Thanks a ton for the column partially about Brian Connolly (Coda, March 27)!
I'm a big Sweet fan from way back. I was maybe 8 or 10 when I first admired them on television with my older cousin, something that has definitely shaped my musical taste (living in Europe, of course, automatically exposed you to those bands).
Thanks to a dedicated online community, I have known of Connolly's death since the day after "it happened." I tried to get local radio stations to play a tribute, but they must not have found Sweet on either their playlists or their record archives.
It's also good to read Brian Smith's comments. Someone has a clue . . . I was at Phoenix Art Museum on March 22 (I took pictures) and, yes, the sound was bad, but I thought the setting and mixture of people were totally amusing.
Martin Mathis
Phoenix
The Crying Game
Does Kimberly Boyden think she is completely blameless for what she suffered ("Not Victim Enough," Amy Silverman, March 27)?
To be sure, Michael Richard Logan may well have done all the horrible things Boyden alleges. Logan deserves to be behind bars if he committed these acts. However, as New Times (lightly) pointed out, Boyden made some very stupid mistakes.
First, and not directly related to the abuse she endured, common sense dictates one should call police and let them handle a possible intruder. Second, guns don't "accidentally discharge." She pulled the trigger and could have killed herself or someone else. Third, do events such as these result in the need to go to a restaurant to have lunch and drinks to calm down?
Finally, she is not an 18-year-old, naive in the ways of the world. She went into the bar with eyes wide open. She allowed herself to be pursued (and caught) by a man she just met. There is no evidence he forced liquor down her throat. He did not force his way into her car. She allowed him to go with her to her home. Did she really believe Logan was simply going to advise her which ceiling fans were best for her new home?
It sounds as though Boyden put common sense aside and voluntarily got hammered. Attributing her memory loss of the events in her home to posttraumatic stress disorder may be appropriate. However, a blood-alcohol level of .20 percent (which may have been higher if the test was administered a significant period after her last drink) can often result in blackouts also.
New Times sensationalizes when it mentions "at least 10 police cars screaming to her street." Police cars only "scream" on television. The situation here requires police to respond "code 2," which means, roughly, "get there soon, but don't use the lights and siren." New Times' characterization makes it sound as though Boyden's street became a police parking lot. If 10 police cars were there, I would question the police department's use of scarce resources.
Certainly, the case deserved a close review by prosecutors. Certainly, Boyden was beaten up and Logan may have done it. Certainly, Boyden did not deserve the abuse to which she was subjected. Certainly, Boyden left a trail of stupid mistakes which indicates she might well attempt to befriend a stray dog she finds in an alley. If that is the case, she must understand sometimes a friendly-looking dog may bite.
Kit Jahnke
Paradise Valley
The feature about Kim Boyden's unhappy liaison with Mike Logan seems to beg for some judgment from the public about the indifference of the legal system. I consider the journalism quite good, and the plight of both people to be very sad. However, I cannot understand what Boyden expects to come of telling the world how little she cares for our safety. Perhaps if she is reading this, she should consider some alternate cover stories.
How about, "Young child playing in her yard killed by stray bullet!" Maybe, "Family of five killed by drunk driver with .20 blood alcohol!" Or soon, "Gang kids poison dog, steal guns from home arsenal of paranoid woman and shoot rival gang at mall!"
The actions taken by Kim Boyden on August 12 and since are far more lethal than the alleged brutality of a one-night stand gone wrong. As for her desire to have Mike Logan rot in hell, it is just dumb luck that the relatives of the almost-victims aren't wishing her the same. Take your guns, your anger and your childish notion of justice someplace where you won't hurt anyone--like a Nevada missile range! The dog can stay.
Mark Hayzlett
Scottsdale
My hat is off to Kim Boyden.
No one deserves that kind of treatment, under any circumstances. What a courageous lady to expose her humiliation to the world. It is a wonderful gift she gives us all, for her story will surely save some others from such dreadful abuse. Kim Boyden is a hero.
