Feedback

Together we stand

It’s kinda like religion, ya know? It started out as this great idea: Someone stood up and said, “Hey, let’s all get together and revel in the mystery of all the things we don’t know: Celebrate the fact that we’re here and that there’s some things we just can’t comprehend. And—aw, what the hell—let’s have some fun, too.” Yes, despite the mockery that passes for organized religion today, it really did start out that way: a truly original idea whose time had come.

Reading the article about the fourth annual San Diego Indie Music Fest [“Music,” March 26] sort of made me think of that. Here’s two people, Danielle LoPresti and Alicia Champion, who get really fidgety and a-tingle about putting together a kick-ass day of music, theater, art, culture and fun, entirely devoid of banners informing you that this booth or that stage is brought to you by Starbucks or Popeye’s Chicken or Wal-Mart or ExxonMobil. Free, that is, of corporateum cyclopus americanii, a monstrosity that, if you blinked and missed it, seems to have taken over everything in the last decade or two.

Inevitably, however, some poor soul feels slighted or left out, thinks it should’ve been done better or differently, or simply got up on the wrong side of the futon and starts shaking his fist. Or hurling rocks. Or, just as tragic, hurling hurtful words said in such a way that sounds like they really don’t care that much at all about feeling slighted or left out when they actually do.

I happen to be friends with Danielle and Alicia (at least I think I am; they always return my calls), so I can’t be objective. On top of that, I was involved with the Fest for the second year in a row, so don’t mistake me for an unprejudiced bystander. I just like the fact that, according to what I could see, Danielle and Alicia didn’t hurl rocks back. They simply went back to doing what they love the most: making great music and doling it all out in big, sloppy quantities for whomever shows up. So, in retrospect, at least part of this isn’t like the bad side of religion at all. Maybe it’s more like the better part: reveling in the mystery and celebrating the love, without having to take sides—or, Goddess forbid, throw things.

I, for one, felt proud and honored to be a part of the damn thing. I understand people feeling hurt or slighted if they weren’t lucky enough this time around to make the cut. I think it’s helpful to remember, however, that if we independent artists are gonna stick it to the one-eyed giant that is Corporate America, we need to stick together first.
Otherwise, we don’t stand a chance.

JD Boucharde
North Park

No contest? No way!

When I read your April 2 editorial about John Hartley, I was 100-percent in agreement with you. I admit up front that I had no intention of ever voting for Hartley. I spoke with him on my porch, and he seemed to play the same song and dance he has been playing since the ’90s. At that point, it was confirmed: Hartley is a yawnfest.

Having said that, I gave Hartley the benefit of the doubt. A citizen’s arrest? Urinating in a cup? Masturbating? On Vista Street? None of this makes any sense. What made sense to me was the fact that, all day long, Hartley parades all around District 3. The man needs to piss! Like most men, you shake that thing to get the residue off so it stays out of your underwear!

Then Hartley pleads no contest? Oh my god, what was this guy thinking? Have you ever been on Vista Street? I lived there for a very short time when I first moved to San Diego over 10 years ago. The place would not be top on the list to gain sexual gratification. Vista Street is chock full of nosey old ladies who have nothing better to do but write down license numbers all day long. These are the exact kind of people who Hartley has been catering to all these years.

After years of playing the fear card, one of his believers catches Hartley masturbating? What an idiot! What was he thinking? The arrest severely damaged his campaign; the no-contest plea permanently destroyed it. Like Hillary Clinton, it’s time for Hartley to go.

Mike Petrogeorge,
North Park

It’s how, not how much

David Tow repeats the urban legend that education is under-funded in California [“The Front Lines,” April 9]. He states that “Proposition 13… lowered California property taxes, limiting the amount the state could spend on education.”

First of all, Prop. 13 did no such thing. There were no limits placed on education funding by Prop. 13. Second, people are stunned to learn that we are spending far more today on education than in the “glory days” of education in California during the ’60s and ’70s. We are now spending 30-percent more per student on an inflation-adjusted basis than we were just prior to the passage of Prop. 13 in 1978.

Perhaps it is how we are spending the money we have that is the problem, not the lack of money.

Jon Coupal,
President,
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association,
Sacramento

LOL cover story

I have been a CityBeat reader for a long time now, and I wanted to take the time to congratulate you on your April 2 cover story, “The best things in life.” It was refreshing as it was entertaining. I had never found myself laughing at an article like that (more than one co-worker thought I had lost it). It was fun to see you guys take a break from the norm, and put something so enjoyable out there. I have already done three “freepeats,” and I’m going for some more.

Agatha Morris,
South Park