Letters From OC Weekly Readers

'Use That Weekly Coin to Buy Some Sort of a Clue'

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to letters@ocweekly.com, or mail to Letters to the Editor, c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.

TRENDY GARBAGE
Are you serious? Forever 21 again [Trendzilla by Vickie Chang, March 7]! Has anybody on staff ever stepped foot in that place? Do you pay this woman to write this crap? If so, tell her to use that Weekly coin to buy some sort of a clue. Trendzilla is garbage and so irrelevant it's painful.

Julian Gray, via e-mail

MEXICAN-FREE AIN'T THE WAY TO BE
Without going into the intricacies of international law, part of the mission of all embassies, consulates and government delegations is to provide service to the citizens of the country they represent ["Mexican-Free School Zone" by Daffodil J. Altan, March 7]. I have observed the "mobile services" of the Santa Ana Mexican Consulate and former Consul Luis Ortiz and saw nothing sinister. They were providing a variety of services to citizens of Mexico. As to the matricula consular, your article notes that this is not a new thing and that any Mexican citizen may have one; many of my Mexican friends, all present in this country legally, have them simply because they are easier to carry than a birth certificate. The only thing different is the presently issued matriculas are virtually tamper-proof and secure.

The Santa Ana consular office has also been much more responsive to this gringo's inquiries than similar attempts to get information from U.S. government offices here.

The Minutemen are way off-base. From their actions, I wonder if any of them ever travel outside the United States. Our consular personnel, among other duties, serve U.S. citizens who happen to be on foreign soil. Are the Minutemen opposed to this, too? I have been assisted with advice and documents by American consulates in Europe and in Latin America. I have never had to use the service but am told that consular personnel leave their offices (mobile consulate?) to serve U.S. citizens abroad.

Dean Whinery, La Habra

I just saw the cover of OC Weekly featuring "Mexican-Free School Zone" and found it to be beyond offensive and more of a hate crime. I actually felt physical pain and deep sadness by the extreme ugliness of it. You should be ashamed of yourself for allowing such a racist statement on the cover of your magazine. Did you think this was funny or artistic to insult the Mexican race? Who is your target market now, OC bigots? What will be next on your cover, Jewish-Free Zone? Artist-Free Zone? Italian-Free Zone? Black-Free Zone? Gay-Free Zone?

Mary Jane Cambria, Costa Mesa

MIKE CONLEY
Below is a poem in memory of Mike Conley of MIA [Sprawl of Sound by Dave Segal, March 7].

Read the news and saw your face

As I wiped a tear away

I think it's punk rock heaven

I'll see ya there someday.

Wishin' I could have found you

Before the beginning of the end.

Would have told you, I'd be true

There always, as a friend

I remember your smile, a majestic smirk

Energy level high

We were born into that scene

Of better days gone by

Now that you can see us all

From your stage cloud up above

Watch our hearts still spin with a magic

Like Adolescent Love

I'm gonna cut our your picture

And tears will fall again

Moon stage-lights of backyard shows

The faithful from back when

Read the news and saw your face

As I wiped the tears away

I think it's punk rock heaven

I'll meet you there someday

I come across the fliers

Remembering the shows

We lived a world of our own

Outsiders have never known

You're still here with all of us

In a permanent fixture of love

A heart-filled scene—No in-between

Like a Galaxy caressed glove

Good times always remembered

memories here to stay

I think it's punk rock heaven

See ya there someday

With memories and respect,

Sheree Whipple, Garden Grove

SWINGING GOOD TIME
Really, now! Robert McGinley ["Swing Shift" by Daffodil J. Altan, March 14] "loves cats," huh? Are you sure he didn't mean "pussy"?

Bob Squalonero, via e-mail

DO YOU THINK SHE MEANS HE ACTUALLY KILLED THOSE PEOPLE? BECAUSE YOU'D THINK WE WOULDA HEARD ABOUT THAT . . .
Thank you for writing the article on Bob Bisno ["Bisno as Usual" by Gustavo Arellano, March 7]. It is important for the public to understand the man who singlehandedly exterminated the human population of Lincoln Place that was more than 1,500 individuals. There are still to this day 700 empty apartments at Lincoln Place in the midst of a housing crisis. Please continue the good work of creating an awareness of such predatory developers.

Erin Grayson, via e-mail

CLOSELY GUARDED
I do not think it is appropriate to write about the private lives of lifeguards [Moxley Confidential by R. Scott Moxley, March 21]. What we do in our own time is our own business. Mandy was a girl, and anybody who tells you she was a man is lying.

Anonymous, via e-mail