LEO welcomes letters that are brief (250 words max) and thoughtful. Ad hominem attacks will be ignored, and we need your name and a daytime phone number. Send snail mail to EROSIA, 640 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Ky. 40202. Fax to 895-9779 or e-mail to [email protected]. We may edit for length, grammar and clarity.
Let Me See!
Springtime has arrived, and with it comes events and festivals that put Louisville in the national spotlight. The festival that gets the most attendance and is probably the most family-friendly (sorry, I just don’t see a lot of kids going to the big horse race) is the kickoff for the Derby Festival, Thunder Over Louisville. It’s affordable (you can’t get much more affordable than free!), and it’s usually accessible to everyone — except this year, which is the reason for this letter.
This year, in Jeffersonville, the viewing area between the Big Four Bridge and the Kennedy will be blocked off due to Ohio River Greenway construction. Here’s my beef: Between the Kennedy Bridge and the Second Street Bridge, Kingfish, Buckhead and Rocky’s will block all of the riverfront parking and space in front of the restaurants with fencing. Isn’t that public parking between Kingfish and Buckhead? So, the only good spots this year will be Ashland Park in Clarksville and underneath the Kennedy Bridge. Oh, and you can stand on Riverside Drive in Jeffersonville, in front of the concession stands and behind the fencing.
Louisville, of course, has better viewing spots to watch the air show, but even on the Great Lawn, corporations will erect huge tents and fence off areas.
It would be nice if the restaurants allowed people to sit near the shore of the river and not fence off so much viewing space. Thunder is the best (in my opinion) festival Louisville puts on each year. I appreciate all of the hard work that goes into it. I just wish that the viewing area was more accessible to everyone.
Dave Gillenwater
Good Beer Fear
Sara Havens needs to hang up her “Bar Maven” hat. She writes about going to Nashville and consuming “beer, and lots of it ...,” then proceeds to say she bought Miller Lite and Bud Select. PUH-LEEZE!
Them ain’t BEER! Beer has taste, color and texture. The alcoholic products mass-produced by Busch and Miller are at best NEAR-beer, at worst they are like sex in a canoe: “%^*#ing near water.” Sara needs to spend an evening or two at someplace like BBC or Rich O’s to learn what REAL beer is.
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with those establishments or any other pubs/bars, other than to enjoy real beer.
Robert Frederick
Editor’s Note: Sara tends to go for quantity over quality, which is a shame. Wake up, Bar Belle!
Redheads Beware
Ray Rieck makes some interesting and logical observations in his recent Erosia letter (LEO, March 28) concerning “curing” the “abomination” of homosexuality. It never occurred to me that homosexuality was akin to substance abuse, smoking or over-eating. Next time I see a fat gay guy light up, I’m sending him to a doctor.
And we shouldn’t stop there. I’ve had it with these damn left-handed people — they’re a perversion of nature. Fix ’em or smite ’em. And redheads. We gotta do something about the redheads.
Yes, this biblical defense of bigotry — and outright stupidity — is compelling. I’m sure Mohler and Rieck also support closing down all the Red Lobsters (Lev. 11:10) and keeping the vision-impaired out of our churches (Lev. 21:20). And undoubtedly they both sleep on the couch when their wives are menstruating (Lev. 15:19-24). Or maybe Al keeps the bed to himself, since women are really just property to be traded (Exodus 21:7).
While it would do great damage to our economy, somebody has GOT to smite everyone who works on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2). Let me know when that’s gonna happen, I’ll call in sick that weekend.
The barbershops will probably have to close down for good, and we guys who shave our heads are REALLY screwed (Lev. 19:27). Let the stoning begin. That problem with illegal immigration? Simple: Make all the immigrants slaves (Leviticus 25:44). Finally, something Lou Dobbs and Republicans can both get behind.
Yes, life would be so much better if we’d all just live it Old Testament style.
But, Ray, if I ever see you and Al Mohler at Mazzoni’s, I call bullshit.
Bryan Hurst
If You Were God
Have you ever read something that made so little sense, you did not know where to start disagreeing with it? Well, if you read the recent Erosia letter by Ray Rieck, I suspect you have. Rieck explained that Albert Mohler makes sense when he talks about how to prevent us from being gay.
Ray explains that the argument that “it is natural makes it right” is illogical, that lots of things are natural and wrong — over-eating, over-drinking, smoking, substance abuse, etc. That Christianity has the easy answer. We are born with evil bents that must be resisted or controlled.
Well, Ray, how about you start us all off by resisting your need to tell us what you and God think are right and wrong. Eating and drinking are not wrong. Over-eating, over-drinking and smoking are bad for your health. Being gay is not wrong. It is only wrong if you think you are God. You want to compare choosing a salad over a Big Mac to a person choosing who they wish to fall in love with? How dare you! What exactly is it in Christianity that makes SOME of you so ignorant? You said that you agree with Mohler’s (and the Bible’s) prohibition on homosexual behavior.
I will kiss your ass (oops) if you can show me where the Bible says that. And don’t give me your interpretations. I want the passage that says God forbids homosexuality. And then I want the original passage in the original language, written directly by God.
Richard Hodge
Restaurant Encounter
Me: I’ll have the BLT.
Server: Lettuce and tomato?
Scott Varland
