A real old-timer: Hey, I go way back with New Times. I am looking at Volume Two, Number One, in my archives and indeed beside the roast I received for the 100-year storm that wiped out the Summers End Festival, the headlines and a Michael Lacey review of The Strawberry Statement made me feel proud that our hometown rag has entered the expanded universe that is America Today.
Through Inferno I am propelled into a club scene that matches our glory days of JD's nightclub in the '60s and Dr. Munchies Grocery & Gathering Place of the '70s. Bobby L. Pela's piece on Mark Brnovich's position on smoking in saloons -- ya gotta love this guy who takes on the health establishment and tells them to butt out of our personal freedoms to die any way we choose. John Dougherty should get a Pulitzer Prize for keeping us informed on The Jerry's drive to Disney our delightfully dismal downtown.
As a progenitor of rock 'n' roll concerts in the '60s when, with a tip from Bill Compton, we booked real musical artists (i.e., Jimi, Janis, Little Stevie Miller, The Flying Burrito Brothers). We were looking to expose our local-yokel bands to the bigger picture that was emerging beyond our borders. Remember when The Beans were drawing bigger than Alice Cooper? I do.
Thanks for the memories, the anxieties that fueled our Arizona imaginations, and for reporting, truthfully, on our progress and why we will count in the future of this Wild, Weird West.
Bob Gately
Phoenix
The Master Planner
Just say no: I just finished reading your column on Jerry Colangelo ("Colangelo Gets His," John Dougherty, March 11) and to me this sounds like Colangelo is getting ready to make a push for his master plan to come to fruition. He will use the money from the sale of the Suns and his fat paychecks from the new D-Backs owners to get his plan rolling. It's time for us real Phoenicians to stand up and say "no" to his plan.
Scott Smith
Phoenix
Mel-lifluous Critique
Mel-practice: P.S. to that good critique of The Passion of the Christ ("Suffer Unto Mel," Robert Wilonsky, February 26). It's a Mel-oh-drama.
Lloyd Clark
Phoenix
Tiresome Nightlife
We'll help him pack: Stumbling across your Web site and specifically your "nightlife" section reinforced my already low opinion of Phoenix late-night entertainment ("Hot Pink Perdition," Inferno, Stephen Lemons and Elaine Bell, February 19). I was quite surprised by Mr. Lemons' writing, which seemed to border on grade school tackiness. It's clear that he is so desperate to spice up the meager late-night offerings of your sad little town that he feels compelled to write such poetic lines as: "The dance floor at Hot Pink squirms like an orgy with clothes . . ." And: "Most prominent in the place is a platform with a stripper's pole up the middle."
My visits to Phoenix have always left me yawning with boredom, and it's clear that Mr. Lemons is just as bored as I've been with your city's entertainment. But might I suggest that rather than attempt to jolt the reader with sophomoric writing, he might be better served to simply live elsewhere? In fact, here's an open invitation for Mr. Lemons to visit me in Seattle, a city where, unlike Phoenix, he could actually have a beer in a bar past 1 a.m.
Greg Leos
Seattle
Crazy 'bout the '80s: I guess nightlife isn't what it used to be ("Hot Pink Perdition")? I did some club hopping in my college days in the '80s and just love the '80s music. But this orgylike setting isn't what I remember it to be. The tattoos and body piercing, and the weird characters you meet -- I'm just glad I'm married now.
Yayoi Christiansen
Via e-mail
Times have changed: Reading your article about gay gangsta Incognito Lounge left me laughing way out loud ("Gaybangin'" March 4). We call it Homo Thugs. Back in the day, the late '70s and '80s, under the previous owner (now Ain't Nobody's Biz), it was a crazy fun place to be. Gay or straight, we all loved it!
For those of us who remember the good music, the Great Water Melon Shots and the best bartender, well, I guess that is all left to memory. I went there about three years ago thinking it was an after-hours place. I thought I was in the movie Colors (you know, Sean Penn?).
Guess everyone needs a place to be. Sadly, it once was one of the best bars in Phoenix. Oh well.
Loren Lucero
Phoenix
Unnecessary, indeed: Isn't it funny that you characterize the club by how ghetto it is and point out all the blacks and Hispanics in a negative view with your stereotypical assumptions making a complete ass out of yourself? I'm so offended I have trouble typing. What about all those perverted white dudes and Valley gone-wrong white kids who infest Incognito like rats? Funny how you take the assumption that Incognito is a gangbanging club just because there is hip-hop music and hip-hop dress. I haven't heard of any violent incidents there; in fact, this is the first article I've viewed. So why does it have to be gang-affiliated? That is not what all blacks and Hispanics are about. Granted, the club is ugly and ghetto, but just because people of color attend (which you nicely mentioned several times in your article) does not mean that violence always ensues. Sounds like you're a little biased in your writing and just a little ignorant. Check out those white ghetto motorcycle clubs and drug-infested bars if you want some real fear in your life. Not to mention the tired assumptions that gay dudes are all flimsy.
