Comments on: Ask a town full of outraged, progressive crybabies

By: Vincent.

Vincent. — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:07:58 +0000

This is the letter to the editor I very nearly sent to the Eugene Weekly before noticing that they require full name, address, and phone number. Rubbish. At any rate.

George Orwell once wrote: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” Sadly, a large part of the Eugene Weekly’s readership evidently believes that, far from confronting that which it does not want to hear, it is instead preferable that words and opinions to which it objects be purged lest someone be offended or exposed to the wrong sorts of ideas.

To me, Arellano’s column is moderately humorous and marginally informative, but it seems to have gotten people angry and gotten people talking. That seems like reason enough to keep publishing it. After all, in a city that so loves to congratulate itself for its commitment to free speech, this censorious little campaign to force the Weekly to remove from its pages a column that is so clearly provoking discourse seems a bit untoward, doesn’t it? Or has the “right” to not be offended finally trumped the right to free speech and all the little unpleasantries that come along with it?

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:14:29 +0000

I find the eugene weekly is good for lining the bottom of bird cages.

By: Jo

Jo — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:01:28 +0000

Alex: As I hit “submit” with my last comment, I realized you meant the TV show. Sadly, you can’t delete or edit your comments. Good point about the TV show, though.

By: Danimal

Danimal — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:16:20 +0000

No, come on. The humor begins with the letters page. THEN Salley Sheklow. THEN Alan Pittman’s “hard-hitting” “reporting,” THEN … oh man, I miss that rag. You guys are so lucky to have essentially the most beautifully useless alt-weekly in this fine country, free every seven days.

By: Timothy

Timothy — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:07:20 +0000

If “I Saw You” isn’t the first thing you read in the EW, you are broken on the inside.

By: CJ Ciaramella

CJ Ciaramella — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:02:04 +0000

Well, when I said “kind of funny” I meant “not as funny as a groin injury.” The column is still one of the first things I turn to in Eugene Weekly. (After letters to the editor and the new Sweet Potato Pie ad, of course.) So for what it’s worth, you’re at least more entertaining than almost everything else in the Eugene Weekly.

By: Gustavo Arellano

Gustavo Arellano — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:39:05 +0000

Oh, Ossie! People have used the food-critic slur against me muchos times, but why don’t you also mention my investigative reporting chops? Don’t believe me? Call the Catholic Diocese of Orange, mention my name, and get ready for a slew of Hail Marys.

By: Ossie

Ossie — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:40:31 +0000

My favorite letter in the EW this week comes from Pedro Rosa-Meleño.

I think it’s safe to say: White, middle-class-hippie-organic-vegetarians in Eugene feel guilty with so much history (read, the lies my teacher told me); they hide behind the rhetoric: everything is fine, as long as these pitiful minorities keep quiet and don’t raise their voices…

I’m not scared of those rednecks who are blatant explicit racists; I’m scared about the backstabbers who hide behind the peace sign, just like a cheating wife or husband or partner.

As for Arellano, his column is mediocre as far as the entertainment standard. He’s a food critic, so satire isn’t his strong point.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:40:36 +0000

Jo, I meant the TV series, although the strip is good too. I think McGruder’s humor is WAY more subtle in the strip, but that’s been postponed while he works on the show, which is funny in a slightly different way, louder and more in-your-face..

By: Jo

Jo — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:28:05 +0000

Also, Eugene did discover the Boondocks. It used to be published in the Register-Guard, and there was a big ado about how its racist, so it was moved to the inside of the classified section for a while. Not sure if it’s still there…

By: Jo

Jo — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:27:07 +0000

Ted, here are the responses to your questions, in order:

They’re durable, suv-like vehicles without really being SUVs. (I have no idea if this is true, but it sounds good).

Because we appreciate the humor in the situation.

They match everything.

Of course the ’60s are over, but time moves slowly when you’ve done a lot of drugs, so a lot of the people here aren’t aware that it’s now 2007.

Boobies.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:44:39 +0000

What’s going to happen once Eugene discovers The Boondocks?
The second season is doing a great job of maintaining Aaron McGruder’s brand of offensive humor, especially the newest episode, which takes on the fallout from Hurricane Katrina (and has a guest spot from never-visited-Eugene rapper Lil’ Wayne)

By: Niedermeyer

Niedermeyer — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 21:44:43 +0000

I’m beginning to think we should start an “ask a Eugenean” column to give the rest of the world an insight into the peculiar perspectives of our locals. Sample questions:

Why all the Subarus?
Why doesn’t anyone care that the largest open-air drug market is on the courthouse steps?
What’s with all the earth tones?
Aren’t the sixties over?
What exactly is the appeal of the Country Fair?

By: Danimal

Danimal — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:59:03 +0000

Re: exclamation point … You can always just use a lowercase “i.” iI’m helpful!

By: Gustavo Arellano

Gustavo Arellano — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:23:59 +0000

If I’m kinda funny, you’re muy funny! Gracias for the plug¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