THE RIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Dear Editor: Dan Savage states in "Real Fear" [October 28], "I'm scared of our light rail plan, and I hope it never gets built." His succinct and frightfully accurate conclusion, "If we do build our proposed light rail system -- one that isn't gonna work -- we won't build one that does," chilled me to the bone.

I rank mass transit alongside clean air and affordable housing in my "quality of life" top 10 list, and would actively support a working transit system -- which clearly isn't Sound Transit's ill conceived, multi-million-dollar brainchild.

I'm a Rainier Valley resident, and light rail will be like Frankenstein's monster: unwittingly destroying everything in its path (housing, small businesses, pedestrians) while never fulfilling the lofty dreams (efficiency, economic development, traffic reduction) of its creators. This monster needs to be rethought, redesigned, and adequately funded before it gets its first bolt of lightning.

Laura Nelson, via e-mail


GIVE RAIL A CHANCE!

Dear Editor: I read Dan Savage's recent condemnation of the light rail system being planned for Seattle. His argument seems to be that if you build a limited rail system connecting only 3 points (Downtown, Capitol Hill, and the U-District), it will turn people off to any further expansion that would make it into a "real" subway system connecting all the major parts of the city. Frankly, I don't see why this is so. I live on Capitol Hill, and at present a trip to the U-District (from the time I leave my apartment to the time I step off the bus) takes -- on average -- about an hour. If the new system cuts that time in half, it would be a great endorsement for light rail and would induce people around the city to clamor for lines being extended to their own neighborhoods as well. Sure, there will be some headaches during the construction phase, but the end product will both justify and obliterate them.

Russell Scheidelman, Seattle


ME HATE SALTY MEAT

Dear Stranger: I just got done reading this week's Chow article by Jim Anderson [November 4], and would just like to say, "Bravo Jim!" I was beginning to think that you guys only reviewed places so you could kiss their ass, but when I read this article, my faith was renewed. I had an equally unpleasant experience at Daniel's Broiler and vowed never to return and would never recommend it to even my worst enemy. We need to eliminate these overpriced slabs of shit disguised as meat!!

Darrin Goodwin, via e-mail


ME LOVE SALTY MEAT

Dear Jim Anderson: Fuck you. Salt on red meat is right. So is flavor and big slabs of fat. Butter on steak is also a very good thing. You are a bunch of goddamn yuppies. I hate food that's from Third World countries. If you want beans, don't eat at a steakhouse, assholes.

Anonymous, via e-mail


ME FROM LESCHI, AND ME HATE SALTY MEAT

Dear Stranger: Hats off to Jim Anderson! It's about time somebody said something about the overrated Daniel's Broiler restaurants. As a neighborhood resident of Leschi, I was once a frequent diner at the Lakeside Avenue location. Over the last two years, however, the establishment has gone completely downhill. My last visit was two years ago, unfortunately with some relatives from Europe. The newly employed waitress was better suited to a Denny's, and when the steaks arrived, they were an over-charred, salty mess. After sending them back, the second attempt was just as bad. Sound familiar, Jim? After one of our party wrote a letter to management expressing our disgust, they tried to appease us with a complimentary dinner. We thought it was a fair gesture so we went back to the restaurant. Guess what? Nothing really changed! The steaks once again arrived over-done, resulting in another sub-par dining experience. Never again!

Bounty Bassey, via e-mail


NOW THAT WE'RE ON THE INTERNET -- THEY LOVE US!

Darling Fascist Bully Boys: I have just recently moved from Seattle to San Francisco, and I miss your puerile little rag. You can imagine my surprise when today, while temping, I found your website and read almost the entire paper. One thing, though: I miss the comics. Would you please scan 'em and put 'em on the Web too?

You're all god's people,

Paul, via e-mail

The Stranger responds: Paul, for years you called us puerile, and when we finally get rid of you, you suddenly "love us" and want us to "scan comics" for you? Hey, Paul! Eat our ass!