Harold Trabue Crutcher
Scottsdale
Several aspects of Kim Boyden's behavior are as disturbing as the villain in her story. I am a single woman, and I am sick to death of women crying rape after choosing lousy lovers! I am not trying to minimize Mike Logan's repulsive behavior, nor do I agree with the manner in which the case was handled. What bothers me is how people expect authority to intervene when their own behavior is at fault. Laws are not made to replace simple common sense.
Who drank the alcohol, and who waited for this total stranger to put on a condom? Boyden wants Logan to be punished because he got drunk and behaved badly. A fair request. But she wants sympathy because she got drunk and it rendered her irresponsible.
The evening could have turned into a drunken-driving accident, and possible death of this callous man, when Boyden was driving him around. It may not be right that Logan walks away without an assault charge, but Boyden walks away without a drunken-driving charge. In view of her entire evening, she was lucky to walk away at all!
Shame on everybody in this story.
Name withheld
Jaded Glory
I was very disappointed with the attitude of the members of Chronic Future ("Straight Outta Scottsdale," David Holthouse, March 6). It sickened me when I read it is "old news" when they hear their music on the radio.
Being in a mostly teenage local band myself and having been on the radio, I know how hard it is for a young band to get exposure through radio, and these kids should be thanking their lucky stars (or their daddies' wallets) that they get as much airplay as they do.
But not once did I read a "thank you" or "we really appreciate." The quote that came the closest to any form of gratitude was, "Frankly, I'm surprised at the level of support The Edge has given us." That is not gratitude, that is being an ungrateful snob.
It is people like Jay Lean who give the local music scene a bad image, and kids like the ones in Chronic Future who give other teenage bands a bad image. Not all of the teenage bands have the "soft-core kid-band" sound. If anybody, especially the kids in Chronic Future, disagrees, go see Muckworm or Faces of Cain next time they play. I'd say you're in for a pretty big surprise.
If Chronic Future is the best daddies' money can buy, I'd much rather be with my teenage band hanging out with the older bands who treat us as equals and have respect for what we do and how we do it. You can keep your "radio-ready, commercial format" BS that you don't appreciate. No thanks, we don't want any.
Mike Carter
Peoria
Foul Brawl
In this corner, Tricky Dick Romley! His challenger, Joe "Fats" Arpaio, the toughest sheriff in America! (Or at least the toughest ex-DEA narc in Arizona.) No point trying to figure out which one's "bad" and which one's "good," because they both have absolutely no respect for the viewers. They are concerned only with themselves, as usual (Flashes, March 20).
Romley, the Maricopa County Bottom Feeder--er, Attorney--has kicked up such a fuss about Arpaio's draconian Tent City that Joe has asked the State Bar to recuse Romley from his duties representing jail staff. Tit for tat. If these schoolyard pols want to throw dirt at each other, that's fine. But let's not insult those of us who work to feed their families, as they do when they both say "this isn't personal."
"I don't represent Joe Arpaio per se," says Romley, taking the old legal tack of regressing to Latin when he needs to sound intelligent. "I represent the public." This is the same Dick who has left the public by the wayside in his authoritarian attempts to defuse Proposition 200; he cares nothing about the public.
As for Arpaio, what was this guy raised on? Medios for breakfast? He's a cartoon. We're not laughing. We're paying . . . for what? To stub out teenage smokers?
Last time I checked the stats, Phoenix suffered from an average of one carjacking per day. Arpaio is only concerned about covering his own ass. He jumps in front of TV cameras like a hustler before a new car. Any stunt will do as long as it brings attention to the least charismatic individual ever to pin a badge to his shirt.
We can't even tell the organ grinder from the monkey anymore. They do the same dance. But the show is anything but amusing. Only hard-core O.J. orphans need stay tuned in.
Paul F. Heller
Phoenix
Sadder but Weezer
To Jen Hagen, who made such a big deal about a guitarist being advertised as "ex-Weezer" when in fact he was once an actual member of Weezer (Letters, March 20):
Get a life!
Malcolm McEachern
Mesa
