WW welcomes letters to the editor via mail, e-mail or fax. Letters must be signed by the author and include the author's street address and phone number for verification. Preference will be given to letters of 250 words or less. Salad Spinners Last week's Q&A featured me, Dr. Jeffrey Baker, a naturopathic physician, touting grease-laden Whoppers as good and vegetarianism as bad [Life, WW, Oct. 13, 1999]. Shame on you, WW, for twisting my message to create a more sensational appeal. On the other hand, it was good, lighthearted entertainment. On a serious note, I believe that unfortunately my message to vegetarians was lost by your spin. Two statements in particular created a tone that for many readers tainted the whole interview: "Portlanders need to eat more meat" and "Being a vegetarian is problematic." First of all, these statements are inaccurate; the first is in your words and the second is out of context. My point was a simple one: Many vegetarians do not get enough protein in their diet. This leads to a number of problems, the most common of these being lowered energy and immune function. However, I would never say that a vegetarian should eat meat. I respect the decision to not eat meat. Protein comes in many forms, meat being only one of them. On the other hand, it was a fun story--a part of me likes the self-effacing humor. I thought that a few of my friends who are vegetarians might call to give me a hard time, but I never expected the response I received from the public. One person in particular was outraged, standing hands akimbo declaring without a trace of sarcasm that I look (in your mugshot of me) and sound like a "cow killer." In some ways, I guess that I am thankful for you using literary license with my story. It touches on the fact that we all could live lighter and happier if we learn to laugh at ourselves and take life a little less seriously. Jeffrey G. Baker Southeast Lafayette Court Wouldn't You Be Nice I was disappointed by Dave McCoy's criticism regarding his interview with Brian Wilson ["Hang on to Your Ego," WW, Oct. 13, 1999]. Once again this shows how little knowledge the general public has about mental illness. Mr. Wilson became ill many years ago with a disease called schizophrenia. There are many symptoms to this illness, including hallucinations, delusions and disturbance in thought and emotions. It can often be very difficult for people with schizophrenia to communicate with others, because the brain has difficulty in processing information accurately. Fortunately, many people can be helped with medication, but usually not completely. It does not surprise me that Mr. Wilson may keep his answers short, but this is not because his intelligence is only in music. I applaud him for getting back to his work, which has brought joy to so many people, and that music gives him a deep way to connect with the world. I agree with Dave McCoy that Mr. Wilson is a musical genius, but let us not sell him short as a person because he has to live with an illness like schizophrenia. Instead, let us support those who have the courage to be triumphant over a disease that devastates the lives of so many. Scott Appleman, Mental Health Advocacy Project Southwest Vista Road Bad Vibrations I couldn't decide whether to laugh out loud at or get offended by Dave McCoy's absurdly poor article on Brian Wilson ["Hang on to Your Ego," WW, Oct. 13, 1999]. Mr. Wilson's lack of interest in your interviewer's poorly conceived questions led me to the conclusion that Wilson may be quite mentally healthy now after all. Why would anyone think Wilson would be interested in "the Elephant 6 Collective," an obscure group of bands who have sold maybe 2,000 copies of their records, garnered zero radio airplay and caught the attention of few other than the hippest of rock critics? I'm sure all the most influential pop musicians, maybe Dylan and Paul McCartney, are waiting with bated breath for the next release by the Elephant 6 Collective. This and the other similarly embarrassing questions posed by your writer belie the insular, indie-rock world your writers seem to exclusively inhabit. Compare the Willamette Week's article on Wilson to The Oregonian's. While the Oregonian writer was not able to engage Mr. Wilson very successfully either, he did not throw a little hissy fit or try to make Wilson look bad. Instead, that article offered some thoughtful critical analysis of Wilson's recent work and his place in pop history. Your writer was only interested in telling us about his experience with this interview. Yawn. Message to Dave McCoy: Sorry, but most readers are much more interested in Brian Wilson than they are in you. The Willamette Week's music coverage is generally lightweight and disappointing, but this piece was bad even for you guys. Jim Desmond Southeast 23rd Avenue Critic Critique Good grief, Mr. Editor, it would seem to me the very first requirement for hiring a theater reviewer would be that he liked the theater!!! Do you hire restaurant reviewers who hate to eat out? I have come to the conclusion (do correct me if I'm wrong) that Steffen Silvis detests Portland, detests theater in Portland, detests actors in Portland, and increasingly detests the people who read his reviews about theater in Portland (and I can't blame him for that--I'm starting to detest myself for continuing to read him). As a very happy Portland theatergoer, I have been amazed at Silvis' consistent substitution of personal attack and nastiness for professionalism (one of several subjects of last week's tirade ["Leading Hell to Apes," WW, Oct. 13, 1999]). I'm wondering when he is going to begin to get over his long-term snit, mature a little, read a book or two by professional theater reviewers, take a class in essay writing and stop mistaking "a deft command of banalities" for wit. And Mr. Editor, when are you going to stop mistaking Steffen Silvis and what he has done with the theater listings in Willamette Week for an even slightly competent job? Portland deserves better. Jane Daniel Southeast 63rd Avenue Thanks for Your Support A huge thanks to all involved in the Stella Golightly 30th Birthday Cabaret/Breast Cancer Benefit [Nightlife, WW, Oct. 6, 1999] at Mary's Club Oct. 10. We raised $1,500, which will be split between three breast-cancer organizations. I am writing in response to questions about these