Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to le*****@oc******.com, or send to Letters to the Editor, c/oOC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.
ZIEGLER
Girls may suck at math, but boys suck at language [Chris Ziegler's “Get Out!” Aug. 5]. The proper phrase is “drop their cell phones,” not “drop their cell phone,” since I assume there is more than one cell phone among all the DJs. Oh, and girls are catching up in math. Watch your backs, gentlemen.
A Girl DJ
Costa Mesa
meatwhistle . . . it seems you enjoy putting my name and credibility to the test with your snided remarks and jackass comments [Chris Ziegler's entry in “Diary of a Mad County,” May 27] . . . i would really like to meet in person and discuss my attributes and shortfalls in depth, so maybe you could try to write something a little less erronious next time. and please do everyone a favor, if possible? leave your halfwit disposition at home under your bed next to your blowup doll, what a frustrated jackass you must be, just another wanna be fucking bland out wanna be journalist, looking for a place to convey his jaded hollow shell of a human being lame opinions . . . my band M.IA. was a frontrunner in the o.c. punk movement from 1980 to 1988. in that time we played on four national tours, four canadian tours, appeared on numerous fanzine covers, ink deases, flipside, trouser press. played shows with alot of amazing bands, whom i have alot of mutal respect for, dk's, tsol, cramps, minor threat, goverment issue dinasour, jr, adolesents, vandles. and so on, i could go on but it's not my style. just because you were not there didn't mean it didn't happen . . . maybe before you write it down you should try to get the facts, you know? . . . the truth! . . . make the calls do the research . . . because i know you were not there. as far as the remark about being a fossil . . . yes, im 40 but why dont you stop over at tommys gym in costa mesa . . . on wed we have open sparring. . . . i'll fold your teath back for you ………………………………………. look forward to meeting!
Mike Conley
Via e-mail
Ziegler responds: Dad, you're embarrassing me!
LOWERY
Steve, I thought your Monday, Aug. 1, “Diary of a Mad County” item about your mind going as you grow old was absolutely laugh-out-loud hilarious [Aug. 5]. I recently walked into my bathroom and suddenly found myself thinking, “What the hell did I come in here for anyway?”
Robin Wilkes
Cal State University Dominguez Hills
[Editor's note: The following letter is in response to Lowery's Aug. 5 “Diary” item that complained it was so cold he had to wear a sweater.]
WHERE DO YOU LIVE and have you been OUTSIDE? It is like the surface-of-the sun-hot here! When it gets down to 80, then I'll wear a sweater. Sheesh.
Anonymous
Via e-mail
AGRAN
As a personal friend of Larry Agran, I am nonplussed by the Weekly's obsessive-compulsive, unremitting vendetta aimed at a person I know to be a model of morality and integrity. When I checked your archives I found 138 articles that refer to Larry, most of them in an all-out attack mode that leaves me completely baffled. Last week's piece entitled “Maybe It's Just Us” really hit home [July 29]. That Orange County's only alternative newspaper finds itself in lock step with The Orange County Register's blatantly anti-Semitic attack on Larry is outrageous and indefensible. Is it possible that the Weekly is also motivated by covert anti-Semitism when it continues to attack a great public servant?
Dave Blodgett, 84
Laguna Woods
WeeklyEditor Will Swaim, 45, responds: Dave, please read the piece again. It says, quite clearly, that theRegister's cartoon was anti-Semitic—it made us feel “uneasy.” We compared Shelton to a notorious Nazi. We concluded that, given our criticisms of Agran, Shelton's cartoon should have made us happy—but did not. That was made clear when we wrote: “We guess we should be happy. But have you ever found yourself in a debate and had a total lunatic take your side?” Sorry you misunderstood.
Blodgett responds: I didn't misunderstand. I concluded that the OC Weekly is anti-Semitic. There is no other explanation for the endless vendetta you are waging against Larry Agran. I would expect the OC Register to attack Larry, but not you.
Swaim responds: If you didn't misunderstand, then I'm grateful you're saving one copy of theWeekly for someone with a better sense of civic virtue. To suggest that criticism of Agran is, on its face, evidence of anti-Semitism belittles real anti-Semitism. You've damaged a very important word in our language, one that ought to be reserved for real cases of prejudice. Shame on you, Dave. And thanks for the letter.
ARELLANO
Thanks for the inside coverage of the Laguna Day Worker Center protest [“Viva el Trabajador!” Aug. 5]. One correction: Irma Ronses is not a city employee. It's a small point, but a large one in the ongoing protests, because the opposition argues that the city should not be supporting the LDWC. Actually, less than half the center budget comes from the city; most of our funding comes from local churches, other organizations and individuals.
David Peck
Chair, Laguna Beach Crosscultural Council
Laguna Beach
I found Elsa Arellano's Music column a tad funnier and a bit meaner than the usual claptrap served up by her brother, Gustavo [“How Are the Huevos?” July 29]! I would hate to be at an Arellano wedding or 15-nera! Look out! Abuelita is dissing the primas from Fontana and Corona!
Alexandro Jose Gradilla
Via e-mail
SELF-SERVING PLUG
Join us in congratulating Gustavo Arellano, just named a finalist in the PEN USA 2005 Literary Journalism Awards for “Hail the Hesitant Hero,” his November 2004 profile of Iraq War veteran Robert Acosta.
