"Ruffled Feathers," Off Limits, June 23
I was surprised to learn those trendy feather extensions have such a strong Colorado connection. I'm sure droves of suburban mall rats will soon feel compelled to weave cock feathers into their emo-mullets, but they should know that those chickens die for them. Feather-wearers may feel empowered with additional plumage, but these accessories are scraps from dead animals. Those chickens are killed for their tail feathers. I was surprised to see that your article neglected this crucial part of the "harvest." Maybe you thought it was obvious, or maybe you didn't want to seem like you gave a cock's ass.
Mark Hagelberg Denver
"Shall We Trance?," Amber Taufen, June 23
Kudos on your fantastic article. As someone who has been brutalized by police and who also has friends in the Denver Police Department, I was very glad to read "Shall We Trance?" Police have one of the most difficult jobs imaginable, and it's not just a case of good cops/bad cops. Certainly, there are people who join the force just to beat people up — but resources need to be available to good cops who need them. For the cost of the DPD settling just one brutality case, they could retain Lisa Wimberger's services for a year, easily, and help officers deal not only with job-related stresses, but general life stresses that distract them from their jobs.
Thank you for shedding some light on this. I hope that every police officer and public servant in Denver reads this article; it would do them a world of good. Keep up the good work, Westword.
Matt Larrabee
Denver
For this stress-relieving system to work, you will have to break the KKK behaviors handed down from the past. Yes, the DPD was the KKK in the '20s in Denver, along with the mayor and the governor of the state.
It's ingrained: To relieve stress, just pick someone at random, beat the s#it out of them (or even kill them), with no real consequences for your behavior, thanks to the union and the spineless REMFs sitting in the City and County Building. The fact that the city has already shelled out a cool $1 million this year to settle police-brutality claims says much to prove what I have said is true.
Yes, I'd say Lisa Wimberger has her work cut out for her here in Denver...
Art Blackwell
Evergreen
"Hard Hart," Tom Murphy, June 23
I enjoy Tom Murphy's writing; I find almost all of it entertaining and illuminating. But every now and then, something really sticks in my craw. He mentions that Hart is a singing drummer, which he notes is "a rare exception at the time." This line strikes me as either contemptuous of your readers or just plain misguided.
First off, there have never been many singing drummers. By saying that Hart was "a rare exception at the time," Murphy is implying that there are a ton of drummers nowadays who also serve as lead singers. Yes, I know Hart wasn't the lead singer; he shared duties.
Second, a cursory glace will show he wasn't that rare, even "at the time." If you look at when he came up, you had Levon Helm, Don Henley and, hell, even Karen Carpenter.
Dave Garner
Denver
Great piece. I always preferred Hart's writing in Hüsker Dü to Bob Mould's. And somehow, maybe because of Sugar, etc., Mould managed to stay on my radar more than Hart. Guess I had better catch up on his stuff, and thanks for the heads-up on the show.
Russ Christiansen
Castle Rock
