PATRONIZING AND PRESUMPTUOUS

CHARLES MUDEDE: I just read your article "White Guys Just Wanna Have Fun" [March 20]. While I do sometimes get sick of negativism, sometimes this shit just has to be pointed out. Well done. Vampire Weekend are trying to bridge something, but they just don't get how patronizing and presumptuous it is. Chalk it up to youth and privilege? Maybe you could help them figure out a better way to do it?

I remember how when I was little the only recreation in my economically ruined town was the bowling alley. Literally, it was the only thing besides the newsstand; you had to trek 15 miles to reach a McDonald's. I felt something akin to resentment when I moved to Seattle and kids thought it was quaint and cool to go bowling. It just kinda makes me seethe, but I can't quite explain why. I do know it's somehow related to privilege—i.e., I have to feel self-conscious enjoying my first sailboat ride, but they are all shits and giggles at the bowling alley. Maybe this doesn't even come close to a race issue, but I understand how you feel in a way.

Wendy

NELSON'S EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE

SEAN NELSON: Although I admittedly did not have the opportunity to see as many films as I'd have preferred, I can honestly say that My Effortless Brilliance was absolutely the best thing I saw at this year's festival ["Buzz Kill," March 20]. The style, approach, and story just fit together so smartly and smoothly that I've been telling everyone I know about it, and I guess thus perpetuating the cursed "buzz" of which you speak. Sorry 'bout that. Is there any hope for distribution in any form? Because I kind of have a friend in San Francisco that really needs to see this film.

Sara

THE MITHRA MYSTERY

EDITOR: Excellent piece by Jen Graves on Roman art from the Louvre ["Rome in a Day," March 13]. Her use of an otherwise drab and, er, weighty subject made a compelling and interesting read by way of carving it up into 10 fun facts.

However, Jen's assertion that "no one knows quite what Mithraists practiced" is abrupt and sounds like a line from a Spinal Tap song. Though Mithra religion was for a very long time shrouded in mystery, it should be noted that a scholarly website devoted entirely to Mithraism (www.mithraism.org), designed and authored by Walter M. Shandruk, is the culmination of three and a half years of intense research on the subject and is an interesting follow-up to the study of Roman Art and the empire in general.

Eric Cooley

LINDY TAKES A BULLET

LINDY WEST: Thank you for taking that bullet named College Road Trip [Concessions, March 13]. Not that I had an inkling of seeing it. The Sure Thing is a great way to wash the taste of bad-road-trip movie out of your mouth, but might I also recommend Lost in America, written/directed by and starring Albert Brooks with Julie Hagerty. Modern classic.

Peter

A DISPATCH FROM THE HALLUCINOGENIC FRONT

CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE: While eating hallucinogenic mushrooms in my Honda today, I was locked into NPR as that's the only radio station my little '91 picks up. I was coming back to Capitol Hill from a supply run to that crunchy garden store in Madison Park and the Columbia City Lowe's. I had a trunk full of Cedar Grove compost, soil tests, peat moss, and Rubbermaid bins (for my worm composting project) stuffed into the hatchback.

Out of the ethers poured your interview in which you suggest that spiritual experience rooted in a wealth of literature is every bit as rich and functional as one rooted exclusively in the desert religious: Judaism and Christianity. The ensuing radio story, brilliantly situated between the triangle of the evolving faiths of your parents, your homosexual awakening, and your parents' periodic sexual adventures, held my rapt attention and provided a magnificent segue into the afternoon of rapture.

I especially loved the observation that your mother found grace in the arms of Jesus when her earthly groom refused to forgive her coital infidelity(s). I was strangely moved by the evangelical community's willingness to embrace a struggling mother so long as she comes toting a sordid story of disgrace and redemption. I begrudge such churched rescue epics nothing, so long as I be permitted to seek salvation with other modalities.

I will probably not have quite so ridiculous a day for some time to come. As your admirer, I was so moved to send my observations your way, and wonder in suspense if they will pierce the clamor of similar ovations.

Anonymous

YOU'RE WELCOME

DEAR EDITOR: Just want to say thank you for bringing back Underworld by Kaz.

Dave