He's not seeking publicity this time: As a resident of Maricopa County, I must applaud you for your outstanding articles on our current sheriff and his department's tactics ("Dog Day Afternoon," John Dougherty, August 5). Your articles based on extensive digging into the practices of the sheriff's office have swayed me to not vote for Arpaio in the November election.
I do find it very suspicious that I never heard anything about the Ahwatukee raid on the local news reports and how Arpaio didn't have his media posse following this story. It's good to know that my hard-earned tax dollars go for paying these bumbling idiots to conduct raids and pay for repairs to an innocent citizen's car along with the numerous lawsuits filed against the county.
Funny how Arpaio doesn't say how much the incompetence on his and the deputies' behalf have cost us taxpayers. Property claims, wasted manpower hours and settled lawsuits out of court have never been mentioned. It appears that his conduct has cost the Maricopa County taxpayers millions of dollars.
Life on the job: "Hi, Dad. What did you do at work today?"
"I `neutralized' a puppy by sending him back into a burning house. Then I laughed while he died screaming."
Of all the things Joe Arpaio has done and sanctioned, this has to be the most heinous!
The PETA principle: I only have one question: After taking photographs of their dog's remains, did the residents file a complaint with PETA or the ASPCA? If not, they should! Please inform your readers as to what is being done about such a blatant act of animal cruelty. If those affected feel their voices are not being heard, please let your readers know! If we all send daily letters or e-mails to animal-protection agencies, they're bound to take action.
Immigrant song: Does our governor know this ("Turning Up the Heat," John Dougherty, July 29)? And if so, why had she not said anything? What this sheriff does is wrong. But if he was in jail, I would say it is perfect. Seems to me he is just as bad as Mr. Hussein in IRAQ. If we have people like him in office, who the hell is AMERICA to go overseas and start a war? Just a thought from a 23-year-old immigrant. So it probably doesn't count to our elected sheriff. DAMN, I neeeeeeed my citizenship fast.
Great article (unfortunately).
Editor's note: Because of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's reputation for retaliation, New Times has decided not to publish the identities of the sheriff's detractors who write letters to this publication, unless they expressly request that their names be used.
KELLEY'S ZEROES
Low-grade Braid: I never took the time to give Braid a listen until you slammed them so hard in the Jimmy Eat World article ("J.E.W. Lover," Brendan Joel Kelley, July 29). You were way too nice. They fucking suck. I can't believe those vocals are actually liked by anyone. That's all. Peace.
-- Phil Beach, via Internet
Jar head: After reading your review of the J.E.W. show, I found myself laughing uncontrollably -- in between a steady stream of indignant comments, which were directed at you and your blatant ignorance of effective, creative writing, and of the Mason Jar itself.
The Mason Jar is the only live music venue in Arizona that has kept its doors open to the public and to countless artists over the last 30 years. Ask around and you'll find that almost everyone in the Phoenix metro area has been to the Mason Jar at one time or another to see their favorite local or national acts perform. I bet you'll get some amazing and positive feedback from these people who just happened to be there when _______ took the stage and rocked the house! The blank could be filled with any one of these popular bands: Tool, Megadeth, Marilyn Manson, Van Halen, Ice-T, ICP, Frank Black, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Jimmy Eat World, and many more. The Mason Jar stage is where some of the bigger bands of today got their start.
Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world, and sometimes the unexpected happens, as it did on July 20. One of the A/C units went out on the day of the show. Since the Mason Jar is not open during the day, this problem went unnoticed until almost a half-hour before doors were to open. Mic Manfredi, owner/operator, saw to it that a refrigeration technician was called out immediately. The problem was corrected about 10 to 15 minutes before J.E.W. took the stage, but, as you know, there was already a packed house, which made it virtually impossible to cool down the venue as quickly as you may have wished. We are so very sorry you were upset by this, but was your incessant lamenting in your article absolutely necessary? Was it also necessary to use the word "fuck" in every other sentence? It causes me great pain to see that our education system has let you down, but remember it's never too late to expand your mind and discover the wonderful world of our English language and possibly learn new, constructive writing techniques.
I'll be anxiously awaiting your return to the Mason Jar, as I was the bartender who served you your $5 beer -- which is a steal for a 20-ounce beer at any bar or nightclub. I also want you to know that we do use your $5 (along with proceeds from the hundreds of other customers) to upgrade things like the sound and lighting systems, which consist of state-of-the-art equipment, but I'm sure you noticed that.
After you've done some homework, after you ask people about their Mason Jar memories, I am sure you will learn just how much has been done over the last five years under Mic Manfredi's ownership. Perhaps then we can laugh about how preposterous and poorly written your article in New Times was.
See you soon!
-- Trish Kenny, via Internet
Attention deficit: You couldn't write a semiprofessional article on Jimmy Eat World without dragging Braid through your incredulous, hateful opinions? You couldn't have just left them out of your article altogether? No, someone's negative opinions had to be heard.
Who's attention-starved?
Braid is far from attention-hungry. Their major reason for reuniting was to give all the new fans a chance to see them. Their fan base grew considerably after their breakup, which only tends to happen to the great ones. Sure, they had other reasons, but they were only secondary. Many young fans would tell the three in Hey Mercedes that they wished they had the chance to see Braid. They listened, because the guys in Braid are all about their fans.
How many attention-hungry bands will still play a full set of songs when only a handful of people show up in a remote area of the country? They've done this numerous times. Hell, I wouldn't have played a full set to the small Phoenix crowd, after having seen the California crowds the previous weekend. But they did.
If you're going to throw around some illogical opinions, let me do the same. Jimmy Eat World is only half the band Braid was. Jimmy Eat World wouldn't be around if it weren't for Braid, unless their first album was self-titled. Then they would've fit right in along with all the cookie-cutter pop-punk bands on the radio.
"Has-been little bitches?" Give up on any form of journalism now, for everyone's sake. If anyone's a bitch, it's you. Jimmy Eat World played there by choice! If you hated it so much, complain about their decision.
It's J.E.W. fans like you who have turned me from a "J.E.W.'s all right" mentality to a J.E.W. hater. Good job.
-- Gabe Loyer, via Internet
DRUGGED OUT
Chemical bond: When did Nancy Reagan join your staff ("Just Say No," Brendan Joel Kelley, July 22)? It's disappointing to see what little music press there is in this city wasted even beyond Brendan Joel Kelley's standard fare, in which slandering local promoters and recalling his hipster anecdotes has at least some relation to music. For the record, chemical analogues are not "chemicals one molecule off" from each other, as Kelley asserts, but instead are chemicals having one or more differing functional groups within similar molecular structures. It would seem Kelley's knowledge of chemistry is about as comprehensive as his knowledge of the local music scene. That's okay; if I had to pick one for him to brush up on, it wouldn't be chemistry.
-- Brandon Canfield, Tempe
