Last week's feature about movie etiquette, by Martin Stein, prompted this response:
This is one reason I no longer go to theaters to watch movies. Whatever happened to the plan to use a "microwave block" to shut down cell-phone reception? There are units on the market that do just that and are localized to a small area, like the theater. All the owner would have to do is post notices that upon entering the theater, cell- phone reception will be cut off and no incoming or outgoing calls will be possible. If the theater owners would do this, there would be a lot less assholes at the movies.
Another thing I've never been able to fathom is why the hell people bring babies to the movies. If they're going out, get a baby sitter. If they can't get one, they can keep their idiot selves at home and not disturb the movie for others.
I guess respect for others has gone out the window, along with most of the intelligence of many people. That can be evidenced by the growing popularity of television reality shows. No plot, no actors and dumb-ass ideas ... gee, how riveting. Lowest-common-denominator programming has taken over the airwaves.
People who use their cell phones during a movie should have that phone shoved up their ass, along with those who use them while driving.
Kudos to Steve Bornfeld for hilariously getting it right re: Law & Order character shtick ("These Are Their Stories," last week). My vote for the all-time best line:
A disgusted Steven Hill (DA Adam Schiff) to Sam Waterston (ADA Jack McCoy) at the end of a show:
"Quick, lock the door. Someone might walk in with a case we can win!"
Editor's note: Good choice, Martha. Steve Bornfeld adds his own favorite line, also by Schiff to McCoy, after winning a difficult case: "You climbed Everest ... in your underwear ... on a very cold day."
Last week, Art Director Benjamen Purvis penned a tribute to photographer Keith Shimada, whose portrait of Mayor Oscar Goodman was rejected for that issue's cover. For amusement purposes, Purvis jokingly cropped Shimada from the accompanying picture, taken in Goodman's office.
Nice cover (not kidding). Too bad your tribute piece showed only one eye of the guy you hired to actually shoot the bit. You even headlined him. Nice shot of you and the mayor, however. Good job! (kidding)
The wheels of justice grind slowly. Fifty-eight years after the "date which will live in infamy"—the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941—the two military commanders whom President Franklin Roosevelt had used as scapegoats were vindicated, by a Senate vote, of charges of dereliction of duty.
Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short are both deceased, but their families had been battling for decades to clear them of blame for the devastating surprise attack. After the attack, the two senior officers were relieved of their commands and forced to retire at reduced ranks. They were subjected to denunciations in Congress, vilification in the press, hate mail and death threats.
Toward the end of the war, Kimmel and Short finally got the court-martials they had been seeking to clear their records. The Naval Court of Inquiry severely censured FDR's chief of naval operations, Adm. Harold Stark, for failing to provide Kimmel with the decoded Japanese messages. The Army court-martial also found overwhelming guilt in FDR's Army chief of staff, Gen. George Marshall.
Nevertheless, the court-martial verdicts were suppressed, classified as "secret" to protect the "war effort."
How long will it take for the truth about 9/11 to come out?
Pfc. Lynndie England is facing court-martial for her actions at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. If she had been a civilian and decked herself out in skimpy leather, she could have made a fortune with that dog collar and leash routine, but noooo, she had to do it in uniform while drawing a government paycheck. Our society has evolved into one that acquiesces to such behavior among consenting adults, but those who push the envelope should be dealt with harshly.
Editor's note: Your point, whatever it is, is well-taken!
What's happening Downtown? Violence is everywhere; I mean, there were two people stabbed while gambling in one casino, and a dead body found in a room at another, not to mention all the stabbings and muggings on the street. Is this retaliation for all the gestapo-type sweeps that are being conducted by Metro in its urban cleansing campaign this holiday season?
If so, I don't think it's a good time to turn our handguns over to Wal-Mart for the $50 reward they're offering; instead, they should be giving us $50 worth of free bullets so that we can protect our ass! The police won't do it, they're too busy trying to make the world believe that we don't have a homeless crisis on our hands.
You better enjoy Christmas while you can; you may not see another one! Good luck.