Portlanders back out of parking spots without checking for other cars, bicycles, or pedestrians ["Dadness Madness," I, Anonymous, June 2]. Be cautious and act accordingly; freak the fuck out and let them know how stupid and dangerous they are. Don't be a big pussy and apologize for THEIR possibly fatal carelessness.
-posted by BokChoy
I saw a digital version of [13 Assassins] and decided that I really need to see it on the big screen ["Killing Time," Film, June 2]. The last hour or so of this movie had some of the best long-form fight scenes since Oldboy went after some dudes with a hammer.
-posted by Graham
Critics such as Alison seem to have a need to be, well, critical ["Old-Time Rock and Roll," Theater, June 2]. When an excellent show such as this [One Night with Janis Joplin] is a crowd pleaser, poor Alison cannot bring herself to tell it like it is. After all that is how she makes a living. I was in college when Janis was popular, but she was not an artist I paid much attention to other than listening to her sounds when they presented themselves on the radio or TV. Well, I as well as the rest of the audience, judging from their reactions, was enthralled by this experience. Make no mistake. This is a production Portland should be proud of.
-posted by lippp
So the problem here is that someone dislikes something you liked ["Old-Time Rock and Roll," Theater, June 2]? My own problem with the review is that it had that whole "music that's actually relevant to my generation" passage in it. Does Duke Ellington or Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (or Mozart?) have any "relevance to my generation"? Of course not. Does that prevent my enjoyment of them? Also of course not. It is noteworthy that Janis Joplin's generation of musicians were a lot more likely to view popular music in terms of an unbroken continuum of folk songs running back to medieval times, and not something someone just magically dreamed up 10 years ago. Or to be a bit more cynical about it, they just had better taste in whom they ripped off. The show has some cringe-worthy moments in it, to be sure. Some transcendent ones too. I don't want to say too much because I've been looking at the damn thing six days a week for four weeks now. My view on the subject is certain to have been clouded by that.
-posted by rich bachelor
When I was 16, I went to California's prison system for five years ["Just Kids," Letters, June 2]. Somehow I managed to become a functioning member of society afterward and didn't use it as an excuse for future bad behavior. The people that say "prison made me this way" are weak minded. It was a fucking miserable experience, however letting it control your life is your choice.
-posted by the beav
Thank you ["Culinary Darwinism," Last Supper, June 2]. I couldn't really agree with you much more. After eating there on opening night, I was amazed (as was our party, which consisted of mostly meat eaters). Portland finally has a legitimate amazing vegetarian restaurant. When I posed this to my vegan friends, nearly all of them threw Portobello back in my face, and while I feel that Portobello is great, it comes nowhere near the quality of the dishes served to me at Natural Selection. It's about time, in a city praised not only for its incredible quantity and quality of fine dining options, as well as its amazing vegan/vegetarian friendliness, we have the restaurant that combines the two.
-posted by reece
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT'S DUE: That's what we strive for. And for your judicious pronouncement we award you, reece, with the Mercury letter comment of the week, with two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater and lunch at No Fish! Go Fish!, where the fishes are carefully and naturally selected.
