SELFISH PEOPLE ARE BAD

EDITOR: Don't be so easily swept away into happy fantasy land, because there is a real world going on around you ["Jesus Is Out," Trisha Ready, April 6]. If you can be happy at somebody else's expense, then there is something wrong with you. Tony Robbins is my every-fucking nightmare. A big guy with big teeth, preaching the joys of life to everybody, disregarding the fact that many things -- like investing and career promotion -- can cost somebody else more than you gain.

"The Reverend," via e-mail


REVEREND READY

EDITORS: Thank you for publishing Trisha Ready's outstanding article, "Jesus Is Out." Her critique of enthusiasm, feigned happiness, and spirituality-for-dollars is compelling, indeed. It is among the most articulate sermons I've heard in years.

The Rev. Peter Cornell-Drury, Seattle First Christian Church


THe STRANGER KNOWS WHAT "TIME" IT IS

EDITORS: I've been pleasantly surprised [for] the past few weeks at how much real estate Charles Mudede has gotten in The Stranger, particularly his articles relating to hiphop. The Stranger seems to have a bent toward indie rock and the culture that goes along with it, giving nod after nod to the Crocodile, Modest Mouse, Death Cab, and so on. What hasn't gotten as much coverage is the hiphop scene, [which is] as deserving of cred as the rest of Seattle's music scene. If you've ever seen the 700 Club on Friday nights, you know that the local hiphop scene, while small, is growing rapidly -- as rapidly as the genre itself. It's nice to see The Stranger acknowledge that.

Jason Davidson, via e-mail


LAY OFF THE JUNK

DEAR CHARLES MUDEDE: You've always stood out for me, like a bright spot on a dark horizon, since you're clearly one of the few people at The Stranger capable of thinking and writing at the same time. I've admired you because you've seemed to be so bullshit-free. You've been satisfied to observe and most thoughtfully recount. Because of this, I was somewhat shocked at your "Vanguard or Vandalism?" piece [March 30], as it seemed to trot out just about every lame pony in the stall to no clear end. We had Marx, postmodernism, Fredric fucking Jameson, Baudrillard, Benjamin, and William F. Buckley. We had the "three stages of capitalism," periods of art, the bourgeoisie, and Dan Rather. Oh yeah, and something about graffiti. Charles, listen, this is the kind of bullshit that can be picked up any day of the week for the cost of a $20 blowjob on just about any corner in town. We don't need you to recite this lame shit chapter and verse -- we love you just the way you are. So PLEASE QUIT TAKING WHATEVER DRUGS YOU'VE GOTTEN STRUNG OUT ON AND GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!

Mark O'Connell, via e-mail


HUMPHREY TO THE RESCUE

OKAY, MISTER-TV-GUY-WHO-THINKS-HIS-ASS-IS-SO-GREAT: You have gone just a little overboard this time [I Love Television, Wm.â„¢ Steven Humphrey, March 16]. While no one dislikes Krauts as much as me (mostly because here in New York, they have this annoying habit of having lots of money and going to fancypants bars where they stand around dressed head to toe in black while laughing uproariously about Jews like me), I think you just never saw the good episodes of The Muppet Show. It wasn't all just washed-up stars, ya know. Don'tcha remember some of the touching moments Kermit and his friends shared with the likes of Jodie Foster, Johnny Cash, Steve Martin, and Alice Marilyn-Manson-Would-Be-Turning-Tricks-In- Hollywood-Without-Me Cooper? I mean, come on! Alice crushing random Muppets with a truck during the closing number of "Under My Wheels"? That is the sort of television we can only dream about in the 21st century. I mean, Buffy's really good and all, but a puppet with a boomerang fish? That, my friend, is comedy. You're right! We cannot allow the Muppets to fall to the Krauts. After the Muppets, they'll move on to Fonzie and his leather jacket, and pretty soon we'll turn on the TV and there will be some fat German guy in a bus driver's uniform yelling, "Fraulein Alice, ve hef vays uf making you talk viss a... pow! Right in ze kizzer!" So, while you really don't love the Muppets as much as you should, we cannot allow them to fall into enemy hands. Good luck. Every American man, woman, and child is counting on you.

