Ceil Goldman
Via the Internet
You help us understand the vixen: Great article, Bob Norman ("Hangin' with the Church Lady," July 10). I too talked with Margaret Hostetter at the press forum, and I even considered inviting her on my radio show ("Issues Over the Rainbow," FM 93.1). I thought to myself after talking to her: Why? What could I possibly achieve? The only place I could see it going was to anger. It would only upset an audience that is already overly frustrated by her extreme narrow-mindedness. There could be no rational dialogue, no conversation about understanding something that was beyond, in this case, understanding. So I let it go, and you picked up the ball and ran with it. Good job. You were fair in your reporting. You made us understand who she is without stating what I will call, just to be nice, the obvious.
Mark "Marky G" Gibson
Miami
Something rotten in Hollywood: Thank you for exposing the potato head, toady troll of a mayor for what she truly is ("Incentivize This," Bob Norman, July 3). I'd still like to know why the City of Hollywood had to pay off the former health director for what he knew about our mayor and her manipulation of the city health care system.
People like you who go out and find a story like this, and then do a beautiful job of writing it, are rare. Thank you again for a great story.
Rich Stewart
Via the Internet
Write us an erotic poem, Jen: After pondering the question of how to respond to a review written by someone who obviously lacks culture, originality, or any measure of sincerity ("Olive Spoil," Jen Karetnick, June 12), the road I take is this:
The review describes an event she clearly does not understand. She states that "my dick hurts" is not "an auspicious beginning to a serious poem." She's entitled to her opinion, though the poet who wrote that poem thinks otherwise. As a matter of fact, so did all of those who were sincere enough to remain quiet long enough to hear the poem in its entirety.
Jen, wake up. I happen to like the Wet Olive. It has a nice atmosphere to meet friends. The food is great. I've spoken with the chef and other workers there. They are all friendly approachable people. In fact, they seemed enthusiastic about meeting any concern I had.
Try your hand at writing something else. Better yet, write about your erotic emotions and sexual healings; then try reciting them at ePoetry.
Whitney Rawls
Oakland Park
Odorific: Far be it from me to criticize Jeff Stratton's hipness (Bandwidth, May 15); that is obviously the only thing he has going for him. But I couldn't help but detect a certain odor emanating from his articles on the Philharmonic, and the source of it was his snobbiness. I am so sick of "rockers" looking down their noses at "classically trained" musicians. Of course, the "rockers," like Stratton, are the ones making all the money, and the "classically trained" are eating cat food, right? Did Stratton even realize that one of the musicians he interviewed made a living as a rock and jazz musician prior to joining the Philharmonic? Did he just leave that out of the piece? Oh, of course, his editor took it out! We certainly wouldn't want dear reader thinking that one of those stuffy, snobby, "classically-trained" types was actually hip!
People have been saying that classical music has been dying since Wagner! They said it in Debussy's time, Stravinsky's, Schönberg's, Stockhausen's, Reich's, etc. You may also notice that each of these composers (see how I don't assume you are illiterate?) was revolutionary, reacting against the prevailing style preferred by the conservative older audiences. Concert halls are the domain of the culturally elite. People with wealth and power have a need to show an interest in the higher aspirations of humanity. People with wealth and power also tend to have gray hair. This is nothing new, and it doesn't mean that when they die, classical music will die with them. They will be replaced by other people with graying hair and wealth and power. There will always be an audience for classical music.
Andy-Bob Nolen
Classically trained cellist and punk-rock veteran
Via the Internet