Let's roll: Finally--my voter's registration will count for something! I'm awake! Take me to your leader! How can I help? So instead of boring you with what you already know about our wonderful city council ("Taxpayers, Arise!" July 11), let me just say I'm ready to do my part as a good citizen and rise to the occasion and make a difference! Let's roll, y'all.
J.K. Bradley
Via e-mail
Wish I were here: I have to admit that as one who resides outside Dallas city and county, I am often amused at the goings-on within the Dallas City Council, school district and police department. Jim Schutze's article highlighting the Initiative and Referendum section of the city's charter actually made me wish I were a citizen. I would love to be a part of such a grassroots uprising. I'll watch with interest to see if the issue grabs enough attention to actually get anywhere. I'd like to think the average citizen in Dallas is smarter and more proactive than those in the departments mentioned above.
Scott Wilson
Rockwall
Chunks of Hate
The Knives are out: I want to vomit all over Zac Crain's head; please stop masturbating off the most overrated band in town ("Hide and Seek," July 11). The pAper chAse is pompous, self-important and, really, just not that great. Get over them. Move on. Please.
Eddie Gaston
Via e-mail
Shakespeare Snoots
The Bard in the &#@% park: In your review of the Shakespeare stuff ("Let's Squawk About Love," July 4), you diminish the evidently valid observations of the artistic value of the productions with all yer bitchin' about the uncomfortable circumstances of watching them (F. Scott Fitzgerald: "The very rich are different from you and me." Hemingway: "Yeah, they have more money"). It really bugged you to have to sit back behind the jewelry rattlers, didn't it? Well, sorry you weren't all comfy, but however gaping the divide between those whose seats were freer than others, ya gotta love the fact that the Bard is still there for anyone to appreciate in any kind of condition in Dallas, Texas, 500 years after he wrote the plays.
So the next time you want to review a "free" cultural happening, I advise you to take a Midol before you hop into your air-conditioned car to go see it, or suck up to one of those Highland Park personal injury attorneys who thinks he might get lucky with you later on if he takes you to a "serious" event. Your words will have more sting.
Melonie Magruder
Hanalei, Hawaii
River Follies
The beat goes on: I have been following this story ("Been There, Done That," July 4) through the Dallas Observer for, it seems like, years, and I am wondering if this situation will ever end. It's just like the Energizer bunny that keeps going and going and going. Thank you for keeping us informed.
Stanley Schere
Dallas
Dream on: Thank you for the article about the Trinity River. I have been following these issues for some time and agree with you on several points. The "eye-shaped" river meanders surrounding the intersection of Industrial and Corinth make a mile-long loop. What a wonderful area to develop into Dallas' own river walk. A highway right there would destroy one of the most beautiful areas near downtown. I have presented a master plan to property owners who already own huge tracts of land nearby to show them what the whole area could become. It seems to me that the push for a road by certain groups has blinded everyone to the true potential of the river (sans roadway).
Bob Treat
Dallas
Greatest natural asset: The in-depth article on the Trinity River project history was brilliant! Obviously, a great deal of research and careful writing went into it. It is right on target and explains the continuing history of moneyed people in Dallas trying to manipulate taxpayers into filling their pockets with more money at the expense of the greatest natural asset we have--the Trinity River Corridor and the great Trinity River Forest!
Joanne Hill
Dallas
I Hate Roundtables
Canned Depp: As a fellow entertainment "journalist," I took great pleasure in your June 20 article "Duh Press." As a 15-year veteran of this business, I have observed everything you mentioned in your article. I personally hate roundtables and have had to endure such ludicrous time-restricted melees like a 10-minute roundtable with John Travolta split up among 15 journalists!
Anyway, I particularly enjoyed your assessment of AIC head honcho Harry Knowles. God only knows why Hollywood gives him such props. I find his...brand...of...journalism...to...be...rather...half-assed...at best. I also liked the jab you made about these journalists not doing their homework.
That being said, I think the rise of Internet journalism as a whole has been a contributing factor to the decline of the one-on-one interview. It is very rare these days to score a one-on-one unless you are a major paper or television entity. It didn't used to be like this a few years ago.
At any rate, I found your candor to be refreshing. I constantly tell people that my job is not as cool or "glamorous" as they make it out to be. Sure, I don't have to go to the office, and I get to see movies for free, but I rarely get to "hang out" with the stars. Sitting in a hotel suite with Johnny Depp and eight other journalists who ask softball questions is not the same thing as drinking Scotch and smoking cigars with Depp at Tosca in North Beach.
Thanks for the enjoyable read!
Spence Abbott
San Francisco
