;Bao out
I am a little perplexed at your choice of a writer for such a close-to-home, and at times very intimate, column [This Little Underground]. I can say for a fact that the Killer Robots show at the Social on Dec. 30 and the Vascular Symphony show on Jan. 5 were both exciting performances featuring great audience participation. The people who came out — and there were many — sang along, danced, moshed and even helped out a few times when there were technical difficulties. The clubs made money and so did the bands. You couldn't ask for more. Everyone was happy, except apparently one person.
;;Now I am not sure what motivates Bao Le-Huu to write. There does seem to be some misguided anger in his words. Both items "Wardrobe Please!" and "Art vs. Philanthropy" [Jan. 11] are laced with insults and even one personal attack.
;; As to the "unique relationship" with the Killer Robots, I am unaware of any relationship he has with them other than the negative reviews he repeatedly writes about them. As for the reference to "another band whose closet tends to outrun its art," Bao apparently doesn't like or understand what rock & roll is. If society were to hold to such a notion there would be no Kiss, Black Sabbath, Slipknot, Spinal Tap, Velvet Underground, Sex Pistols — thousands of bands who relied on image to break into the scene and to express themselves.
;;The Oaks have a mission outside of just being a band. Bao's review of them again just goes to show a lack of perspective on things in Orlando and in the world. If the folks behind the Oaks show simply wrote a book or submitted a column, would those same people have listened? Bao's failure is by writing reviews that sound like he walked right past the stage and spent the rest of the time listening from inside the bathroom.
;; In the section about Sean Moore at the Back Booth, it was very gracious of Monsieur Bao Le-Huu to notice that "he's clearly talented." As far as "his artistic sensibility" and not knowing "when enough is enough," I was unaware of how well-schooled Bao Le-Huu is in the arts.
;;Someone in a local record shop said it best a couple of days ago. "Those who can't play, critique." Does that work the other way around? You, the reader, will have to judge for yourself.
;;John Worldly, via the Internet
;;Make your own license plate
How badly do pro-choicers want their own license tag [Happytown™, Jan. 11]? If they can get past the fact that proceeds from sales of "Choose Life" tags go to anti-abortion groups, those are exactly the tags they should buy. They can then put tape across the word "life" so that the tag says simply "choose."
;;There's a precedent in the case of a New Hampshire couple who years ago fought to the Supreme Court, and won, the right to put tape over "Live Free or Die" on their license tag. The couple were Jehovah's Witnesses who argued that the New Hampshire motto violated their pacifist religious principles by implying that they would take up arms for any reason, even their freedom.
;;The Supreme Court ruled that since the license number and the name "New Hampshire" were still visible on the tag and the motto was not essential identifying information, the Jehovah's Witnesses had the right, on religious grounds, to cover it.
;;It's hard to imagine that a Florida court would quarrel with covering up the word "life" since it also is not essential identifying information. If anything, a car whose tag said only "choose" would be more recognizable to law enforcement.
;;Angela Stockton, Clermont
; [email protected]
