You guys need to tell the pervs who write your crossword puzzles that normal people don’t like to stand downwind from stink bombs. The clue for 6 Down this week was “Where not to stand from a strong odor” and the answer was “Upwind”!?!
Violence Breeds Violence
[RE: Thin Line, “Killer Press Kit,” April 26-May 2] Why are we shocked when someone goes on a killing spree when we live in a culture of violence? Everywhere we look we see an increase in violence: video games, movies, ultimate fighter TV shows. And the violence keeps getting more and more graphic.Janet Jackson gives us a brief look at her breast and the full fury of our government swings into action. But if in that same football game two players started to throw punches at each other, at the worst they would be benched.Every day people are being killed in a country that most of us know little about. Families and friends are mourning these needless losses. Even though some of these mourners live right here in Albuquerque, their loss is hardly mentioned in the press. Doublespeak is the language of the day, where we have war for peace and the freedom to carry a gun is more important than free speech. As for the free press, it is dominated by corporate greed. If it sells, they will display it. Who it hurts or what relevance it has is of no importance.We need to take back our public airwaves and demand that the corporations we license devote some airtime to the public good. How about one hour a day in prime time devoted to art and literature? And the news being about news!Imagine if we went back to a time when winning was not as important as how you played the game. Imagine a world where we used words instead of bombs to settle our differences.
The Late, Great Kurt
As a regular reader of the Alibi I was moved by reading John Bear’s commentary on the late Kurt Vonnegut [“Kurt Vonnegut Went Up to Heaven,” April 26-May 2]. I also heard Mr. Vonnegut speak in a college setting some 37 years ago while attending the State University of New York at Geneseo. My memories are a bit vague now of exactly the theme of the speech, but the times were tumultuous and so was his speech. We have truly lost a great man and a notable author. Mr. Bear’s mention of Slaughterhouse-Five immediately brought up the image of a young Billy Pilgrim who was portrayed by the actor Michael Sacks in the film in 1972. Tralfamadorians, Dresden, the film retains its power today and tells a story like no one other than Mr. Vonnegut could! We will miss him.Michael Sacks went on to play the Sheriff in Steven Spielberg’s directorial debut The Sugarland Express , and I’ll always remember playing ball with Michael and Dicky Sacks at Ridgefield Park in Albany, N.Y., across the street from my grandmother’s house. So, Kurt Vonnegut, thank you for reminding me of those times as well as The Shame of the burning of Dresden, and, as you said, “So it goes.”
Hey, Strippers!
I have been reading endless articles in the Alibi about Albuquerque’s Burlesque Teasers [see “Burlesque’s Real Tease”]. I don’t have anything for or against them. I started noticing that little debate on whether Burlesque locals were strippers or not.I noticed the uprise of these women about how upset they are to be regarded as strippers. Wake up and take a look at reality. You are strippers. I guess it sucks to hear or read it, but you are. I don’t believe that a lot of people are knocking you down by saying this. People are not ganging up against you. That’s just what a Burlesque person is. That truth is probably because you, with the help of some Alibi folk, have been acting like Burlesque is the rise above all. I have not seen your shows. I know many people who have and they enjoy them. That’s great. Quit acting like you are better than the girls who work at places like TD’s. You talk about how it is not a sexual tease for money? Are your shows free then? Can people get reimbursed? No one is paying the Guild to get in to see you?Burlesque originally had to do with stripping and (at times) prostitution. Nowadays, people consider it some fancy, sexy tease of an upper form. Maybe it was, but it was still “stripping.” Yes. Those women were independent. Yes. So are you. Yes. So are TD’s strippers and today’s prostitutes.
Happy Slashing
Kudos to Jim Scarantino for his indictment [The Real Side, “The Thin Green Line,” April 19-25] of the "ritzy" digs of national environmental groups. I dislike that environmental groups, in the ’70s outspoken about the need for national and global population stabilization, to avoid controversy or to keep large contributors happy (in the case of the Sierra Club, a contributor of $103 million), have backed away from the topic like a dog dodging a skunk.To 2050, just eight nations, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, the United States, China, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will contribute half of all growth. We are one of only three nations with more than 300 million, as we exactly match India’s increase late last century toward a billion, with appalling implications for global warming. Meanwhile, the planet adds a billion every 15 years, as George W. happily slashes funds for International Family Planning.If environmental groups think we can protect the environment in the face of such increase, I suspect they share standards similar to those of Louisiana officials before the levees broke.
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