recipients' remaining unspecified. I can't publicly name them. None of the groups I approached would allow any name association with Mary's Club, and some were not interested in money raised by strippers and were outraged that I would even call. I learned that name association by way of being a known recipient of a benefit has a similar effect on an organization's image as endorsing, and in this case, it was viewed as potentially damaging. So I found a way to direct the funds to the organizations I chose while keeping their names unknown to everyone, even to the benefit's sponsors. I am committed to protecting the recipients' anonymity, and, in contrast to some of my feminist sexworker peers, I am fairly comfortable with this arrangement. I think that the public image of sexworkers is changing and will continue to change as we prove ourselves through our actions; I don't expect any breast-cancer organization to give me a public vote of confidence, if it is a risk to them. That isn't their work. I'm deeply moved by the support that this event has been given, especially with no way for me to prove that the money is being donated. Stella Golightly Southwest Broadway Fight the Power In your Sept. 29 article "Judging the Field" [Buzz] you gave a misleading description of Ballot Measure 81. The measure would sabotage Oregon's Bill of Rights, yet you cast it as a narrow, legal technicality. This was an unfortunate disservice to your readers and to all Oregon voters. Let's be clear: Ballot Measure 81 would be a very broad change to the constitution that would move power out of the hands of citizen juries and into the hands of politicians. It is not a measure restricting punitive damages, but one that allows the politicians to utterly wipe out access of all people to the courts for all civil matters. If your newspaper or your readers have a serious claim, who do you want deciding it? A panel of ordinary people made up of your neighbors and friends, or the same right-wing politicians who bowed to the pressure of big tobacco and big insurance companies to put this measure on the May 2000 ballot? The campaign to defeat BM 81 is all about ordinary citizens (the coalition of opponents) versus the megacorporations (the proponents). Any misreading or misrepresentation of this measure plays right into the hands of big tobacco and big insurance. Dean Heiling Southwest Morrison Street Working Stiffed Susan Faludi feels my pain!? She has it pegged ["Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" WW, Oct. 20, 1999]. We seem to be suffering from irony poisoning, now being held up to the microscope of cosmetic appeal that the fairer sex languished so gracefully under. And we can't take it. And exactly how much money do I need to spend on clothes I don't like for the remote possibility of companionship? That's not to say I don't dress down, I look fine in a suit combo. Just not every day. If you ask, "Where is the man I loved?" I might reply, "In a garment bag somewhere." Where have the cowboys gone? Would a modern woman want a dirty, smelly, chaw-spitting, territorial, sexist masochist? Maybe. But if beans and bacon three times a day doesn't grant him a six pack and that legendary animal appeal, then what? Fight Club could be right. I want to beat up my friends, to bruise more than ego. But I can't. Where oh where to go? Not a boxing ring. Way too many actually dangerous and fit types there. Lots of rules, too. Martial arts schools? You learn to fight, yes, but that is tempered heavily by time--and it's expensive. So give me the understanding and sympathy of Faludi, give me wild and spastic I-Love-You-Man street fighting, and most of all give me a chance! I, average Joe mensch, am not a bad guy! I am hard-working and dependable! I am romantic and spontaneous if it won't hurt! I don't need my mommy, and I don't need a porn queen. I may need to grow up a little, but if my comfortable and scruffy day-off sneaks kill my chances, then so do you. Let's do it (LoveLaughMatureFightChoose) together. And if my/our fixation with wealth poisons this, then we'll blame everybody else and each other. Zac Caslar Tigard My Gun Makes Me Safe The plaintive confusion of your cover article ["Desperate Measures," WW, Oct. 20, 1999] says it all: "Crime is down. Prisons are full. And yet more Portlanders than ever are carrying guns. Now they want to tinker with the constitution." It's plain that you and Sheriff Noelle have been peddling anti-gun propaganda for so long that you can't recognize the simple truth: Crime is down because felons are being sent to prison and because more Oregonians than ever are carrying guns. I acquired my concealed-handgun license in April 1990, one of the first 2,000 in Oregon; I'm also a certified pistol instructor and Oregon-licensed private security provider. I've used my handgun twice on the job (to arrest a "gang-banger" in the act of breaking into my building, and to keep a "road-rage" case from killing me), once on the street (to fend off a belligerent "panhandler" who tried grabbing me), and once at home (to keep a thug from breaking down my front door); in none of these cases did I have to fire a shot. I've taught hundreds of CHL applicants with similar stories. But anti-gun bigots aren't interested in facts; they just want sound-bites and propaganda. For years, Washington, D.C., has banned all private gun ownership, including street-carry, while Multnomah County has no limits on home ownership of firearms and 30,000 CHL holders to boot--yet D.C. has had over seven times the homicides that we have, despite similar populations. Even in your article a while back on the Multnomah County Courthouse metal detector ["Packing the Court, WW, Aug. 3, 1994], you noted that only two guns were found out of some 1,500 "contraband" articles--both of those brought in by CHL holders ignorant of Judge Donald Londer's court order banning concealed weapons (despite statutory power to do so). Don't you get it yet? Armed citizens are no longer victims; we're the criminal's worst nightmare. By the way: Anti-gun bigots have "wanted to tinker with the constitution" of the United States (notably the Second Amendment) for over 35 years now. Why is it only "news" when the other side does it? Marcus W. Tempey Northwest Pettygrove Street - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published October 27, 1999