February 20, 2003 · VOL. 12, NO. 23

FRONT OF BOOK Letters: Riddled with corrections and clarifications this week, all of which have been inspired by inane bungles made by The Stranger's rigorously shoddy news department... Last Days: Wonderful. Just wonderful.... NEWS (Note: It has been brought to my attention that I have failed to critique Charles Mudede's column, Police Beat, for a number of months. This, I can assure you, is entirely accidental, as I had quite honestly forgotten it existed--an admission, I assume, a number of readers can confess as well).... FEATURE A rather humorous rant by one Neal Pollack, the self-professed "greatest American writer." Since the words "greatest" and "writer" do not often (or should I say, never) collide when describing a Stranger writer, Mr. Pollack's entertaining article is definitely a breath of fresh air.... FILM Normally I would take Sean Nelson to task for reviewing a film he walked out on, but I have run out of strongly worded critiques to describe how inept and awful he is.... BOOKS Just how did The Stranger manage to wrestle Christopher Frizzelle, one of the Seattle Weekly's best writers, away from its competitor? One suspects the answer can be found in the classic science fiction film Return of the Jedi, specifically the oft-quoted lines "join me" and "embrace the dark side".... ART Didn't read.... THEATER Didn't read.... FOOD Also didn't read.... MUSIC Skimmed.... ETC. It's My Party: Didn't read.... I Love TV: Skimmed.... Control Tower: Didn't read.... Savage Love: Unable to muster the energy to tackle the column this week.... Celeb I Saw U: Gayous maximus....