Letters

Screen Gems
Regarding Chris LaMorte's "Tune In and Turn On," September 12:
What was your reporter on when he picked out the "news babes"? Marcia Neville a news babe? Far from it. Let's see the Women of Westword!

Derek Mooneyham
via the Internet

A Ted-Letter Day
I enjoyed Robin Chotzinoff's article about Ted Nugent and the money his hunting videos have raised for public television stations across the country ("Shaft's Big Score," August 29).

Mr. Nugent's hunting videos have been shown in Nebraska and have done extremely well. According to a spokesman for Nebraska public television, Mr. Nugent's videos have been the most successful outdoor programs ever shown on public television here.

Ted Nugent's hunting videos are refreshing, honest and bold. There are a bunch of us, hunters and non-hunters alike, who appreciate that.

Ward Parker
Papillion, NE

Regarding the whole thing with Ted Nugent and Channel 12, I wonder what would happen if they showed a video in which Ted is accidentally shot in the ass with an arrow by another hunter--"It was foggy; from where I was, he looked like a possum"--and then for the next forty minutes (since he wasn't killed instantly; anything shot with a bow and arrow seldom is) he proceeded to crawl through the woods and slowly bleed to death.

How much in pledges do you think that would raise? Just thinking out loud.
Randy Raymer
via the Internet

In response to the "Better Dead Than Ted" letters in the September 12 issue:
Life is always interesting at Channel 12. When we show a point of view that has wide acceptance, we are doing the "Lord's work." When we air less popular viewpoints, we are selling out to the devil. Whose devil and whose lord depends on the program; there seem to be people on both political extremes who want to blame Channel 12 for a point of view they don't like. This narrow-minded intolerance confuses a point of view for the whole and only acceptable truth, and assumes that any other viewpoints are unhealthy, maybe even un-American, and that the only reason Channel 12 could be broadcasting these heinous programs is because it has "sold out."

Well, Channel 12 does seek pledges around controversial programs and as such is susceptible to the charge. But if we don't have member support, then we can't do what we do. And if we don't do it--whether it be Ted Nugent, the Lambda Report or countless other programs that find a home only on KBDI--then who will? It would certainly be easier, if somewhat mind-numbing, to take a more conventional route. Maybe more Lawrence Welk spinoffs or anthropomorphic nature shows would appease Mr. Slade's disgruntled palate.

Make what you will of Ted Nugent. Richard DeTar's suggestion of "gutting him" is worth consideration; maybe Julia Child could make a roast. But for all you Big Mac-heads who don't think twice about where your slurpy burgers come from, Ted Nugent is an interesting antidote. If the shock of watching a semi-zonked, over-the-hill rock-and-roller kill and cook the meat he eats is too much for your refined sensibilities, then maybe it's time to ask yourself: How should he do it? And what do you do?

Finally, the Grateful Dead program, Dead Ahead, generated a great response on our recent membership drive. Ms. Chotzinoff's figures were inaccurate. And, absolutely finally, Mr. Slade will be happy to know that Marty Stouffer's Wild America will return to Channel 12 in October.

Ted Krichels, president and general manager
KBDI/Channel 12

Editor's note: To check out Robin Chotzinoff's "Shaft's Big Score," as well as a Ted Nugent pig-shooting video, visit our Web site at www.westword.com.

Look Before You Weep
Let me see if I have this straight. In his September 5 "Looking Back," Michael Paglia visits the Arvada Center and enlightens us as follows:

Don Coen's painting is "pretty close" to traditional (saved from this fate only because it is done with an airbrush). That's also the case for drawings by Fran Metzger and David Mesple, who are assigned the tradition of "hyper-realism" (which emerged in the 1970s as a response to recycled 1950s abstract expressionism). Carlos Fresquez, using the less traditional "expressionist style," includes elements from Picasso's cubist "Guernica" (1937--now that's tradition!) and maybe Dr. Seuss (try Walt Disney) in his oil-on-wood painting, a technique that predates the oil-on-canvas upgrade of the sixteenth century.

Then Carlos Santistevan's "neo-expressionism" with its "traditional Hispanic religious art" elements becomes even less traditional because, "as usual, it works." Too bad it didn't have the tell-tale fingerprints of paleolithic cave painting (or even the sculpture of Scott Chamberlain), or it would "literally stand out." Wait until the "traditional" artists learn this trick!

Abstract works are "among the best pieces in the show," including Jeremy Hillhouse's minimalist "Prairie Skin" that, "okay...might be the prairie," a "typical" Virginia Maitland "that includes glitter," and Clark Richert's celebrated return from dallying in "representational work" to the flattest-ever painting of a "non-objective" cube in his "signature style." No airbrush here--just masking tape, glitter and acrylics!

If I were any of these artists, I would simply shoot myself--if I could decide whether to use the "traditional" neo-impressionist technique first employed by Vincent Van Gogh (which, as usual, worked) or the 1970s performance-art effort of Chris Burden (which, as usual, didn't).