Newspaper Page Text
LETTERS continued from page 2
This is Athens. Ga. Life really is a little bit
different here. We are years ahead, and we
are months behind. Triumph and Disaster
are handmates who play together in a dif
ferent club every night of the week. Some
stay here, others leave here, many get lost
here. There's only one thini* for certain: this
is a music-loving town with a strong music
scene. Keep holding that thought.
A locally based radio station would not
only survive, but flourish here. Ami every
body knows it. It wouldn't even take much
money to do it for a whole year. Imagine the
popularity, and the profits Local profits,
happily invested by business owners and
managers under the age of 50.
Older people seem not to want this idea
to work Either two or three attempts at a
locally oriented radio station were started in
the last 5 years, but none was carried on for
more than a few months. News flash: most
businesses lose money for the entire first
year. A radio station could easily show
prohts in less than 12 months. -
W.C. Davis
Athens
LE BAD CINEMA
As an active member of Cinematic Arts
from 1990-199-L I was disheartened to read
about its decline in Ballard Lesemann’s
article. “Le Bad Cinema" [Jan 20] Don’t
listen to what anyone tells you about “finan
cial concerns" or the importance of giving a
campus of 30.0(H) yet another venue to see
the latest Adam Sandler vehicle Any time
the University Union and Cinematic Arts use
their funding to bring events to which stu
dents already have easy access, they are
doing the campus and the community at
large a great disservice. Even in the heydey
of CA — when attendance was high and we
had a schedule spilling over with great
movies — there was always this faction of
the organization that kept their eye on the
bottom line and invariably pushed for more
mainstream offerings And. invariably, they
would lose.
Now. it appears that the forces that
should be battling to bring movies like A
Taste of Cherry. Touch of Ki ll, and Fireworks
to the weekend schedule have been deci
mated For the vigilant, here are just a few r
reasons not to trust this nonsense about
money problems: (I) lnde|»endent films, for
eign-language and classics generally cost far
less to rent than mainstream studio junk (2)
The budget allotted CA each year isn't con
tingent on how much revenue they bring in
from ticket sales Unlike other businesses or
revival houses, the money earned in one
year isn't turned over to the next (3) The
Lethal Weapon .1 rule: With only a few excej>-
tions. such as a wildly popular title like
There's Something About Mary, mainstream
movies don't bring in as many people as art-
house fare The one quarter we experi
mented with a Hollywood title by showing
LW3, tumbleweeds were skirting through the
aisles. (4) When you have a schedule filled
with consistently interesting and hard-to-see
movies, you will cultivate an audience that
will show up week after week, even if they’re
not especially familiar with individual titles.
Movies like Lars Von Trier’s Zentropa and
Shohei Imamura's Black Ram played to huge
crowds at the Tate, because faithful students
and other Athenians were willing to be
adventurous,
My final piece ol advice to people at
Cinematic Arts and the University Union's
Board of Governors (aptly acronymed BOG):
Stop pandering to the lowest common
dem linator! Since you run on student activ
ities dollars and don't have to tend so slav
ishly to the bottom line, you have* the oppor
tunity to show some wonderful movies that
people would never get a chance to see oth
erwise What the hell are you doing showing
Enemy of the State, for God's sake?? If you feel
you have to show a bunch of garbage like
that to get by. then why bother to have a
program at all? If people want to see lousy
movies for cheap, they can just go to Alps
instead.
Scott Tobias
Miami. Fla.
MO' PROGRESS
Since moving to Athens a few months
ago. I have been an avid reader of Flagpole
magazine. I very much enjoy your coverage
of the local music and entertainment scene. I
am. however, a little critical of what appears
to me to be a lack of progressive political
involvement.
I feel certain that most of your readers
would appreciate more editorials and arti
cles concerning reforms in the areas of envi
ronmental protection, recreational drug use.
universal medical care and other progres
sive issues which affect the daily lives of
many of your readers. Thank you for being
free! Live Free — or you're already dead!!
Jesus Rasta
Athens
THE ROAR OP THE
MASSES...
This is in response to Bill Scoggins' letter
on the president’s impeachment [ "Apathy."
Dec .ill] and his assertion that “the
Republicans got a majority in the House and
Senate because either people were stupid
enough to vote lor them or worse, they
didn't bother to vote at all."
First of all. I don’t think that the president
should be impeached That’s purely on
Constitutional grounds — the man is a com
plete slimebali (Wait a second — define
slimeball). I am sure there are a lot of people
who are stupid, who don't think about the
issues, and vote Republican. I am sure there
are a lot of people who don’t think about the
issues, are stupid, and vote Democratic. But
there are also a lot of people who are intelli
gent. that think alxiut the issues, and vote
Republican They may think differently than
you do. Just because they have a different
world view doesn't mean they are "stupid "
Your silly comments make me realize how
many supposedly “open-minded" people...
AREN'T!
Paul Maggioni
via the Internet
Re: “Letter of the Week" [Jan 13]: The
best way to cure a new cast iron pan is: (1)
wash it first in soap and water and rinse
thoroughly, (2) put the still wet pan over a
moderate flame, (3) when it is dry. take it off
the heat and rub the interior cooking surface
with vegetable oil. Once the pan is cool,
remove any extraneous oil with a paper
towel, and start choppin' collards
Maureen McGinley
Former Underpaid flagpole Food Hack
Athens
PS.: Little Jimmy Osterman did play at
the l&J. It was a terrible show. He dropped
trou. I got disgusted and left.
TWAIN TWACKER
You recently reviewed a record by a band
named. I think, “Twain" [“Twain Twangs."
Dec 16], Is this a local band? Do you know if
they have any recorded music available fo»
sale 7 Do you have a contact for anyone In
the band? Thanks...
Kandy Smith
via the Internet
Twain is indeed from Athens. Call
Stevenno s at (706) 353-7777 and ask for Big
Enc —ed
HAVE YOU SEEN ME?
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You Wont At
IT1P0RT DIAGN0STICS
m
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FEBRUARY 3, 1999