Letters

If Nikki Finke wants to write about an American Idol scandal, she should find out why in hell the little Mormon chick is still on and why Simon always says what a great job she is doing. She sings flat on every song. She sucks! Semper fi.

—James Fullam
Charlotte, North Carolina

THE WAR, IN SLICES

Re: “The Logo-Spangled Banner” [On, March 28–April 3]. John Powers raised some really nice points about our detachment from the war. I am less impressed with his statement that the Department of Defense has “co-opted” some of the reporters. While I do not dispute the truth of that statement, the term “co-opted” is emotionally loaded. It rests on at least one unstated assumption (that an unbiased media is possible) and allows one to wonder if the media have not been “co-opted” by their editors and advertisers. It’s all “slices of the war” in that regard, Mr. Powers. Camera angles, word choice and editors all carve out a particular view for the public to consume.

—John Reynolds
Austin, Texas

THANKS, JERRY. NOW BUTT OUT.

Re: last week’s letter from Village Voice art critic Jerry Saltz. Why would a well-known New York art critic be concerned with the opinions of the L.A. Weekly’s Doug Harvey? Is it possible that the L.A. art world (and its critical discourse) might actually reverberate beyond our provincial boundaries? Unfortunately, very little art in L.A. receives the coverage it might merit: The big art magazines overwhelmingly represent the N.Y. art community; our own art magazines fold with a whimper. Harvey is under no obligation to play the cheerleader, though his tone of bleakness and exasperation often belies a fertile art scene that offers serious work and pleasant surprises often enough. Do we need help situating ourselves from a New York critic? Let’s hope not.

—Michael Ned Holte
Los Angeles

YEESH INDEED

Re: “Rage and the LAPD” [March 28–April 3]. Did the author actually speak to someone who was at the concert, or did he just think that invoking the name of a better-known band would get more attention? Ozomatli was working the crowd when police used their bully tactics and the announcement was made. Rage Against the Machine was already long gone. One must assume that nobody from the Weekly was there either. Yeesh.

—Mauricio “Mo” Figuls
Echo Park

CORRECTION

There were two errors in last week’s Quark Soup column, “What’s It Like To Be a Fish?”: Artist Martin Kersels’ name was misspelled, and the artwork accompanying the piece was misidentified: It was actually Ken Goldberg’s Infiltrate.