Letters to the Editor

  NOWHERE TO PARK    

Dave Maass� cover story on the dearth, perhaps the death, of accessible downtown parking was right on the meter money [

]. ***image1***

In particular I applaud Aztec Street�s righteously indignant civil disobedience, reminiscent of Network�s Howard Beale: They�re mad as hell and they�re not going to pay it any more.

Indeed, the extended Plaza area now reminds one of Manhattan, a theme park that you can�t enter without an admission fee. Because of the Santa Fe Center, the La Esquina Building and the Doodlet�s renovations, and the new NM Museum of History, there are over 1,000 fewer parking places than only a couple of years ago.

And with the threat or promise of Lensic construction, the dread of St. Francis Cathedral expansion, the shock of Railyard pay lots and the terminally misguided County Courthouse plan, easy street parking doesn�t have a hope.

Further, I agree 101 percent with Lisa Harris (full disclosure: as I have for our last 31 years together) that underground parking garages are way scary! Haven�t the Parking Enforcement folks ever seen

Land of the Dead

or, worse still,

All the President�s Men

? Just asking�

In short: No wonder people don�t want to come downtown any more.

There is no there there.

  WHERE TO START    

It�s difficult to know where to begin commenting on Angelo Jaramillo�s review of

Bench Warmers

[

] as there is so much in it that is embarrassing (for him, not those being critiqued). He does get two things right: Annie Goodwin and Frank Bond are talented actors and�

Eliot

is a lovely play. He dismisses almost all the other excellent work; rather than reviewing he chooses to give out the Jaramillo Awards.

As for what qualifies as local talent, he seems to believe you must be born in New Mexico, die here and never leave to have a professional career. It sounds as if he�s jealous of those who have done what I assume he couldn�t: go out into the bigger world (he mentions Hollywood with disdain) and achieve success.

With all that, the saddest thing in his �review� is his use of the English language. In his attempt to compliment the playwrights, he says they �bring...original miasmas of diverse talent....and enjoyable loquacity. �

While he was in his dictionary looking up �loquacity� to impress his readers, he should have looked up miasma which means �poisonous effluvia polluting the atmosphere.� He also informs us that to �define great characters� one must imbue them with an �unconscious playfulness.� I�ve never heard any great writer, actor or teacher make such a ridiculous statement. I could go on but I usually get paid when I make notes on a writer�s work.

If the Reporter wants its reviews to be taken seriously, I suggest it hire someone with even a modicum of talent as a critic, or at least someone who has a basic command of the English language.

  HIP TO A FAULT     

The Reporter might as well have reporters who report on how hip and cool the Reporter�s reporters are. And then you can have a Vlog that films the Reporter�s reporters reporting on the Reporter�s and The Reporter�s reporters� hipness and call it a documentary of cool journalism.

Recent conclusion: I wish Portland could remain Portland and Santa Fe could stand for something unique.

Santa Fe Reporter