Break the Chains
Best of Orlando `July 17`: Olive Garden, Subway, Five Guys Burgers, the Capital Grille, Publix, Sonny’s … chains, chains, chains.
The article is worthless if you just spout of chains that everyone knows. All this does is perpetuate the false notion that there are only chains in Orlando. I would rather you rate a local place as better than it is than see Olive Garden on a best-of list. Do you think magazines in New York or Chicago do this shit?
Stop being so lazy. Find the local places. Tell people about it so Orlando can develop a better local culture. I don’t think Subway needs the extra marketing boost that your magazine provides. Junior’s Diner does.
Peter Knocke, via the Internet
Editor’s note: The places Mr. Knocke mentions are largely drawn from our readers’ poll, meaning they are the places Orlando Weekly readers voted for – including Junior’s Diner as the winner in the Best Diner category. He might do well to peruse the writers’ results section of Best of Orlando, which is almost chain-free.
Not Phat, Part 1
Maybe you are under the impression that all women bloggers, regardless of the content of their blogs, have an ultimate dream of dreams of being thought of as fetishist wank toy fantasies `“Best of Orlando,” July 17`.
But while I’ll wave a tiny pompon for a “best fat-rights blog” category in the first place, as a longtime reader of The Rotund, I can tell you right now that Marianne Kirby no more desires that characterization for her public image than any of the male bloggers who blog about fat rights or fat acceptance. And if you’d spent even two seconds skimming the article you wrote about her for your own publication `“Fat power!,” Jan. 31` – never mind actually catching fat cooties from spending time looking at her blog – you would have known that.
via the Internet
Not Phat, Part 2
I felt it appropriate to point out your inappropriate commentary on The Rotund, Marianne Kirby `“Best of Orlando,” July 17`. Your blurb about her fat rights blog made reference to chubby chasers and mother “load” (that’s actually mother lode; it’s a mining term).
As Ms. Kirby is a (married, I believe) feminist, I can assure you she does not wish to be viewed as a piece of meat to be chased by pervs looking for a mother lode of anything. I get that it was a play on words to play up the fat angle and snark at it, but it wasn’t funny and it was kind of offensive. There are people who wouldn’t mind being referred to in such terms, but I’m certain she isn’t one of them. This might seem ungrateful or lacking in humor, but seriously, it wasn’t cool. Why not offer an apology, as perhaps maybe you just didn’t do any research and misunderstood her focus.
Annie McPhee, via the Internet
Not Phat, Part 3
With the rise of misogynist discourse in the media this election year, I shouldn’t be surprised when a write-up that purports to celebrate an accomplished woman turns into a slightly better-edited version of “hot or not.”
Nevertheless, I was appalled to read your paper state that my friend Marianne Kirby, who runs the popular blog The Rotund, is perfect for a “chubby chaser looking for the mother load.”
If your writers had read even one sentence of Marianne’s writing, the absurdity of that statement would be obvious to you. Women’s bodies are not just pretty objects for men to lust after. We’re actually, you know, human, and Marianne’s writing fiercely demands that we all be treated as such.
via www.orlandoweekly.com
Corrections Department
In the July 17 issue, we printed a preview of a concert at Taste Restaurant to be held July 18 featuring Sleep of Oldominion. We have learned that the show was booked but never confirmed, and did not happen. We apologize for the inaccurate information.
Also, our July 10 story “Might makes right” referred to Karen Holbrook as a “former night-life writer” for the Orlando Sentinel. She was actually a freelance writer.
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