Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to le*****@oc******.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.
FUHGEDDABOUTIT
The following letter is in response to a series of stories by R. Scott Moxley including the April 26, 2006 article, “Dirty, Stupid or Both.”
Rico [Rick Rizzolo] is a good man… Has no ties to your so called La Cosa Nostra. As a friend, I would appriciate [sic] if you would stop with the unnececery [sic] articles and slender [sic] of his name…
Georgio Gambino Panagiotou
Los Angeles
R. Scott Moxley responds: Rick Rizzolo is a convicted felon and ex-Las Vegas titty-bar owner who, according to FBI surveillance, is tied to organized crime bosses and hit men. I exposed Rizzolo's relationship with Sheriff Michael S. Carona and will continue to report on local corruption.
CALIFORNIA LOVE
The following letter is in regard to Rex Reason's Oct. 12 edition of “Aural Reports” about rapper Loose Logic.
Loose Logic's MySpace page sure makes it look like he's from LA. That or he really, really wants to be. In fact, other than the writer's “Dana Point” reference, this guy seems to have nothing to do with Orange County at all. Why not profile an actual OC artist, rather than give face time to some sound-alike tool who looks like he's playing dress-up?
Saint
via e-mail
WILD ABOUT MOVIES
The following letters are in regard to Joel Beers' Oct. 19 review, “Mystic or Idiot,” about the filmInto the Wild.
You had me with you until your last paragraph where you wrote: “His balls were much, much bigger than any of ours.”
As one who lived and worked as a newsman in Alaska for 20 years, I can cite dozens of people I know there who did all the things [Chris] McCandless did and more, but went one step further. They survived. They are the people about whom movies should be made and books written.
Joe LaRocca
via e-mail
A word about Joel Beers article on Chris McCandless. Joel, you say Chris had big balls. I can understand why some may think that. Please allow me to put his actions into a perspective you may understand a bit better. Let's assume you meet some guy on the beach. You strike up a conversation and find he is from Omaha and is going to attempt to swim from California to Japan. He wants to “find himself” on the swim. Do you say he has big balls, or no brains?
Up here in Alaska, when someone walks into the wild unprepared, unknowing like Chris did, we have no choice but to say he had no brains. I will agree he has had a tremendous influence on people. However, many have called him a hero and called the bus a shrine. They are wrong on both counts.
Jack Conrad
Wasilla, Alaska
JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
I think the reviewer didn't quite get the message [Dave Barton's Oct. 19 theater review, “Mary Don't You Weep” about Rock Harbor's production of Magdalene]. Sometimes conversion isn't a gradual thing, sometimes it is instantaneous, especially if you actually meet the son of God in person! Christ's message of grace is lost on the lost. Also, I don't believe the story implies that all men are ineffectual and evil. The reviewer says he expected more from the son of God. Well, offering Mary salvation in one easy step is exactly what Jesus did.
When he called the apostles, they dropped what they were doing and followed him. I am sure that is what the real Mary did too. It was only after they followed him for three years that they got to know Him and His message better. I also think that the main actors in the play were above community theater.
Joyce
via e-mail
GUATEMALANS AND GAYS
The following letters are in regard to Gustavo Arellano's column, “Ask a Mexican!“
There is nothing wrong with Guatemalans. We come here just like the Mexicans to live the American dream. I am proud to say that I am Guatemalan and I have a beautiful daughter who is now attending college. I have a very good job and am a single mom, too. What makes you think all Guatemalans aren't equal? It is because I really like “Ask a Mexican!” that I don't write in more often to complain about this. But it's okay. You have a right to your opinion. Tu amiga la chapina!
Patty
via e-mail
Buenas, I'm a gay Latino and find “Ask a Mexican!” to be humorous and open-minded, yet I fail to see a reason why you use the word “joto” as a synonym for gay. Joto, just like it's English counterpart “faggot” encourages homophobia in both of our cultures. . . unless I failed to acknowledge your own homosexuality. So which one is it? Are you hating on the gay Latinos or are you empowering your own gay sexuality by using the word in a different context? Contéstame chulo, podemos arreglar éste asunto con cena y bastante tequila.
Noe
via e-mail
EUREKA!
I like this article [Nick Schou's Nov. 24, 2000 feature, “The El Cargadero Social Club” about how a Mexican ghost town lives on in Anaheim]. It's very complete. I didn't know anything about El Cargadero. I didn't even know it existed! I'm from Jerez but my parents are from Anaheim. It's a very nice place.
Maria
via e-mail
FAMILY TIES
The following letter is in reference to Rich Kane's Sept. 7, 2001 article “Springboard for Hitler,” about Anaheim's The Shack doubling as a Nuremberg-rally central for OC racists.
I would just like to do the honor of standing up for my father, and my uncle Bob. The thing about the situation is you only heard one-side of the story. People have the tendency to be so into the drama that they don't get the whole story. Even though this happened a long time ago it still truly bothers me because I know the truth. You guys do not know the whole truth because you certainly didn't report it.
Yes, I completely understand where people come from with hating these people, and the last thing I would want to do is defend them. Their beliefs might be wrong, but by writing articles like this you are doing the same thing as them: discriminating. I personally have met the people who attended the shows in the article. Being younger I was extremely curious too. They were very explanatory about everything. But I do have a question: Can you please explain to me that if these people are as racist as you say, how can they possibly love my family as much as they do? We are not white. My dad was full Lebanese.
They were not racist towards us at all. And even to this day they are still people that respect us and would do anything for us. I would just like to let you know that John Terbay and Bob Gibson were amazing people. They didn't discriminate against anyone.
It's sad to read this article. You make them seem like two horrible people. I wrote this letter to stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves. John and Bob have since both passed away. And sometimes I find myself just searching their names to read about them. It really is heartbreaking when I do a Google search and only find bad things, because they did so many good things for people.
Katie Terbay
via e-mail
