Too bad Duane Chapman didn't show. I'd love to see him kick Adam Cayton-Holland's sorry hipster butt.
Suzi Meyer
Denver
Please note for your readers that the date with Dog last Friday was canceled to combine it with Peer 1's Ride on June 30, which Dog had promised he would appear at and speak at. He didn't feel it was fair to step on the fundraising event by speaking one week earlier. You can find him at the Peer 1 event in support of that benefit; he will be speaking.
It had nothing to do with crazy Christopher and his paid-for stories.
Alan Nevins
Beverly Hills, California
"Canned Heat," Jared Jacang Maher, June 21
What Jared Jacang Maher has done by giving any face time at all (actually, half-face time, since taggers are cowards who don't show their faces) is tantamount to accessory after the fact to a crime.
These children are ruining vast areas of the city, and to try to pass it off like some sort of historical "cave painting" or to even show their half-faces is pathetic. I know. I've dealt with them over and over as a business owner, and yes, the cliche holds true: Graffiti brings more graffiti.
Taggers are nothing but punks, pussies and cowards. If they were anything else, they'd show their faces and not run around at 3 a.m. trashing neighborhoods, tunnels and fences.
You're an artist? Buy a canvas and paint on it. The first time I caught one tagging my business, I was GM of the Snake Pit, and my 39-year-old ass chased him down, knocked out five of his teeth and dragged him by his ponytail back to the club, where he then went to jail. His mommy called the next day to threaten a lawsuit, but when mommy's lawyers saw the police report, she declined to pursue the matter.
More recently at my latest business, I caught three who scattered like cockroaches, but I managed to kick the shit out of one and gain three more teeth. He also went to jail. I have the eight teeth in a jar on my desk. This "gang" was about as big a bunch of cowards as I've met, and I'm 45. Guess it's gotta be five or six of them to confront an old guy like me.
Doing a photo-op with these chickenshits is about as low as Westword can go. Maybe my new freedom of speech will be taking a shit on Westword's doorstep, since your offices are less than three blocks from my business. Maybe we can do a story on that next.
I actually pity these children. They tag, paint and graffiti up the city for the same reason that little short men drive great big trucks: trying to compensate for small penises. Tagging up the city won't make your dicks any bigger, kids. Nor will getting your half-face in Westword, regardless of what Mr. Maher told you.
David Maddux
Denver
That idiot ERA you profiled has been scrawling his name all over my neighborhood. He's no artist, he's just a pathetic vandal. I used to live in Los Angeles, and there are some legitimate graffiti artists out there, but I have yet to see anything in Denver that lives up to any sort of standard. I hope, if anything, your article helps to incarcerate these bozos, and I am especially galled that some of them are homeowners from the suburbs. It must be very easy to vandalize the property of us city dwellers, then return to your tract home in the 'burbs...
I have an idea: Paint your own goddamn walls, and leave mine and my neighbor's alone.
Name withheld on request
So now Denver's Mexicans are doing the graffiti work that Americans won't do.
Richard Bell
Georgetown
What was the purpose of this story? I read it thinking Westword would comment on the ridiculous changes that the Graffiti Task Force is recommending, such as cutting the time that citizens and business owners have to remove the graffiti, and "back-dooring" as a way to enter people's private property without warrants. Even more appalling are the fines that can be imposed on said residents/owners if they do not remove the graffiti in the allotted time; there is no other instance that a victim of a crime is actually charged a fine by the city for being a victim. Furthermore, the GTF recommends that people will have to obtain a permit from the city to put up a mural on their private property. That is blatant disrespect of a property owners' rights, and I would go so far as to say it is mildly racist, since the overwhelming majority of muralists in our city are Chicano.
Instead, Westword took the time to glorify the "taggers" and tried to make us feel sympathetic for those losers. I am all for the artists who do pieces or burners, the real artwork — but the little shits who go around tagging their names on everything they come across are just juvenile delinquents. I have a background with the whole scene back in the day, when crews were really interested in art, not just making the city look like a fuckin' slum and acting like a bunch of wannabe gangsters.
Jason Novak
Denver
"Feel the Love," Kenny Be, June 14
Congratulations to Kenny Be on his Jubibe! His "Worst-Case Scenario" is the first thing I turn to in Westword. Here's to 25 more years of Kenny!
Lauren Hertz
Denver
We loved Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario on the occasion of his 25-year anniversary as a cartoonist for Westword. Twenty-five years is an unusual feat for employees these days. (His dad is still asking Kenny, "When are you going to get a real job?") In the cartoon, twelve of Kenny's friends gave insights into Kenny's life. We were happy to read that all of them are also excluded from his time and life over the long weekend.
Our family always has our special occasions — dinners, birthdays, etc. — on the weekends. Kenny has been a no-show for years. Some of the younger members would probably say, "Kenny who?"
His dad and I are Kenny's Thursday afternoon "project." We must schedule all heart attacks, emergency surgeries, doctor's appointments, law problems, money matters, grocery shopping or neighbor disputes for this afternoon. If we have time, he gleefully beats me at Scrabble, where he builds his questionable twelve-letter words around and over my three- and four-letter ones. While I am struggling with my letters, Kenny is in the kitchen whipping up a healthy meal for us and gulping down a bottle or two of wine. He needs it by this time! After all is done and the kitchen cleaned up, he's off — probably to see a few more friends before the weekend begins.
He is Kenny Be, a real blessing to all who know him well!
Mom Be
Northglenn
Ask a Mexican, Gustavo Arellano
Dear Mexican: I truly don't mind many of your amigos being here illegally, but I'm tired of them breaking the laws and acting stupid in the name of being macho. Is it macho to get drunk and kill people on the road or each other in a bar? I would think that maybe since they are here illegally, it might be smart to "fly under the radar" — instead of waving the flag, trying to get arrested and possibly deported.
This isn't Mexico. If they want to act that way, they should go home.
Ken Japp
Littleton
