LET’S BOUNCE
RE: “Advice from a Freelance Wedding Planner” [Feature, June 14], a compilation of suggestions for a successfully fun same-sex wedding.
Thank you for including a suggestion for a bouncy castle. I got married two years ago and by damn I wanted a bouncy castle. Everyone else thought I was crazy, but all the children loved it. The kids gave us strange looks when the groom and I kicked them out so we could have our bounce time. GET OUT OF THERE, YOU LITTLE BASTARDS, I FUCKING PAID FOR IT!!! It was a very lovely day and a great idea.
-posted by Scarlet Pirate
HOLY SNIT
RE: “Girl-on-Girl Action” [I Love Television, June 14], in which author Wm.™ Steven Humphrey criticizes the pope.
DEAR MERCURY—Just read your comments about the holy father. You should stick to pop culture. You can’t handle anything more complex than TV shows.
-Traig
WHO’S THE MAN?
RE: “Lesser Evils” [Letters, June 14] in which the upcoming presidential race and Obama’s performance are debated.
As a centrist Democrat and Obama supporter, I think one must deal with the political realities of our system of government, as well as the political tide of the time. As much as you can call the Nader voters of the past “idealistic,” the plain simple truth is that had Gore not had to spend the time and money courting the far left, we wouldn’t have had a Bush presidency to begin with. The left will likely lose Obama if we continue to hear the constant harping of some “well-meaning” folks from the far left. Obama is still the man.
-posted by frankieb
I have noticed much fewer Obama stickers and yard signs. In 2008 you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting one or the other. No one seems to want to debate that.
-posted by Jackassville
THE PAVED PARADISE
RE: “The $400 Million Lane,” regarding plans for a widening of Interstate 5 through Portland’s Rose Quarter.
Almost any imaginable cost-cutting measures on this project will be worse for the neighborhood than what is proposed. The proposal has pluses and minuses, the biggest cons being the price—$100 for every man, woman, and child in the state (for what return?)—and the disruption this will cause due to delayed redevelopment and construction.
-posted by Allan
FUCK HATERS
RE: “Brown in Town” [I, Anonymous, June 14], in which the anonymous author complains of racially motivated harassment.
Some people out there just want to spew their hate on you. I am white. I dyed my hair black. Idiots in pickup trucks screaming, “Fuck you, you fucking Spic bitch! Fucking Spic!” followed me several times. I was refused seating in a restaurant on two occasions. Racists can be too stupid to distinguish between races. So, they don’t care about you or your behavior or whatever. They just want to hate a color. They don’t represent most people, I think, but they are everywhere, scattered in with everyone else, so it FEELS like they are everyone. I am lucky, I can choose to make my hair be red again and suddenly I’m white and my white privilege comes back and everyone mostly treats me better.
-posted by bootness
UNFORGIVABLE CRUISING
RE: “Glee—with More Hair!” [Film, June 14], in which Rock of Ages is unfavorably reviewed in general, but Tom Cruise’s performance is praised.
I’m not forgiving you for calling Tom Cruise a great actor. Wait, don’t tell me: He played a pompous, egotistical, into-himself white guy. Have you noticed that’s his only role? He’s playing Tom Cruise. Nope, not forgiving you for this. Ever.
-posted by blech
THAT’S OKAY BLECH, we don’t need your forgiveness. (Besides, how awkward would it be if Cruise were cast as a character of color rather than an actor of color?) However, we respect that this is a sensitive issue for you, and would therefore like to extend two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, where you can enjoy a plethora of films about pompous white guys every day.
Hey, as much as Tom Cruises work seems to be one-dimensional, the guy has managed to work with some of the best Directors of our time. He wanted it and so did they, obviously.
Could it be that perhaps Kubrick, etc, saw something in him that we ain’t fully seeing yet?
You never know how the future will treat the films and ‘stars’ of today – so easy on the critisism, lest you look a fool later for not grasping something of the time.
Then again, he ain’t Daniel Day-Lewis, right?
Well, speaking of directors, Gus Van Sant was in Palm Springs accepting an award at the Palm Springs Short Film Fest.
When asked if he ever considered doing a movie about Bradley Manning, Gus Van Sant stumbled and could not recall who Bradley Manning was.
When reminded, he showed little interest on the subject matter.
Bradley Manning is gay and possibly transgender. He allegedly leaked information about US war crimes and has spent the last two years in military confinement.
His youth and his dilemma as a soldier is a non fictional jackpot to any screenwriter or director.
Not that I advocate profiting from Manning’s heroic (anti-heroic?) actions. But the story must be told and who ever does it right will win an Academy Award. It is just that compelling of a story.
For a director that touts his connections to Ginsberg and Burroughs, it is hard to believe he has little interest or knowledge about Bradley Manning.
Van Sant is well known for his subject matter- anti-heroes, troublemakers, the marginalized.
He should at least know about Bradley Manning and be intrigued by his story.
It is a pity that Van Sant is not more politically astute. I would have thought more of him.
Hey if anyone reading this knows Gus personally could you please pass on this message: WAKE UP GUS VAN SANT! BRADLEY MANNING ROTS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT WHILE YOU HAVE THE LUXURY OF BEING TOO BUSY TO EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS. SHAME. A CRYING SHAME.
Well, here is an alleged hex on you- you will never win an Academy Award unless you tell the Bradley Manning story in a way that only you can. Therein lies your coveted award- do it right Gus, and get on with it.
If you are too scared to approach it non fictionally, then fictionalize it, veil it, shove it through the backdoor, pull a charade, anything!
Bradley Manning should be free. If he did what he allegedly did, he would easily be the LOUDEST WHISTLE BLOWER of all time.
He will prove to have a more profound and lasting impact on the world than Harvey Milk, William Burroughs, and Alan Ginsberg combined. And, not just the “gay” world, the entire world.
Oh, now I get it. Obviously frankieb employs the same level of critical thinking in his political analysis as he does in his Hollywood reviews.