Letters to the Editor
jonagf
Published Letters: 14 Editor's Choice: 1
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unneccessary?
[Read the article: God grief]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Given how outmatched the "indefensible crassness" of fundamentalism is, I'm sure Hitchens is just as frustrated as this article' author that he must spend his time refuting it. Yet, given the prevalence and influence of fundamentalism, apparently its necessary. I'm glad that Hitchens is acting like "a vainglorious father running rings around his young son in a game of soccer. " I should think we need him to do just that.
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Why do sources matter if the reporter also checks his facts?
[Read the article: The Matt Drudge primary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why does source citing on oppo dumps matter if the reporter checks the facts through other citable means before running a story? If the story is true, and its information pertinent to voters' understandings of a candidate, then shouldn't it be published?
If reporters don't cross-check the facts, like apparently a bunch of reporters didn't do in stories mentioned in this piece (i.e. the Drudge report taking the Georgetown Times news story quote instead of checking the actual wording in the video clip, Alexander Bolton not directly asking television stations for the size of Romney's ad buy), then that's reporters just not doing their jobs. Likewise if reporters just suckle at the teat of oppo dumps and don't sniff out some stories on their own. But if the stories are true and important for the people to know, then what does it matter what the sources' motivations were?
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You sound like Garrison Keillor this week
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Not that that's a bad thing.
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Just venting
[Read the article: The divine sound of silence]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Chain bookstores are the worst. They place the comfy chairs right under the speakers so you can't concentrate on the book you are considering buying. A real pet peeve of mine.
Ubiquitous music is no different from anything else these days: corporations have become arbiters of the public consciousness, and have decided that we need to be stimulated all the time -- quality doesn't matter, just Action! And so CNN feels like Entertainment Tonight, in both content and form. And so Hollywood churns out yet another blockbuster sequel, and this passes for culture. And so life feels like a block of commercials; quick cuts, jumping all over the place, trying to prod us, excite us.
And we have dumbly followed that lead. And so reading is on the decline while we are given more and better HDTV channels with shitty programming. And so we need our own personal soundtracks playing over everything we do. And so we absolutely need to be able to call, text, IM, and 'friend' the people we know RIGHT NOW, all the time, even though we don't have anything to say. And so it goes.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I need some quiet. Maybe a room, with a book and a blanket and fall leaves falling from a tree through a window. I don't think that's so very much.
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Was anyone else reminded...
[Read the article: Tom the Dancing Bug]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...of Monty Python's "Hell's Grannies" sketch?
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The movie is an allegory
[Read the article: Too great to be good]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Daniel Plainview was meant to be an idea, not a character. The movie is an allegory for Capitalism: Plainview is the incarnation of it, his relationships are the symbols for its soul-devouring nature, the "milkshake" scene is an ending that is appropriate to the intended message (the burlesque absurdity, latent childishness and cruelty of unchecked Capitalism).
Since the movie is not a conventional story, it is unfair to criticize Day-Lewis for not using a naturalistic style. That style would have been inappropriate to conveying these Big Ideas; character-enriching contradictions would have muddied the waters.
In our fictions, the allegory as a form has mostly gone the way of the epic poem. We are used to conventional stories and we are disappointed and confused when we find something else instead.
However, it is unfair to criticize the actors when it is the premise of the script you take issue with. Day-Lewis provided what was called for. Criticize the writer, if you want, not Day-Lewis. Maybe you could also criticize his agent.
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Jeez, lighten up. Its just a movie.
[Read the article: Too great to be good]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Another thing: why are people so NASTY with their comments? I'm finding it painful to read a lot of the other letters here, even the ones I agree with. Tone down the vitriol. Just because you and the reviewer disagree doesn't mean she's unqualified or evil or out to show you up.
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my six words
[Read the article: Memoir in six words]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Epitaph: Born. Died. Mostly he tried.
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the missed free throws
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's silly to harp on the missed free throws. There were countless missed shots throughout the game on both sides, including gimme shots from the paint. Just one of those falling during regulation could have won it for Memphis (assuming the rest of the game played out the same way).
Free throws ARE easier shots to make, and the Tigers SHOULD have made more, but free throws are not automatic (no team shoots 100% from the line) and there were many other easy shots missed. To say that the missed free throws were the only source of the Tigers' loss is wrong.