by the vendors on the cobblestones. They'll be the ones 'taking the beats to the streets,’ as has been their motto for the last couple years. A fankick fiend.

Devon

STREETBEAT VS. FANKICK REVISITED II

TO THOSE OF YOU UNDER ROCKS AT THE STRANGER: When I first read your publication, I was a mere high school hooligan visiting my sister. She was pursuing her dreams, preparing to make a living doing that which she loves. Yes, expression through dance is her gig, and she honed her lifelong-aquired dance talent at Cornish. At first, (those five years ago) I was impressed with your publication, a great outlet for arts and entertainment; ideas and thoughts. But now I would rather spit upon its cover than shed light upon its contents. It was almost two full years ago when my sister and her partner formed FANKICK! The streets had never seen anything like them, and my sister's ecstatic phone calls recalling cheering, laughing, donating crowds were a weekly event. So, why, Stranger, do I hate you so? Its simple: Your uniformed article showcasing those hopeless prancing boys calling themselves 'Streetbeat.' Maybe they got their name from one of my sisters matchbooks? Anyways, the insult and indecency which has been done to FANKICK! should make you feel about as sorry as Streetbeat is at performing. What a couple of rip-off wanna-be losers. Please tell Streatbeat to get real. And if you manage to pull your head out of your ass, maybe you can crawl out from the rock you've been hiding under and take a look at whats really happening on the streets. Andrew Klein

TV PRIMATES NO LAUGHING MATTER

EDITOR: Let's face it, The Stranger isn't perfect. Occasionally a staff writer appears more interested in appearing clever than in doing journalism. Case in point: the latest installment in Steven Humphrey's I Heart Television, “Goodnight, Monkey Nurse” [April 7], about the orangutan formerly featured on the soap Passions.

Evidently Mr. Humphrey is blissfully unaware how very un-funny this particular subject is. Jane Goodall and local chimpanzee expert Roger Fouts both joined with PETA in pleading with NBC to stop using the ape years ago. The entertainment industry's use of orangutans and chimpanzees (both critically endangered in the wild) is an inhumane practice that forces unnatural behavior on our closest relatives through beatings and intimidation. Immature individuals are used for their malleability, then discarded when they grow dangerous.

Please take a few minutes to learn the sad truth about primates in the entertainment industry. Then, if you still think it's funny, you can visit your local SPCA branch for some local animal abuse stories that you'll find fucking HILARIOUS.

Grant Haddaway

POPE VS. SCHIAVO: AGAIN

Your cover of the Pope and Terry Schiavo was great. I just think most people missed the point or maybe I see it different. The cover was a jab at mainstream media coverage and at people that made a soap opera out of people dying.

The second Robert Blake was found innocent the media dropped him and jumped on Schiavo and then the Pope. The media made it a death race and a circus with all its followers making news. Schiavo is dead and will fade she will no longer be used as a pawn by a sleazy media and politicians for their own advancement. The Pope is the big money maker now for the media. Thousands morbidly flocked to the Vatican to view his body (had he gone to heaven at that point while he lay there decomposing or was he on hold???). TV showed it over and over and as usual added meaningless terms like, holy and sacred to this man to make him seem far more important than he is. He ate, crapped just like all of us while praying for the poor in front of priceless gold religious objects owned by the Vatican.

Yes, he influenced numerous events in the world but depending on which side you are on, helped or caused suffering on a massive scale. People are being pumped up by the media and it just makes me want to go spend a month this summer on a beach watching the waves, isolated form all the crap the media throws at us just to cleanse my mind (ok maybe with just a few beers and a little company).

Brian

Vancouver, B.C.

ELI DESERVES A PULITZER

EDITOR: I’ve been in journalism or related trades 50+ years and have rarely read a more powerful piece than Eli Sanders' “God Was With Them” [March 31]. Yet another example of the bizarre results of "Christianity" as practiced today, but the mainstream media left most of that material out their reports. The piece deserves wide circulation and a Pulitzer.

Frank Chesley

EVANGELICAL PSYCHOLOGY

STRANGER: Thank you for running Erin McClain's letter regarding "How Love Works" [Letters, April 7] for the rest of us to learn from. Let's see if I have this right: Gay men are looking to replace a damaged relationship with their father, so lesbians are probably wanting a new Mother. Which means bisexuals had bad relationships with, ugh, both their parents. And straight girls like her want to fix thier damaged relationship with THEIR father... do I have this right so far? Suddenly, it all seems so simple! All of which is a “choice” so it kinda deserves punnishment, really. Oh, and a big thanks to her for reminding us that "The Christian faith does not depend on the behavior of Christians, but on the lessons of Jesus." Which of Jesus' lessons do you cite for condemning homosexuality as a sin? Keep up the sanctimonious know-it-all good work, Erin!

