Make City Weekly Great Again
I have been an avid fan of City Weekly for many years. But today, when I read through your June 16 edition, I came across the following: 1. a letter taking the position that the recent massacre in Orlando was a "false flag, a "staged fake" intended to mislead people into believing we need gun control legislation; 2. a letter contending that America is a "foreign principle" [sic] of the Queen of England and that the brave American men and women who fought and died in the Middle East "deserve no sympathy, respect or sensitivity;" 3. the (serious?) suggestion by a reader that cannabalism is a good idea, given the food shortages that might occur; 4. the acknowledgement a that good many grown men in Utah and elsewhere have become highly enamored of the fuzzy animals in the My Little Pony cartoons; and 5. the difficulty that comedian Jim Norton has experienced "getting laid in" our state.
The first two of these are apparently intentional outrages, unworthy even of contempt. The third is demonstrably nuts. The fourth is beyond peurile. The fifth can be characterized, charitably, as too much information.
To quote the late, great Flannery O'Connor, in a somewhat different context, "my tone is not meant to be obnoxious. I am in a state of shock." You can do—and have usually done—better, City Weekly, and I very much hope that you will again soon.
Thomas N. Thompson
Salt Lake City
Wacko paranoia
OK, I understand that you label yourself an "alternative newspaper." It makes sense, and when compared to the Trib and the gawdawful Des News, your self-description is apt.
But, there is a line between alternative and bonkers. The two letters printed in your June 16 issue crossed that line. These folks are in the interplanetary message, black helicopter and tinfoil hat category. I like diversity, but when does diversity become out to launch wacko paranoia?
J. C. Smith
Salt Lake City
Keeping it free
Lower Lights came up on my Facebook today so I Googled it to see whatever became of it, and, after learning there is apparently a band named that now, your 2008 interview with the then maintainer of it was in the first page of results.
One thing that struck me about it was how Shaun says, "it was open to anyone ... regardless of age" and oh my how this was true.
I clearly remember being maybe 10 years old in 1993 and, shortly after my parents had gotten their first modem, a 9600baud powerhouse, I was using the household phone line all day, and eventually stumbled upon LL.
In those days, to get an account, you submitted a brief application, and then the owner would call you on the phone and verify who you were, and then your account would be turned on.
I submitted my application and then hid in my parents room with my hand on the phone, ready to answer it, terrified of what might happen. Within a few hours, it rang, and it was LL confirming me. We then proceeded to have the most awkward conversation I had ever had up that point in my life, a stock broker talking to a 10 year old about computers, and he turned on my account.
The rest is history. Twenty-three years later, I am a senior IT operations guy, and my first job was at XMission Internet thanks to the benevolent Pete Ashdown.
Anyway, thanks for keeping archives free and online.
Tyler Morgan
Seattle, WA
