Letters

Contact us via phone (714-825-8432), e-mail (le*****@oc******.com), regular mail (Letters to the Editor, OC Weekly, P.O. Box 10788, Costa Mesa, CA 92627) or fax (714-708-8410). Visit our website at www.ocweekly.com. Letters will be edited for clarity and length. All correspondence must include your home city and a daytime phone number.

WEEKLY DOES HIGH-FIVE N CHEST THUMP

Nick Schou deserves a Pulitzer Prize—or the equivalent honor for a weekly beat reporter—for his article “Harald Martin's Army” (Aug. 4). This is what reporting used to be: the reporter saw something happen and told the rest of us about it. The writing was crisp and compelling from beginning to end. A lesser talent would have had trouble resisting the red meat of the quote, “Hey, where would you [African-Americans] be without slavery?” Schou scored his touchdown without yielding to the temptation of spiking the ball. Well done!

Wayne R. Valin
Santa Ana WEEKLY ASKS, 'QUE?'

The “Hey, You!” column for July 6 states, “My condolences for insisting on speaking Spanish, an august language spoken by more of the world's people than English.” According to the 2000 World Almanac N Book of Facts, 514 million people speak English and only 425 million people speak Spanish.

Phil Collins
OceansideWEEKLY STAFFS HATE EACH OTHER

Re: Jim Washburn's suggestion that “one of those mesh barriers between the front and back seats” of the Weekly fleet car might “cut down on the inter-staff hitting” (“Lost in OC, Aug. 4). Don't you mean intra-staff, on the assumption that there is only one staff at the Weekly, whose members sometimes experience intra-staff disharmony?

Michael Amarosa
Santa Ana WEEKLY WINS WHATEVER'S COOL!

Jim Washburn's “How not to become a rock star” (Lost in OC, July 21) was a sweet, adorable, compassionate and articulate essay! We used to see the fishfaces and flopfoots, as we called the state hospital “residents,” wandering the grounds of Fairview on our way to the beach. . . . I must say the whole Feedback issue was very readable. Love the “Paying the Rent” articles; one always wonders about rock N roll day jobs.

I meant to write a couple of weeks ago to extol the virtues of Jory Farr's article about Holocaust escapee Bert Jakobs (“Horror, Hiding, and the Holocaust,” June 16). That was over and beyond anything I've ever seen in your rag. I hope Farr wins some kind of prize, like a Pulitzer or whatever's cool these days.

CJ Gargano
Laguna BeachWEEKLY THROWS DIRT IN FACES!

I used to read the Weekly to find out where my favorite local bands were playing. Then I read the Weekly for the movie reviews, too, as I got sick and tired of wasting my money at the local Edwards theater on another 90-minute pile of studio-hyped crap. Then, as I got older (shudder), I felt that I needed to be more aware of what was going on in the world around me, so I started reading the Times. I continued to read the Weekly, and, comparing the two, I realized that the Times was the newspaper equivalent of television news (and we all know how pathetic that is), and if I wanted the real story about anything happening locally, I would find it in the Weekly. (I almost died laughing two weeks ago when the Times finally ran a story about all the shit that Mittermeier and Garofalo had been up to in the same issue! Like the Weekly hasn't been sticking a bug up their asses for the past . . . two years?)

But now I find myself rushing every Thursday to my local liquor store, where I get a copy of the Weekly still hot off the presses. Why? The Letters section! You guys are just brutal! I just finished reading Matt Coker's response to Michael R. Taylor's letter from KOCE's Real Orange, and I was so inspired that I had to write a letter of my own.

You guys are the news in Orange County. You dig up the dirt and fling it in the face of every self-interested, money-grubbing, idiotic politician and developer and polluter and anyone else who dares to do something questionable or stupid behind the Orange Curtain. And God help anyone who even tries to write you a letter.

Oh, shit, that would include me! Go easy on me, guys.

Mike Kubat
Costa MesaWEEKLY REUNITES CHILDHOOD PALS!

Buddy Seigal, you're a retarded motherfucker who doesn't know shit (“Dion's Still Struttin':_And Kiss are still suckin',” Aug. 11). There is a reason why Kiss has been around for almost 30 years (probably a lot longer than you'll be at any one job!): because Kiss knows how to put on a great rock N roll show!! As far as your comment that “Kiss' music was and is a crashing bore of clichs, ridiculous decibel levels and pure mediocrity,” that doesn't make sense at all. Look at the facts, you shithead!!! More than 80 million albums sold (and climbing), they have the most gold and platinum albums of any American rock group, and they are second only to the Beatles in total gold and platinum albums for a rock group worldwide. Do you need to wonder why Kiss is back for a second farewell show? Because they are LEGENDS, and they can do it. Also, it's because they give to their fans, unlike most bands. Kiss has always been and always will be a fan-based band. It's moronic fucking idiots like you who try and destroy the spirit of rock N roll. Do us all a favor and go fuck yourself!!! Rock N Roll All Night, and Party Every Day!

Greg
via e-mail Buddy Seigal responds: When I was a teenager, there was this pimply-faced geek who lived in my neighborhood. Everyone used to whack him about for sport and hold him down to take turns rubbing our armpits on his face. And—here's the really amazing coincidence—his favorite band was Kiss, and his name was Greg, too! Where'd you say you grew up?