Jeffrey Cook

Seattle

SOME CHRISTIANS OPPOSE HATE CRIMES

ELI: How’s it going? I wanted to write to you about your article in last week's Stranger. I love the Stranger and I wanted to represent to you those of us in the evangelical church who would feel very uncomfortable with how our church was presented in your article. First of all, I can say with complete confidence that the vast majority of evangelical Christians are utterly disgusted by the actions of the young men who did what they did to Michael. And I would also assume that we would be more disgusted than the rest of the world because of what their actions have done to the name of the Christ we as evangelical Christians claim to worship. And this is one of the problems I have with your article. It seemed to present this type of behavior as the norm for evangelicals and these people as examples of your average evangelicals. From my own experience this is not the reality. We would no more want these young men to be the representatives of our community than the Russian community would want them set forth as examples of good Russians.

I do admit we are a people with a great many problems and homophobia is not least among them. As you probably know, we do claim the Bible as the bedrock of our epistemology. And I can tell you it is a very difficult thing to have a two to four thousand year old book be the chief guide for your reasoning. None-the-less this is a distinguishing characteristic of being an evangelical and a task that I myself wholeheartedly embrace. Therefore, I am forced to balance some very unusual beliefs, such as, on the one hand, a God in the Old Testament who demonstrates terrible examples of his wrath like raining fire on a city for sexual sins among which he includes at the center homosexuality, and on the other hand, a Jesus who claims to be the full revelation of this same God and goes around healing people and showing true love to prostitutes and criminals.

Needless to say this can easily produce very unbalanced outcomes. For example, the many Evangelicals who lack compassion for homosexuals with HIV or AIDS. I'm not excusing this type of ignorance and hateful behaviour but I hope that if you can see where we are coming from you might be more understanding of our short comings. And leaving this majority of evangelicals who don't interact with the gay community with grace and understanding, there are many of us who contradict the common portrayal of fundamentalist Christians. I myself have many gay friends, I try to make them feel accepted and loved when I can, and I don't set myself up as their judge. I also have a handful of evangelical friends who have commited their entire lives to help out in the AIDS crisis. All us are honest with our gay friends about what we believe but the thought of acting violent toward them is absolutely disgusting to us. My gay friends can count on me as a true friend with no strings attached.

Lastly, I wanted to discuss your comment that Evangelicalism is a different religion entirely than the religion held by the rest of the Christian Church. I had never actually heard anyone put forth this idea so I wasn't quite sure how to take it. I have many other Christian friends whether Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Mainline Protestant, who would definitely be opposed to this opinion. I can't really see the grounds for this belief. The Great Awakening certainly wasn't the first time Christians started holding the Bible as an authoritative text. Nor are Evangelicals the only Christians who believe that one must be born of God to become a Christian. If you know any Eastern Orthodox Christian ask them what happens when you receive Christian baptism. If they know that church's doctrine they will tell you that you become born again. Anyway, my point is that a blanket statement like that shouldn't just be leveled against us. Its not that simple. And again, I know we have great many problems but the rhetoric displayed in your article will not help us become more understanding. It is exactly that kind of rhetoric that blinds us and prevents us from interacting with gay people in a decent and productive manner.

Anyway, thanks for listening. If you'd like we could get lunch sometime. And if you do talk to Michael, please give him an apology from me on behalf of all evangelicals for the actions of those young men and his father. Tell him it comes on my knees and with tears. B'shalom (in peace).

Andy Madsen

MONORAIL DOUBLESPEAK

STRANGER: I’ve just finished reading Diane Griese’s reply to Sandeep Kaushik’s article in the March 31 Letters Section concerning land acquisition by the Seattle Monorail Project. Ms. Griese displays an arrogance worthy of the best right-wing double-speakers in our country. It is the tone of her response that irritates, not the substance.

For example: Phrases like, “…monorail staff has worked closely with the Kubota family…” and, “…monorail staff offered to meet with them…They have not responded…” are, in lack of detail, totally irrelevant to any factual argument.

“Most people understand the monorail’s long-term value…and are willing to work with us.”, “…our-grass-roots beginnings…”, and , “…we thank the majority of Seattle residents who have shown tremendous patience…” are phrases crafted to demonize the Kubota’s by painting them as out of the mainstream and in-civil without offering any substantive information. I have no idea if the Kubota’s have a valid claim, but responses like this point to another issue with the Monorail Authority: accountability.

The Monorail Authority has, from its inception, acted with an arrogance best demonstrated by a huge public relations effort worthy of the Bush Administration’s ministrations. I would like to demand two pieces of information from this public Authority: 1) How much public money has the Monorail Authority budgeted and spent for public relations? I am curious why, since the “majority of Seattle residents…” seem to have shown support, they feel it necessary to spend valuable funding on P.R. at the expense of monorail design and construction. 2) What is the amount and specification of the lone successful and non-competitive “bid” received? How, without any competitive and equivalent comparisons, is the Monorail Authority to verify the value received in the proposal? Less Public Relations double-speak and more accountability would be a breath of fresh air for this organization and allay fear that they are trying to obfuscate complicated issues. Richard Davidson