C List
What’s the difference? I find it interesting in your article
“Craigslist Declassified ” [by Bradley Campell and Matt Snyders, May
7], you write about the Connecticut Attorney General pressuring
Craigslist to get rid of its erotic service listings. I wonder when the
Texas Attorney General will do the same to the Houston Press.
Are you naive, or do you just not care where your advertising
dollars come from? What is the difference between you and Craigslist? I
am all for freedom of speech, but as a business, you have a right
to select who your advertisers are.
Name withheld by request
Houston
Defending Dylan
An online reader responds to “Interpreting What Bob Dylan Has To
Say About Houston,” By Richard Connelly, Hair Balls blog, May
7:
Breaking it down: Okay, Richard, jokes about Dylan’s voice
notwithstanding, you’ve got it wrong. The second verse does not
reference “out back to your loving ma.” The correct transcription of
what Dylan sings is this: “If you’re ever down there on Bagby and
Lamar.” (Two major streets downtown, not far from City Hall).
Dylan’s song, as most folks who know much about American roots music
history would realize, alludes to two classic songs by Huddie
Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly (1889-1949). In this case, Dylan’s
title line and first verse evoke one of Leadbelly’s most famous songs,
“Midnight Special” (later covered by countless folkies and rockers in
the ’60s and ’70s). Everyone knows the chorus to that one: “Let the
Midnight Special shine its ever-loving light on me.”
Not nearly as many people realize that “Midnight Special” is a song
about getting arrested in Houston and sent to prison in Sugar Land,
where the train tracks ran right past the prison near Highway 90. The
folklore was that the midnight train beacon signified early release for
the lucky cell-dweller. Leadbelly’s song was written while he was
incarcerated there.
The first verse of that one: “If you ever go to Houston, you’d
better walk right.” It was also recorded by Leadbelly with the
alternate line, “If you’re ever down in Houston, you’d better walk
right.” I myself allude to it in the title of my first book, Down in
Houston: Bayou City Blues.
Dylan’s later references to two downtown streets, Bagby and Lamar
(see above), also suggest an analogue to Leadbelly’s old song “Fannin
Street,” which could be about either the well-known Houston street or
an identically named one in Shreveport, where Leadbelly also spent
time. Tom Waits, for one, interpreted Leadbelly to be referencing
Houston in that one, as evidenced by Waits’s “Don’t Go Down on Fannin
Street,” which opens with the line, “There’s a crooked street in
Houston town.” The chorus to the Waits song also ends with the line “I
wish I’d listen to the words you said,” indicating that Waits posits
his composition as a response to Leadbelly’s earlier number about
Fannin Street.
What Dylan (like Waits) is doing in this latest number is what he
started doing almost 50 years ago: drawing from the blues and folk
traditions of American music, remaking old-timey songs in his own
quirky image, connecting himself — lyrically and, in his use of
blues structures, musically — to the originators of our roots
music tradition. Get it?
Roger Wood
PC Guy vs. Mac Guy
Online readers respond to “Why I’d Sleep With The PC Guy Over
That Mac Guy Asshole,” By Jennifer Mathieu, Hair Balls blog, May
12:
Liking Linux: It’s really a misnomer. It’s not “Mac vs. PC”
but rather “Mac vs. Windows.” The PC Guy represents Windows: fat,
bloated and none too well-seeing. The Mac Guy — well, you’ve
covered that really well. They should have a Linux guy out there. Runs
on PCs or Macs, not bloated, not worried about his “image,” not trying
to be grungy, stodgy, erudite or anything — just trying to be
himself.
Ehud
Too much money: I won’t buy a Mac simply because they’re
overpriced. Apple spends way too much money on advertising and they
pass that cost on to the poor lil’ consumer.
Cinderyella
What a bunch of assholes: I’m sitting hear reading all of
your bullshit while retroverting back to Windows XP. Did I mention I
was running Windows on my Mac simultaneously with OS X — oh yeah
— with only 2 GB of RAM? Good luck with that Zune — douche.
Vista rules!
Chuck E. Conqueso
Mac and proud: Hey, I resemble that Mac Guy. I have Sirius/XM
XMU, BBC Radio 1 and the rest, and I have become more of a music snob,
more willing to tell everyone that the only real music that is being
played is on satellite radio. Call me a douche, but I’m right, damn
it.
The only thing I hate about Apples is that you have to make an
appointment to buy an effing computer. I’m not buying a car. Just sell
me the damn thing already. Oh yeah, and I have to get a new iPod every
two years because the damn batteries run out. I love these commercials;
they’re the most consistently smart and creative out there by far. It
totally makes up for those awful GEICO commercials.
Anonymous
Hodgman crush: In real life, John Hodgman (the PC Guy) writes
oh-so-witty books, makes regular appearances on The Daily Show and uses a Mac. He’s way more Mac than Justin Long (the Mac Guy).
Appearances can be deceiving. And, of course, Hodgman is totally
crushworthy.
Thursday Girl
Great take: I have never thought of that commercial that way.
You are probably right. I will take the PC. It’s all about the passion.
I don’t think the Mac Guy would be giving any of that.
Elizabet
The Belt Way
Online readers weigh in on “If You Get A Seat-Belt Ticket Soon,
Don’t Blame Elvis,”
By Chris Vogel, May 8:
Big bro: Not sure why it’s the government’s business if I
want to make a stupid decision and not wear my seat belt. I can see
tickets for not buckling kids up, but as an adult, I feel it’s my right
to fly through as many windshields as I damn well please.
Wyatt
Care costs: Because, Wyatt, we all have to pay for your
long-term care bills when you take first in Darwin’s Dumbest Should Die
First Awards and fly through that windshield. If you could do us all a
favor and just die when you fly out that windshield, then really I
couldn’t care less if you’re too stupid to save your own life.
Kara Thrace
It’s the law: Just put the damn thing on and quit whining
about it. I don’t want my taxes going to cover some fool lawsuit that
you bring because you got hurt and started crying, “They should have
done more to educate me about wearing my seatbelt.”
Snikpip
This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.