Love-Hate Mail
Three cheers for disrespect! Extreme kudos to P.J. Tobia. It speaks poorly of me not to have noticed his work before now. “Pandermonium” (July 27) actually achieves its ambitious goal of giving the current plague of Bubba-centric infomercials the sort of grand and sweeping disrespect they so richly deserve. (Based on previous rants, I consider my own standards in this department to be quite high.) Reading this great article, I can almost forget how depressing the actual clips are to experience. But I know I’ll see them again tonight. Argh. Who’da thunk it? With not two, but four, double-A hosers gaming for the U.S. Senate seat, Tennessee still cannot produce one lousy candidate who is less of a dickhead than the Billster himself. It is like I am forever telling my out-of-state friends: Tennessee is never high on any list, save those things and attributes you don’t want, such as locust infestations. Jeff Pitcher jeffpitcher@bellsouth.net (Nashville)
Manipulation station As a former seven-year employee of the National Federation of Independent Business, I am so glad that someone has finally written an article about NFIB’s fudged numbers (“Size Matters,” July 27). As a former technology manager at NFIB, I can attest that the numbers were always “manipulated” to reflect what executive management wanted to see. Great job. Dale Braden dale.braden@gmail.com (Portland, Ore.)
Faith-based reasoning Reading this screed mislabeled as critique causes me to have my own doubts about the genre (“A Wavering Faith,” July 27). If Mr. Brady is merely disclosing his own bias toward the subject, I would prefer full disclosure. It would appear the narrative is more along the lines of personal preference—like preferring vanilla over chocolate or bourbon over vodka. The reference to “blandly generic philosophy” is so biased as to be silly. How can the stories of individual Nashvillians be so casually dismissed? It is true that not every aspect of doubt was considered, but I found the stories of my neighbors—including that of a mother struggling with the death of her son—to be poignant and sometimes piercing. I think the most telling line in the review was Brady’s assertion that “the evening’s most coherent statement of theology” was “ ‘Life’s a bitch, then you die’.” Given the writer’s ham-handed view of existence, I suppose we should not be surprised at his inability to either appreciate or perceive the finely detailed and nuanced discussion presented by faith/doubt. Next time, Mr. Brady, please provide us with a review of karaoke night at a local bar or lap dances at the local strip joint. David Gamble 405 South 17th Street (Nashville)
Faith in Faith Thank you for the article on Faith Hill by Beverley Keel (“Say Grace,” July 27). This article is right on the money. I am so glad that at least someone in the news world sees the real Faith Hill: the vocal talent, the expert song interpreter and the artist who grows artistically with every album. Judy Clark ken.judyclark@shaw.ca (Alberta, Canada)
Find a Mexican ACK! You left out my favorite column. I finally found the notice on p. 5 to go online for “Ask a Mexican” after spending 30 minutes looking for it, thinking I’d suddenly gotten an advance on my Alzheimer’s. Thank God for the web. I was beginning to jones. Thanks for a great publication. Will Richardson will@willrichardson.net (Nashville)
Silly goose? Julie Seabaugh is a talented nothing. Jim Norton is the best stand-up comedian today (“Critics’ Picks,” July 27). Maybe Miss Seabaugh should enjoy an episode of Friends or Yes, Dear. Maybe that type of comedy is right up her alley. She is a silly goose—tussle, tussle. John Enright JohnEnright33@yahoo.com (South Grafton, Mass.)
