Battle Grounds
War monger: Regarding David Martin’s “War Games” (February 5): I, too, wonder about the wisdom of funding a WWI museum when so much infrastructure in KCMO is rotting. Is this another mess that the citizens are going to have to keep afloat with yet another bistate tax?
KCMO has more pressing needs. Councilman Jim Glover is right — fix the basic infrastructure before asking taxpayers to take on another unneeded burden.
Dave Schulz
Overland Park
Trial and Error
The blunder years: I feel that Matthew Limon is being punished wrongly and that he should get a fair trial (Nadia Pflaum’s “A Boy’s Life,” January 22). They should let his appeal go through. Let him finish living his life. He has suffered enough for what he has done.
I feel that his family should be giving him a lot more support. When his parents were questioned, they should have stepped forward, protected their son and not avoided the press. He may be an adult in age, but he is still a child who needs someone to believe in him and help him through these tough times.
I hope everything works out for you, Matthew. I am praying for your release and your appeal. I hope if there are any parents out there who have gay or lesbian children, they are following the hell this young man is going through.
And please don’t push your children away — they are your flesh and blood, no matter what. They need you, and you need them. Don’t make them go through life like Matthew, alone and missing his family. Be there for them. Always.
Name Withheld Upon Request
Editor’s note: On January 30, the Kansas Court of Appeals denied Limon’s appeal. For more on the court decision, see KC Strip, page 10.
Strike Out
Foul ball: I just recently read Charles Ferruzza’s article about George Brett’s restaurant (“Home Plates,” January 22). I thought it was great.
I would also like to say that years ago, George Brett would not even give a young boy an autograph at the stadium. He was too whatever you want to call it. I can’t say what I think of him, but I’m sorry — I don’t think he had respect for the people who helped him get where he was, especially the young boys who adored him.
I really liked the article, and I read your paper all the time. I also liked the article about the gentleman who was in prison — that was very detailed and very good (Nadia Pflaum’s “A Boy’s Life,” January 22).
Kay Mayhall
Kansas City, Kansas
Balloon Drop
Dog show: Whazzup, my Night Ranger QUEEN!!! Jen Chen’s columns have rocked recently, I must say — not that she has ever written anything that wasn’t funny/dead-on right/generally entertaining.
Regarding “Hats Off” (January 15), I seriously wanted to lay the smack on that D-bag who messed with the balloon guy. It’s generally understood in the Guy Code that messing with dudes who make animal-shaped balloons for fun is about as acceptable as beating up on a Yorkie. Of course, the aforementioned scum who mess with balloon dudes are probably hung like Yorkies as well, thus explaining their social malfeasance.
Scott Spillman
Kansas City, Missouri
Sour Note
Rap it up: Nathan Dinsdale doesn’t know anything about hip-hop or the scene in Kansas City or Lawrence (Prairie Dogg, February 5). Please, no more hip-hop articles by Nathan Dinsdale.
Name Withheld Upon Request
Jazz Hands
Critical thinking: It’s always so enlightening to read a coherent, knowing and literate review of the work of a dedicated jazz artist — in this case, Angela Hagenbach’s CD Poetry of Love. (Hear and Now, January 29).
Gosh, I never knew that the terms “laying your woman/man/transgendered individual down by the fire,” “fuck you like an animal,” “music to pimp by,” “hot buttered odes to feats between the sheets” and “background music for wet and steamy endeavors” were descriptive of jazz music. But then, I’ve only been listening to this music for thirty years or so, and I guess your reviewer knows much more than I do. He certainly has the insight to claim that Ms. Hagenbach could make “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” sound “hot and bothered.” I never would have thought of that.
I wish I could write about jazz like you guys. But no, I would have to discuss Angela’s incredible gift of phrasing, her infusion of delight and heart into every lyric, the care that obviously has been taken in song selection, production and arrangements, as well as the superlative musicians who accompany her.
But, try as I might, I just can’t find a way to work the words “fuck” and “pimp” into my evaluation of this CD. Poor, unwashed me. I will try harder to learn real jazz criticism from your paper.
John Dawson
Kansas City, Missouri