This is real offensive and unnecessary. Also, why demean minorities in that cartoon in a month that we should celebrate them? Probably because you're too racist to take this time to celebrate our contributions to this damn place. I'll pray for you.
Alicia Stafford
Phoenix
Looks like Stephen could move to West Virginia, too: Wow! Lucky for me Stephen Lemons gives us the lowdown on gangbangin' lesbos and homos! A friend of mine turned me on to Lemons' slick style of writing, and I tune in every week to get a glimpse of what his fat ass has to say. Though Lemons is quite civilized with his detailed study of what I personally would categorize as the epitome of human boredom, his humorous asides allow us to peek inside his fat white boy carcass and see that, even though he likes to talk like a homie, he's just a funny intellectual trying to pass as a hepcat.
Lookin' forward to next week's tour de force, Stephen!
Mark Donahue
Charleston, West Virginia
Elder Abuse
A hero of the disabled: I cannot thank you enough for your article on HB 2439 ("Dangerous Duo," John Dougherty, March 4). It hit the problem right on the mark.
I am a wife whose husband had been in a nursing home for four years. I cannot tell you the horrendous abuses perpetrated on the defenseless disabled elderly. I have pictures of falls. My husband was strapped to his chair. The aide and nurse were fired because I had the ability to sue. I did not sue, but because I went to the administrator and threatened to sue, something was done. My husband was eaten by ants because the nursing home was trying to save money, they did not have the exterminator on the Alzheimer's unit as much as they should. Again, if I did not have the right to sue, nothing would have been done. I don't believe that insurance will go down if this bill passes. I have never seen insurance go down.
I think what is happening is wrong and I thank you for bringing that to the forefront. You are a hero of the abused, disabled adults, in my mind. I cannot thank you enough for your article.
Eleanor Addeo
Via e-mail
More thanks: Thank you for raising awareness to just how lucrative the care of the elderly is getting to be. Many people actually believe that there is no money here. If that is the case, why are big hotel chains now joining the wonderful world of "free care" to the elderly? (The Hyatt and Marriott are good examples.) Thank you once again.
Cynthia Brady
Phoenix
Food for Thought
Unreadable: My wife's sister and her husband are moving to the Phoenix area later this year. They have the money and time to eat out often and will be doing so.
When visiting, they have enjoyed more than one restaurant that I had learned about from Carey Sweet and recommended to them. They were never disappointed.
They were here last month and loved the Havana Cafe, which was reviewed recently by your new hire ("Hog Heaven," Stephen Lemons, February 19). I had the link for the article in an e-mail draft for a while but never got around to sending it to them. I had planned to suggest to them that they check your site each week to educate themselves, but after reading more of Stephen Lemons' reviews, I changed my mind.
I will still recommend restaurants based on his reviews, but I cannot recommend reading his reviews. His self-absorption and total lack of finesse are just too grating.
The Dining section will continue to be my first stop, but I will not turn to it with the eagerness of the past. Please bring back Carey, if you can.
Clint Deal
Sun Lakes
Indigestible: Boo. I had to give up reading the article on Renaissance Fair food before you ever got to the point of reviewing the food ("RenFest Retch," Stephen Lemons, March 11). What arrogant "better than thou" bullshit! I no longer cared what you think. It's my first food article by you that I've read. You are obviously one of those north Scottsdale "pretty food" elite buffoons. Go work for the Arizona Repulsive. You'll feel better about yourself. Jeez!
Name withheld by request
Phoenix's own Pauly Shore: In the past, I looked forward to the New Times food reviews. They were irreverent, but full of good food info. I now find that I am unable to finish them. I like to dine out, and have enjoyed several meals at the Roaring Fork ("Hype-Happy," Stephen Lemons, February 26). If this were not a restaurant that I was familiar with, Stephen Lemons gave me very little information that would help me decide if I would like the place.
My sense -- after trying to read several of his reviews -- is that Mr. Lemons is really Pauly Shore sent to Phoenix to goof on the locals.
Please. More information about the food and less about your eating companions and their dress.
Randy Nelson
Via e-mail
