‘It’s Articles Like This That Turn OC Weekly From a Good Read Into a Must-Read’
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, 2975 Red Hill Ave., Ste. 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.
ORANGE COUNTY HISTORY X
Thank you for a colorful and interesting story [Gustavo Arellano’s “Hero & Villain,” Jan. 9]. I love how the historian is now part of the history and almost as interesting a part as the original incidents. It says a great deal about the influence and naivete of the historian. Very Orwellian. Bravo!
Anonymous, Huntington Beach, via ocweekly.com
Muchas gracias, Gustavo, for your research and article. As a Californio descendant, it never ceases to amaze me how the “reworked” and usually sensationalized histories of California and Orange County inevitably reveal the “hidden agenda” of the authors, no matter what the time period of their scribbling, from contemporary to modern. The desire to “augment the facts” blurs the events into something they never were.
As for the brief bit [on the Navel Gazing blog] about the sad literary state of the Californios, the inherent paranoia of and tearing down of the historical heritage of the non-Caucasian peoples in our great land continues through the centuries. By the way, what’s Spanish for “Tsk-tsk!” or “Gimme a break”?
William S. Dean, Santa Ana, via ocweekly.com
I have no idea why you are so obsessed with your Mexican dark history and try daily to revise and revisit it. I, too, tried to be a fan of the Mexican struggle until I learned that my hero Pancho Villa allegedly tied up nearly 40 women after one of them allegedly discharged a gun against him. He did not know which one it was, so he walked around the tied group of women and shot them one by one. All 40 of them. Since then, I see Pancho Villa, Zapata and others as nothing more than typical dirty Mexican gangsters, which you can find on every corner in Santa Ana.
Stanley Fiala, Santa Ana, via ocweekly.com
It’s articles like this that turn OC Weekly from a good read into a must-read. Gimme more, Gustavo, gimme more!
Kaonashi, Japan, via ocweekly.com
FOOD COMA
Nice review [Edwin Goei’s “Noodle As Lifeline,” Jan. 9]. The beef ramen at Ajisen Ramen sounds good; I’ll have to try that in the future. So far, I’ve had the Ajisen ramen (their signature dish) and the Paiku ramen. Ajisen serves a decent bowl of Chinese soup noodles, but they fall a bit short as Japanese ramen.
Edjusted, via ocweekly.com
OUTED
I’m a fan of Trendzilla, and I cannot believe Urban Outfitters was discriminating against gay people [Vickie Chang’s Trendzilla, Jan. 9]. My friend and I were fans of their clothing styles until we found out that chairman Rich Hayne was contributing money to legislation against gay marriage. We were shocked and sad. I can’t believe that there is still this much ignorance in America. Thank you for bringing this topic to kids who shop without thinking about what they are buying and supporting.
Jose Del Real, Long Beach, via ocweekly.com
ICH BIN EIN KRAUT!
When Ella Taylor refers to “those Krauts” in her article [“From Reverence to Rape,” Jan. 2], I wonder, would she still have a job if she reviewed a movie about Pancho Villa and said “those Beaners”? So you practice selective political correctness?
Max, Huntington Beach, via e-mail
FRANKLY, WE LIKE SCOTT BETTER, TOO
Concerning Frank Mickadeit and his recent TV appearance on KOCE-TV’s Real Orange, Frankie should stick to written reporting work. In fact, he shouldn’t even be doing that, seeing how biased and influenced by others he is, in addition to being drab, which also showed on his TV appearance. His TV presence was horrible. It took him 10 minutes to say things that could have taken three minutes. I think he said, “ummm,” “uhhh” and “and uhhh” (emphasis on the “duhhh”) more than anything else. One would think he was reading notes, based on his staring through his dime-slot eyes at the desk the whole time, but the ummms and uhhhs don’t support that. After seeing how much he slouched, I now know for sure he truly is spineless. The only time he showed his upside-down smile was when he cracked that horrible, premeditated goat joke. Frankie made it seem like he is the don of the OC drama class and was the one who uncovers the shady things that happen in OC politics, when we all know that it is R. Scott Moxley who is the don of uncovering the darker side of OC politics.
Ethan Kolasinski, via e-mail
MIXED REVIEWS
I was at the Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss acoustic show discussed in Ryan Ritchie’s article [“Don’t Look Back,” Jan. 9]. I don’t mean to be harsh—it’s hard as an artist to put yourself out there—but I really did not like Schloss’ performance. It was as if you could tell what he was “going for,” but he never actually made it. The vocals were horrible, and he seemed drunk as a skunk. I was surprised at how bad it actually was.
Really? Corona del Mar, via ocweekly.com
I saw these guys at the Buddy-head Christmas party. They were awesome. A definite highlight.
Susan, Buena Park, via ocweekly.com
