best bets
Little apple rock
Ultimate Fakebook,
9 p.m Friday,
The Bottleneck,
737 N.H.
New pollution noise
Gooding, 9 p.m. Thursday, Raoul's Velvet Room, 815 N.H.
Rat pack pit bull
Bobby Slayton, 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Stanford and Sons, 504 Westport Road Kansas City, Mo.
Repeat offender
Pete,
6 p.m. Saturday,
Sandstone Amphitheatre,
Bonner Springs
Get the kinks out
The Deathray Davies,
9 p.m. Wednesday,
The Bottleneck,
737 N.H.
See more events, pages 20-26.
features Mag
Mook point
I just wanted to drop you a line after reading your column ("The Meaning of mook," Aug. 23) in the latest edition of the Mag. While I am hopefully optimistic that your column was written with your tongue planted firmly in cheek, I am going to take the chance that you were at least somewhat serious in your tirade against "mooks" and take some offense.
I am a 31-year-old married man whose music collection ranges from Mozart and Beethoven to Metallica and Linkin Park. I like to think of myself as an eclectic music listener, and I believe your diatribe against what my wife calls "angry music" is rather shallow and "taste-centric."
Every generation of music has had its rebellious side. Only scant decades ago, Elvis was causing parents to shake their heads as he shook his hips in time to the burgeoning sounds of this "new-fangled rock and roll" music. While the rebels have evolved, so has our society. In the age of MTV and pop culture sensory overload, is it any wonder that the musicians have no choice but to allow the expression of their existential angst to crest in a roar of bass and straining vocal chords.
Why is it necessary, even through the use of sarcasm, to spring out terms like "homophobia" and "paint-by-numbers introspection" when you are discussing anyone's art? These are heavily loaded terms, and with the sheer number of band names that you drop in your column, it is entirely likely that some of the buttons that you were attempting to push through your witty foray into cynicism will end up haunting you.
While it is true that some of these bands will not "be around once the next musical trend takes over," it is entirely likely that you will be eating crow on this issue. Several of the "faceless" bands you gently mocked have been around long enough to deserve more respect than you designed to offer them, and your argument is non-unique to this musical genre — meaning, you can say this about every new phase of
music, but there are survivors of them all.
This column is reminiscent of the Vedder/Pearl Jam whings in the peak (or anti-peak?) of the grunge era — something to the tune of "how can we be alternative if we're mainstream?" The timing of this new "cavalry charge of woeful wannabes" can be traced back to other forms of music that people have lambasted — the influence of grunge and hair bands, no matter how asinine or overplayed, is making itself felt today.
You can pick on Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit all you want, in fact some of your comedic assertions are quite humorous, but why slam all the bands? Perhaps if you are having trouble distinguishing between Linkin Park and Durst's own Limp Bizkit, you should listen more and write less.
As I began, so shall I end. I hope this was sarcasm, but the best humor has some truth behind it. Thankfully we live in a country that allows you to print your column without fear of retribution. However, just because we are constitutionally granted the right to print anything, doesn't excuse the offen-
siveness of your column. Your definition of "mook" is loaded with language that can only upset the fans of this
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music. Perhaps since you felt that the average age of "mook" fans was 13, you could get away with this sort of ramshackle distribe. And your exact classification of these fans is what made me feel compelled to exercise my first amendment right to take exception to your ideas, and to give a reasoned rebuttal.
David A. Gilham, Lawrence
Journey fan
I just wanted to let you know how much I liked your story ("Sentimental journey," Aug. 23) about Bobby Nichols and Dave Dearth biking across the country in honor of their friend Casey Beaver. I read the original article a few months back and thought it was amazing what these men were doing. Not only are they keeping Casey's memory alive, they are also raising awareness of drunken driving. Casey must have been a great friend, and I think that he was lucky to have friends like Bobby and Dave. Thanks for writing a great story about such a worthy cause, and let them know that at least one reader was touched by their story.
Erin Steinbrink, Lawrence
No more road trips
I am writing to tell you how disappointed I am in your restaurant reviews. Of the last six weeks, three of your reviews have been of restaurants in Kansas City. The Mag is owned by The World Company and published mainly for readers in the Lawrence area. If I wanted to read restaurant reviews of the Kansas City area, I would pick The Pitch, not The Mag. There are many nice restaurants in Lawrence that have yet to be reviewed. I suggest you try out some of those places.
Also, I have noticed that as
long as the entrée price is expensive, you will give the restaurant a good rating. However, if the entrée price is cheap, you will give the restaurant a poor rating. I suggest you get your nose out of
the air and base the ratings on the quality of the food and the service not the price of the bill.I have a hard time accepting any of your reviews as suggestions for dinners out on the town.Personally, I enjoy good food and good service.And if the bill is inexpensive, so much the better.
-Kristine Schnebly Lawrence
THE MAG/LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2001 3