SICK
Sir: Your recent article on the “Hell Houses” [Oct 30] was a sick
example of journalism. I did notice in the classified ads next to the
article there was an ad for gutter cleaning. You should try that. I
must say you are definitely in competition with San Francisco for being
so weird.
Jim
FREAKS
Hello: Today, I have been following the brouhaha over the “Hell
Houses” article. This evening, I decided to do a Google search for
right-wing blogs discussing the article. The BIG difference is that in
the Stranger article, there was no language whatsoever
suggesting any harm to the people living the GOP-
bannered
homes—incidentally large, fenced enclaves with security, I’m
sure. Whereas, the freaks on the blog[s] are overtly suggesting harm to
people who do not live behind castle walls.
My thoughts are with you all.
Janet Crisp
CLASSIC
RE: “HELL HOUSES”: Intolerance cuts both ways. Your intolerant
reporting and irresponsible posting of photos and addresses of private
citizens’ residences, based solely upon their political preferences, is
classic fascistic behavior. The irony in all of this being done by a
gay-agenda paper astounds me.
Fleetwood Morgan
BULLSHIT
EDITOR: And it comes full circle. Last month in one of the comment
threads about that nitwit from Alaska and the fighting in Iraq, someone
made the point that the idiot right’s knee-jerk line about the soldiers
in Iraq “fighting for our freedom” is just that: bullshit. Nobody in
Iraq is fighting to save any of our freedoms over here.
Now this, and the same knee-jerk right wing idiots react to an
arguably irresponsible story with death threats [“Hell Houses”]. If
that isn’t irony, I don’t know what is. The raving loons on the right
are threatening to kill people over a disagreement. The freedoms our
soldiers are supposedly fighting for in Iraq, do they include freedom
of the press? Is it worth fighting for freedom of the press over here?
Is The Stranger going to cave in to the batshit right-wing
loons?
Jeff Rivers
THE DARK SIDE
Erica C. Barnett: I just read your article [“Sleeping with the
Enemy,” Oct 23] and was quite disappointed in Cathy [Allen]. As a
Democrat, I have always believed in being true to my party through good
days and bad. I recently received an e-mail from Cindi Laws: “Cindi
Laws Voter Guide.” Cindi has also gone over to “The Dark Side.” They
will never again convince me that they are Democrats. I will not trust
them in the future.
Robert (Bob) Carter
INSULTED
EDITOR: I recently read your description for the HUMP! film entitled
Flesh! [“HUMP! 4: The Films,” Oct 23], in which you disparaged
SIFF and STIFF as “maybe” showing “at least one zombie fuckfest.” While
I can’t officially speak for SIFF, I can say without a doubt that we at
STIFF were quite insulted. I’ll have you know that we work very hard to
achieve a certain measure of quality in our programming, and I can only
tell you that we show a very large percentage of the zombie fuckfests
that are submitted to us. There have actually been many times that I’ve
thought, “If only I could assemble an entire film festival dedicated to
undead intercourse, I would die a happy man,” but the truth of the
matter is that those films are somewhat rare.
Last year, the only film to even be submitted was the HUMP! favorite
Zombie Tapioca Lovefest, so we had to settle for augmenting with
two movies heavy on necrophilia… I would also like to point out that
when the cook from the Rendezvous served actual tapioca pudding during
the screening, it was all eaten. Not one single member of the audience
threw pudding at the screen. Why? Because unlike those hooligans who
show up at SIFF screenings, our audience is fucking civilized.
Clint Berquist, Director, STIFF
NOTEWORTHY
EDITOR: I never thought I would see the day when I would encounter
the word “tatterdemalion” again. It was in the 1950s when I was doing a
Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle and was asked for a
14-letter word that meant “ragamuffin” which ran across the puzzle from
one end to the other. It stumped me—but when I discovered the
not-everyday Dickensian word, I never forgot it. Not until Brendan
Kiley used it correctly in his review of Black Gold [Oct 30] did
it present itself to me again.
Mr. Kiley revealed to me a literacy that I must salute. It says
volumes about his and his parents’ educational values. Particularly
noteworthy in this day of txtmsgng abbreviations and limited
vocabularies.
Bernard Bossom
Smells like bitch in here.