Just a quick trip on I-95: Great issue this week ("Meet the New Republicans," Jonathan Zwickel, November 17)! Finally, a spotlight is being turned to our music scene! It's been two years of fighting to get recognition for local artists from the press. Things are finally turning around.
Thanks also for running Abel Folgar's review of Modernage's EP, Receiver (Subtropical Spin, September 22). Modernage is playing Crush in Fort Lauderdale on December 1. We haven't established as much of a following in Broward as we've had in Miami and Orlando, but hopefully that will change with your help. That review was definitely a first step in our renewed focus on Broward.
If Modernage has established a name in nonrock-scene Miami, then Broward is definitely attainable.
Xavier Alexander
Miami
Are these guys hungry or what? Nice article on Awesome New Republic ("Meet the New Republicans"). I agree with you on the ANR boys; they have done well, and there is potential for more.
However, I've been trying to get anybody at New Times to write an article like the one you did on the band I manage that has been the talk of the town and the indie NYC-London blogs for a while, Modernage.
Richard Spears
Miami
Editor's note: Please read the prior letter — and then the article it refers to.
Madonnanalia
Point of order, Ms. Know-It-All: I have a couple of objections to Night Court's "Madonna in Exile" piece (Courtney Hambright, November 17):
1. Confessions on a Dance Floor is not Madonna's first release since Music in 2000 — American Life was issued in 2003.
2. Tracy Young did not mix Music the album as the article suggests — she did remix Music the single, but Mark "Spike" Stent is credited with mixing the actual full-length.
May I honorably and humbly suggest some better copyediting and fact-checking? I rest my case.
Michael Mut
Hialeah
Um, what's that copyeditor's name? Courtney Hambright is usually on point, punchy and hilariously enjoyable, but she missed a key ingredient in the Madonna piece. Her last album was not Music; it was American Life. Albeit forgettable, depending on who you talk to, it still was her last (2003). Who copyedits you guys anyway? Missed a key point.
Rafael Abreu
Fort Lauderdale
Get Serious
Tailpipe shoulda done a Ph.D. thesis: I am writing because I fail to see the relevance in reporting the information Tailpipe did in his article "Videogames: Just Say No" (November 10).
The piece started out OK — quoting from the Senate bill put forward by Alex Diaz de la Portilla summarizing the consequences if it is passed. But then it disintegrated into totally irrelevant personal gossip, citing a 20-year-old driving record and a civil matter regarding his girlfriend that pertains nothing to the current bill before the Senate. I don't care if Diaz is a bad driver. I really don't. And that's not the subject of the article anyway. It was supposed to be about the new bill and what it would mean for the people of South Florida.
If Tailpipe wanted to talk about Alex Diaz as a person and (the inconsequential) events of his life, fine. But this info shouldn't be mixed in with reporting about what measures Diaz is currently working on in his political career.
I would much rather see Tailpipe finding, talking to, and quoting experts on child development and citing reports or studies backing up or refuting the claim that videogames affect children.
Rebecca Stone
Miami Beach
You Are What You Choose
When the heat gets hotter: Thanks for honoring Choice Rocks! by writing about it and directing New Times readers to the event ("Born to Choose," Jason Budjinski, October 13). Perhaps more important, thanks for capturing the spirit of this benefit. As you know, the arson of the Presidential Women's Clinic was an attempt to intimidate those who are pro-choice. Since your article documented that it had the opposite effect, perhaps in the future, the conniving coward (or cowards) will rethink their strategy and put their matches and combustibles away.
I hope your article planted a seed so that others will be inspired to organize similar charity concerts to support organizations, like Planned Parenthood, that defend our civil rights. By writing about Choice Rocks!, you shined a light so that our community could see that there are everyday people — poets and rockers among them — who will continue to honor, celebrate, and fight for our collective rights. I cannot thank you enough!
Marya Summers
Delray Beach