Dear Editors: Just an informal e-mail to let you know I think your publication is great. I recently moved from Seattle (I'm a native) to San Francisco, and the ONLY thing I miss is The Stranger to highlight my Thursdays. I do read it online, but I miss getting the newsprint on my fingers. Is there a way to get the real deal? The local papers here SUCK. They are way too serious and not interesting to read, except for the personals. Keep up the rebel attitude.

Elspeth Johnson, via e-mail

The Stranger responds: Elspeth, for years you complained about our newsprint, and when we finally get rid of you, you suddenly "love us" and want us to keep up the "rebel attitude"? Hey, Elspeth! Eat our ass!


Dear Stranger: You know, I was never a big fan of the Internet. Now that I've found this paper, I feel complete. I live 3,000 miles away in a music wasteland that believes Godsmack, Limp Bizkit, and Korn are pioneers, when I see them as Poison and Winger minus the fluorescent shirts and guitars. All my favorite bands hail from or near the Emerald City. Great bands like Zeke, the Supersuckers, Murder City Devils, Gas Huffer, the Kent 3, Mudhoney, the Fastbacks, C Average, etc. may come to my neck of the woods now and then, but after they leave I feel all empty inside, especially when our bogus "modern rock" stations play endless loops of hiphop metal and cheesy "grunge" bands like Creed, or as I call them, Crud. By the way, Limp Bizkit = Lame Dipshits. So I want to thank you, The Stranger. If it weren't for you I'd have no idea what was going on with all my favorite bands. I can understand Seattle needing a break from being in the national spotlight -- when it comes to music, anyways -- but I cannot be alone when I say we desperately need it to happen again: The mentality that everybody is welcome, come as you are. I've never done it all for the nookie. I am lost. Thanks for showing the way.

Brian in Clinton, MA, via e-mail

The Stranger responds: Brian, for years we played your precious grunge music, and when we finally get rid of you, you suddenly "love us" and want us to diss Limp Bizkit? Hey, Brian! Do this for the nookie: Eat our ass!


PROOF WE'LL PRINT ANYTHING

Hey! I just want to tell you I'm sick and tired of poor people. Your newspaper is so damned accommodating and pandering to poor people. Let me tell you something, I've been poor. Poor people, I know from firsthand experience, are stupid, ignorant, smelly, irresponsible, they don't vote, they sleep late, they eat bad food all the time -- rotten, fetid bad food -- they stink, they're awful, they're miserable. Poor people suck! You need to get that through your heads!

Anonymous, via voicemail


PROOF WE'LL PRINT ANYTHING TWICE

Hey! What is all this boo hoo bull about poor people? I'm so sick and tired of poor people. I've been poor. The majority of poor people are just evil, disgusting people. There is no reason for your newspaper to constantly whine about the plight of the poor people. The poor people, for the most part, bring it upon their own ignorant selves because they're stupid, they're lazy, they don't read, they can't read, and they sit in front of a TV eating chips and pizza and garbage. They drink too much, they use too much drugs. I know from firsthand experience. Would your newspaper please stop pandering to poor people? They're not worth it! They're just scum!

Same anonymous wacko, via voicemail


WHAT A WASTE

DEAR STRANGER: Okay, I'm confused. At the top of page 9 in your November 11 issue (In Other News), you blast terminally perky Heidi Wills for accepting $6,000 from the pro-Sidran forces of darkness. At the bottom of the very same column you note that neighborhood activist -- and Stranger endorsee -- Dawn Mason spent more money per vote than any of the other council candidates. Wills won, Mason lost.

So, the way I read it, Mason wasted more money losing than Wills did winning. Or to put it another way, regardless of the Windfall of Evil she received, Wills was more fiscally responsible.

Gosh, oh golly gee! What's not to like?

Jef Jaisun, via e-mail

P.S. Ummm, can I have my bus pass now?