Board certified I just read P.J. Tobia’s article about Dr. Feldman (“Dr. Feelbad,” Aug. 24). All I can say is, given the unwillingness of the state medical board to actually protect patients in Tennessee, I have to wonder why some family member hasn’t “taken this resource offline.” I like their chances in front of just about any jury. RICK CASARES freespeech43@yahoo.com (Nashville) Part II? I really enjoyed the recent articles by P.J. Tobia, especially “Dr. Feelbad” (Aug. 24). The article was well written and especially well reported. I can’t believe that the state medical board hasn’t stopped that disgusting doctor yet. Hopefully they will soon. Maybe P.J. can do a follow-up story in the next few months to let us know what has been done to stop that maniac from harming anyone else. MATT REILLY reillymatt@hotmail.com (Philadelphia, Pa.) Music man David Schnaufer was one of my best friends in the world, and a wonderful musician whom I loved very much (“Starry Lullabye,” Aug. 24). I first met Dave at Bongo Java, sitting on the porch, smoking and drinking coffee. For several years, I never talked to him, and then one night I played a gig and Dave showed up to play as well. It was a free jazz-gig and Dave showed up with five or six Jew’s harps in a pistol case. It was at that time that I realized he was out of his mind. We became friends and I introduced Dave to the music of William Parker, Peter Brotzman and Coltrane, among others. Dave loved this music very much and was aware of some of it, having read the book Notes & Tones by Art Taylor and the music philosophy book Noise. Dave had about 20 or so books in his house that he told me he would read over and over again because he would forget them. He would come over to my place, or I would go to his. We would always listen to the most far-out free stuff I could find, and no matter what I played, to my amazement, Dave always loved it. He loved music and was very open-minded. He also played with my former band and got to meet and play with McCoy Tyner, who, it turned out, played the dulcimer as well. I remember I had known Dave around a year and one day we were hanging out at his place and I said, “Dave, I have never heard you play.” He looked sort of shocked and gave me a solid hour-long solo concert that was awesome and unforgettable. Dave was one of the most kind, happy people I have ever met. He always left, and showed up, laughing and smiling. I was just a kid when I knew him and yet I looked up to him as a family figure to a degree, and I know he cared about me as well. I have so many memories and stories. David did it all and lived longer than most. Every bad job I would find, David would smile and tell me how he had that job at some point, whether it was stocking auto parts or laying tar on a roof. He would then smile and say, “Now I’m a professor at Vanderbilt.” What a life. JOHN ROGERS jazzcavejohn@hotmail.com (New York, N.Y.) Cool cameo I truly enjoyed your guest writer Andy Cordan (“Off Limits: Tour De March,” Aug. 24). Amazing how he was able to make me feel the emotion, energy and camaraderie that occur in such a tense and closed situation. Often captured on TV, not always easy in print. Thank you. ELIZABETH WERNER pizzabag@aol.com (New York, N.Y.) Wait, we want to be more like Iran? Good for you Jim Bryson, Phil Bredesen and all others who aren’t ashamed to express their beliefs and hope in God (“Beyond Belief,” Aug. 17). I wish more politicians on both sides would follow suit and stand up for what they truly believe, and who it is they believe in. After all, our global opponents have no problem expressing their religious beliefs, are even willing to die for them, and it seems to work with their people. Pretty soon Iran will have complete control of the Middle East all because of their faith in Allah. They pray constantly for God (Allah) to destroy their enemies (us and Israel) and govern their affairs. It looks to me like prayer is a source of strength and hope for them. So why do we downplay prayer and belief in God among our leadership in this country? If we were as devout here in the USA as they are in the Middle East we would get the same patriotic results that they do. I say put prayer back as a part of our culture, keep God’s name on our money and the Ten Commandments on our courthouse walls, and commend and elect leaders who practice it. RODNEY BEARD pastorbeard@comcast.net (Brentwood) Back in the day I was at the sixth annual Queen convention (yes, the group!) in Cleveland, Ohio, when the Aug. 10 edition of the Scene came out. A friend saved me a copy and I was so pleased to see the story “Never in Nashville.” I was part of that crowd and used to go to Athens, Ga., and watch REM rehearse in an old church. Cantrell’s was the place to be on weekends. All of the bands you named in the article were awesome and all were individual. I remember U2 appearing when they were unknown in the U.S. I was at the famous Cat’s Records rooftop concerts. I attended every one of them. Cat’s was the competitor of my employer (Central South Music/Sound Shops), but I was a faithful customer, especially for those Beatles imports. Thank you for the walk down memory lane—not really that long ago but so missing now. Kids today don’t know what they missed. LISA J. GOODRICH ljgfab4@aol.com (Nashville) Mexican brouhaha Steve (“Love/Hate Mail: “He’s a Mexican. Does that help?” Aug. 17), first of all “Ask A Mexican” is a syndicated column, originating from Orange County, Calif. (ocweekly.com), so you should direct your comments to them. Secondly, your statement, “Seems like you folks just love to keep some ethnic or racial group under foot or life just isn’t fun” displays the same ignorance and bigotry that you are so carelessly and blanketly accusing the people of Nashville of. “You folks” is dangerously similar to “you people” which has such heavy connotations it qualifies as a slur on its own. I’ll forgive you for not knowing where the article came from, but before you start indoctrinating your children, take a long hard look at yourself. MATT MICHIELS mcmichiels@hotmail.com (Nashville) The Mexican-American War I’m not going to come to any sort of agreement with Mr. Silver in this lifetime (“Love/Hate Mail: The outsiders,” Aug. 24). Personally I like Mexican, Jesus Is Magic, Julia Sweeney, Richard Pryor—and Lenny Bruce for that matter. But I’ll give him points for going after the tough question of whether funny people who are intentionally offensive and toy with our discomfort should be given a pass. (Even though the way he raises the issue reminds me of those college kids who censored the hate speech out of their West Side Story production’s libretto. Problem was, the plot didn’t make any sense after that.) Where I start having real trouble is his defense of Mr. Williams’ goofiness. He seems to think merely because he and Williams both dislike Mexican, they’re on the same page. He’s wrong: Williams is just an inattentive fool with his own unique brand of xenophobic issues. There is no common cause here. It’s not just that Williams missed the “Gustavo Arellano” byline. He also missed the fact that the feature is nationally syndicated and originates in Orange County, Calif., and has fans everywhere in the country. Williams was assuming that because he was in the South this dialogue must have been written by and for the local SCV chapter types. (In fairness to him we do have that tacky Jubilation T. Cornpone statue, but still it’s quite a jump, isn’t it? Rather like assuming The Simpsons is written by the nuclear power industry, or holding public protest rallies against Fabricator articles or an Emily Litella editorial.) Even if his regional characterizations were true, it would just be a lucky coincidence. The content of Mexican , like it or not, has nothing to do with the stuff Williams is ranting about. JEFF PITCHER jeffpitch@bellsouth.net (Nashville)