Danny Gellert, Queens, New York


A MILD BUT SIGNIFICANT LETTER

DEAR EDITOR: I was mildly but significantly offended by Phil Campbell's article, "The Night People" [March 16]. My objection is not with Campbell's position on deplorable I-695, but rather with his portrayal of those who will be most negatively affected by this initiative ("Primarily employed as janitors..."). Having never worked a night job, I can't say that I took the term "night people" as a personal affront. However, I did find Campbell's [idea] of whom he considers his [readers] to be very interesting. Perhaps referring to "night people" as an anonymous third party and then directly addressing people "sleeping in [their] Queen Anne condo(s)" was a journalistic Freudian slip. Nonetheless, Campbell should not have been so presumptuous as to assume that his reading public did not include "the people who are emptying the trash cans in your office cubicle and cleaning... public toilets."

Mark Baugher, Portland, Oregon


ANOTHER STRAINED REFERENCE TO THE WTO RIOTS

EDITORS: Game shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Twenty-One have more in common than revealed in your recent article ["Why Am I Watching?" Michael Shilling, March 23]. I believe they represent opportunities to keep alive something which has almost become a myth: the opportunity to earn a lot of money on your own. Unless you are an athlete in a popular professional sport, you must almost certainly rely on a game show, a state lottery, or a spilled cup of hot coffee at McDonald's to propel you into the financial stratosphere. The denial, current or future, of an opportunity to make a livable wage -- a wage with which you might raise a family -- can lead to a lot of dissatisfied people. I believe some of those people were on Seattle's streets when the WTO was in town.

Timothy Muck, via e-mail


WHAT WOULD BE THE POINT? WE'RE ALL SCREWED ANYWAY

STRANGER: There are many issues of your rag that I leaf through in half an hour, and then wonder, "Why do I bother?" [But once in a while], you guys print something that makes me feel like I'm not such a weirdo, not such a "stranger." Stacey Levine's review of Soul of a Citizen ["What Really Matters," March 30] was such a piece, even more notable because Levine cops to the market cynicism that your paper usually indulges in. Your paper reminds me of my days doing daycare for elementary-school kids. I found it very easy to sympathize with their anti-authority viewpoint, and wanted to be Peter Pan. It wasn't just that I knew I was being paid to be a grownup that bothered me, but the knowledge that I wasn't doing them any favors by reinforcing their tiny power trips. In other words, I don't think your readership would hold it against you guys if you decided to grow up a little. My advice is, buy a copy of Loeb's book for everybody on staff at The Stranger, and try to alienate a DIFFERENT group of people each week with your witty opinions -- not just those with genuine responsibilities.

Joe Rodgers, Kitsap, WA


HIPPIE SEZ RIGHT ON!

DEAR STACEY LEVINE: I just read your wonderful review of Paul Loeb's Soul of a Citizen. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Reminds me of the Christophers many years ago: "It's better to light one little candle than to stumble in the dark." Activism [with the] motive of helping, rather than the pursuit of power, can slowly help strengthen that which is good and beautiful in the activist -- which also helps make the world a better place. Do activists win them all? No, and they're not immune to mistakes, either. But your review, and Loeb's book, are right on.

Maria Abdin, Seattle


SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

DEAR EDITOR: The agency I work for is neither county-run nor a mission. The Downtown Emergency Service Center is a private, nonprofit organization ["There's a Whole World Underground," Grant Cogswell, March 30]. One of the original reasons for its existence was to provide services for disabled and vulnerable homeless adults, without imposing religious beliefs or activities. Although the county is one of our major funders, so are the city and the Feds. United Way and generous local supporters complete our funding picture. I hope this sets the record straight.

Kenneth Tanzer, Community Relations Manager, Downtown Emergency Service Center, Seattle