LONG LIVE PAT GRIFFITH!
Knowing that the Weekly‘s endorsement is considered the “kiss of death” from a candidate’s perspective, I should probably ignore your comments [see “The Politics of the Future,” Oct. 25]. However, I would like to give your readers some accurate information, since your writer failed to interview me or look at my literature or public statements regarding the superintendent [Joseph Olchefske].
I have clearly stated in my campaign materials that accountability should start at the top, with our top administrators evaluated by improvements at our most challenged schools. I believe the superintendent should have a performance contract. With teacher morale and salaries needing improvement, I believe it was inappropriate to extend the superintendent’s contract by a larger percentage increase than our teachers received, not to mention the $200-a-month health-club membership.
Had you been privy to the preprimary Seattle Times interview with candidates, you would know that my opponent gave the superintendent an A when asked to grade his performance. I graded him a B-.
Pat Griffith
Candidate for School Board
Seattle
A BIG BREWHAHA
After reading your article on a handful of brewpubs [“A Tiny Bit of Microworld,” Oct. 25] in the Seattle area, I was unsure if I was reading a review of the beer served, the pub itself, or a collegiately articulate sociology memo.
I was pleased to see Hale’s Ales leading off your piece. Until I found myself reading about farting in elementary school. The details of the establishment came as an afterthought—and how did the beer taste? The food served at Hale’s is surprisingly upscale for a brewpub, and the prices are surprisingly modest. As for the beer, which is in my mind the best in the state (and is still unfortunately difficult to procure outside a 30-mile radius of Seattle), I’ve found that asking your server if they have anything special on tap might reward you with a taste of something they’re “experimenting” with.
Strangely enough, I enjoy going to Hale’s and Pyramid and Pike (among others) not for the coolness factor, or for who I might drunkenly run into, but to enjoy a beer that cannot be enjoyed in every other bar across the country. Oh, and maybe to have a bite to eat.
One good thing about your article: If the folks who don’t wear their shirts tucked in and hate fitted baseball caps care enough to read, maybe they’ll continue to avoid the places that you found so incredibly boring.
Clint Brownlee
Kent
A WORD FROM THE ENEMY
Regarding “A Tiny Bit of Microworld,” by Paul Hughes: For God’s sake, if you don’t like it, then stay away. I don’t like loud disco music. I don’t go to Polly Esther’s. I don’t like martinis, so you won’t find me at Tini Bigs. Why in the world did somebody who admittedly doesn’t like the beer waste his time and questionable talent writing about brewpubs? Do you send vegetarians to Ruth’s Chris Steak House to write reviews?
Did somebody at the Weekly get hit on the head with a bottle of microbrew when they were a baby? Are you lashing out? As a beer drinker, and a white man with a fitted baseball cap, I am offended. Was he making fun of me? Am I the enemy of the Weekly?
I like your paper and appreciate the role it plays in our local media, but why the apparent disdain for microbrews, brewpubs, and beer lovers? If you don’t like us, kindly leave us alone. In my humble, white, straight, belt-wearing opinion, your “food-n-drink” team needs some editorial direction (a.k.a. a good ass kicking). If you’re going to write about the local brew scene (negatively or positively), at least use a writer who has a clue. This was absolute crap. Way beneath you.
Kendall Jones
Seattle
GIRLS JUST WANNA GET “BEPPI”
I just got through reading your article on 24-hour restaurants [“24-Hour Lovin’,” Oct. 25]. I moved from California to Arizona and now will be happily moving to Seattle in 2 months, and I welcome the likes of Caffe Minnie’s and Five Point. You want to know why? Because in lovely Phoenix, I am lucky if I can find a restaurant that’s open at 10 p.m., much less 3 a.m.! I miss not being able to go to a crummy diner at 3 a.m. after a night of drinking and getting “BEPPI.”
Your article was right on. I’ve been to Minnie’s twice when visiting Seattle, and it was everything you described. That’s what makes it so fun! Thank you for the very humorous article, and remember, it could be worse—you could live in Phoenix, land of gun-carrying hicks who apparently never need to eat past 10 p.m.!
Leana Sapra
Phoenix, AZ
M.S. IS A B.S.ER
Hopefully the people of Seattle will realize that Sidran’s support for the monorail is nothing but bullshit based upon some very expensive polling done with his limitless bank account [see “Monorail’s Trail,” Oct. 18]. He’s used his polls with the precision of Nielsen ratings to dupe the Seattle citizens into thinking he’s for the monorail.
What he IS supporting is an eight- lane SR-520 replacement that will ruin a host of neighborhoods on both sides of Lake Washington. Plus he wants to fast track it. If he wants to take on the neighborhoods that will be destroyed in the attempt to build this eight-lane monster, he’ll be surprised at the opposition. The Battle of Seattle will have a whole new meaning.
Richard Borkowski
Seattle
ARE YOU HUFFIN’?
Regarding the photo contest results in your local rag [“Seattle Weekly Women Photo Contest,” Oct. 18]: Hey, are you guys huffing spray paint or something? Since when does a picture of a couple of lesbians having brews at the beach qualify as art? Maybe there is some strange parallel universe where you call an organ grinder and his monkey an opera, or a Polaroid of my foot hangs next to the Mona Lisa? Maybe, but I’m not buying it.
I’d just like to see credit where credit is due. Judging from the 2nd and 3rd place and Honorable Mention entrants, you had plenty of good photos to choose from. I’m not so elitist as to think that you need makeup, props, costumes, and a $5,000 camera to create good photographic art, but you at least have to try. I just think it’s insulting to the other artists when you attach the blue ribbon to something that, in my opinion, doesn’t even make a pretense at art.
Give me a ring the next time you have another photo contest. I’ve got scads of pictures of me and my friends at the beach getting wasted. Apparently I’m a shoo-in.
Andre D’Elena
Seattle
WIPED OUT
The Oct. 25 media column, “Taking a Powder,” noted that, “contrary to the P-I story” of Oct. 18, the KIRO-TV employee who reported a joke envelope labeled “Anthrax, FL” actually saw the envelope on the news desk four days earlier. Although the third paragraph of the P-I story suggested that the employee spotted the envelope the day police were called, a later passage in the article did report that the worker had actually seen the package four days earlier. The Weekly regrets the misstatement.
Hey beer lovers and belt wearers! We wanna hear from you. Write to Seattle Weekly, 1008 Western, Ste. 300, Seattle, WA 98104; fax to 206-467-4377; or e-mail to letters@seattleweekly.com. By submission of a letter, you agree that we may edit the letter and publish and/or license the publication of it in print, electronically, and for archival purposes. Please include name, location, and phone number.
