Rating: NNNNN
so tim perlich thinks joss stone was the real star at Massey Hall Saturday night (NOW, October 16-22)?
Well, I’ve got news for you, mister! No one, and I mean no one, was there to see Stone! They were there to see Mick Hucknall and Simply Red !!
I heard Stone’s music and admit she was very good and worthy of your praise, and maybe she’ll be a star someday. But I find it so insulting that you chose to write your article about the opening act instead of the main attraction!
I’m sick and tired of this media attitude that, and as soon as someone is over 30 he or she is a has-been! You are simply an idiot!!
Janice Mundy, Toronto
I’m part of a generation that has grown up desensitized to aggression on TV. But never have I been so disgusted by a blatant show of aggression as I was Sunday evening, October 19, watching the mayoral candidates debate. When not downright sleazy, the men from centre to right showed themselves unwilling to listen or even to demonstrate courtesy while another candidate spoke.
Barbara Hall and David Miller deserve kudos for not vomiting on the stage. Unfortunately, Miller revealed his inexperience in dealing with underhanded politics.
Ellis Ostovich, Toronto
re fantino frisky over return of pot busts (NOW, October 16-22). It sounds like Canada’s law enforcement is getting a sweet taste of the corruption that comes with prohibition. What really drives U.S. law enforcement is the unconstitutional seizure and forfeiture laws that allow the police to profit from a so-called criminal’s work. I would be willing to bet this is becoming common practice in Canada as well.
Eric Knudsen, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
re market on autopilot, by jen nifer Polo (NOW, October 16-22). May we, the Harvest Festival producers, hereby request that a misrepresentation of the event as a “…dress rehearsal, part of a city proposal to start testing car-free weekends in certain areas of the city, (which) packed the streets” be corrected? It is true that the event packed the streets, but the festival was strictly a cultural event, conceived, hosted and financed by the Kensington-based non-profit Red Pepper Spectacle Arts.
It was collaboratively created with merchants and residents of the community to celebrate the harmony, diversity, culture and people’s economy of Kensington.
The participation of Streets Are for People and the Sierra Club was in support of street closures organized to heighten the festival atmosphere on that day.
Andy Moro and Gabriella Caruso, Red Pepper Spectacle Arts
Toronto
kevin black’s article on the fact that anti-racism education in our schools today occurs mainly “by chance rather than design” (NOW, October 16-22) is absolutely accurate. As a teacher and department head for over 30 years, I did everything in my power to promote and create textbooks, pedagogy, study materials and curriculum outlines that incorporated in very specific ways multicultural and anti-racism content and techniques within the study of English literature. My literary anthologies were approved by the Ministry of Education and included in their official textbook list.
However, as Black makes perfectly clear, the ministry guidelines only went so far. And when heads and principals saw that these policy directives had no teeth, they blithely ignored them.
By and large, most teachers of English continued teaching the same old stuff – a steady diet of white, mainly male American, British and mainstream Canadian texts. Why? It was nothing more than paper tiger policy. Dust in the wind.
John Borovilos, Toronto
who would have thought it could be so easy? Oren Medicks tells us that all Israel has to do is unilaterally withdraw to pre-1967 war borders and all will be well in the Middle East (NOW, October 16-22). Well almost. As Medicks does note, terror attacks against Israelis “will not stop when the occupation ends.” And as for the demand – which Palestinian moderates seem ready to give up – that Palestinian refugees from the Arab-initiated 1948 war be allowed to return to Israel, that’s also not a problem, since according to Medicks there is no compelling need for Israel to be a Jewish state. Silly me. I thought peace would come when both sides negotiated an honourable, realistic peace agreement.
Simon Rosenblum
Director of Public Policy
Canadian Jewish Congress, Toronto
as a relative newcomer to t.o. but a long-time vegetarian, I was looking forward to your recent review of 20 vegetarian restaurants (NOW, October 2-8). Having visited more than half the establishments reviewed, I have to say the reviews themselves are a disappointment. The ratings are so arbitrary that it seems unlikely in many cases that your reviewer actually visited the restaurants.
Some of the real gems, such as the Lotus Garden on Dundas, lie buried, listed after grotty pits barely worth mentioning.
Daniel Lewis , Toronto
In her sensitive article on the psychological shock of returning home to one’s country after living abroad (NOW, October 9-15), Tammy Stone makes public a private issue faced by a large number Canadians. Her suggestion to form support groups for returning expats and global nomads is a good one. In some parts of North America it is already starting to happen.
David Kehler, Toronto
what has george smitherman done for us lately (NOW, October 9-15)? This is not a terribly fair question from NOW. Within the limited boundaries of a non-governing MPP, Smitherman has made himself available to his community at all times, shared the heartbreaks and joys of many families over the past four years, played hockey with kids and attended hundreds of meetings, worked closely with agencies and community workers around community-building projects and facilitated with his constituents a process to develop structures that give them a voice and the power to influence change. This on top of sterling service to his party, sought-after comments from the media on pieces of legislation and political happenings and alert interventions in the House. Not bad for a rookie MPP!
Carmel Hili, Toronto
I like the idea of naked city and often enjoy the pieces that appear. But why do almost all the writers seem to be straight women, gay women or gay men?
Can’t you get more straight men to contribute? You really should balance the picture a little. As for Scott Nisbet (NOW, September 25-October 1), he’s already had far more than his fair share of space.
Harold King, North York
re john harkness’s take on kill Bill (NOW, October 9-15). OK, John, you’re smart. You’re very smart. In fact, you’re probably smarter than all the people who read your reviews. Yes, your college professor from Film Snobs 101 is very impressed with you, and yes, all the other movie critics in town bow to your vast vocabulary and encyclopedic knowledge of films. And I’m sure Tarantino himself wrote the film knowing only you would get it.
Actually, the only person smart enough to fully appreciate your insight is you. So the next time you feel the need to show everybody that you’re a very serious (and smart) film critic, just write the review and e-mail it to yourself. The rest of us will just have to make do with reviews we can actually use.
Cliff Goldstein, Toronto
re the fixer: a story from sara jevo (now, october 9-15). It’s great to finally see a graphic novel reviewed in NOW. It is such an under-appreciated (and often ignored) art form. Hopefully, reviews like this one will stimulate more readers to seek out other interesting graphic novels (and by interesting I don’t mean the latest adventures of Spandex-Man).
Nenad Vidovic, Toronto
now that the u.s. presence in iraq is not finding the cheering masses that the right-wingnuts at the Defense Department and White House had hoped for (NOW, September 25-October 1), Bush and his henchmen have the nerve to tell the United Nations that it’s in their best interest to contribute militarily and financially to ensure that the Bush plan for U.S. hegemony in the Middle East is a success. If the U.S. is looking for financial assistance in Iraq, it can help itself by cutting off all aid to that perennial welfare case, Israel.
G. Ruddin, Toronto
