Letters for June 13, 2002

I found it quite distasteful that the writer of this letter has such a shallow perspective of an issue as important as childbirth. Is it not odd that the writer has a problem with children seeing a baby after birth, and then breastfeeding, but makes no mention of the provocative advertisements that are in every RN&R issue? I wonder if seeing women breastfeeding in public upsets this person.

This backward thinking highlights the closed-minded nature of far too many parents. Rather than learn about important issues, many opt for ignorance or plain denial. “Name withheld” needs to figure out that one of the greatest problems facing the youth of America today is the lack of communication between parents and kids. If more parents had open, honest conversations about sex, drugs and other pertinent issues, our society as a whole would be far better off.

David Pennington
Sparks

That Reno sound
Re “Astronaut” [RN&R In the Mix, May 16]:

RN&R staff writer Gabriel Doss should refrain from making references to “Reno rock” and “the Reno sound” in his music reviews. Please. Making sweeping pronouncements and proclamations like this is annoying, presumptuous and pretentious. Please do not mar the name of my hometown by affiliating it with some heavy-handed Nick Ramirez solo project.

The task of creating a specific musical identity for this town is, I’m afraid, horribly misguided. For some residents, the ideal band to represent a “Reno sound” might be Fall Silent or Crushstory or Acrylic or whoever. My own pick would be The Atomiks—with their entertaining mix of casino showmanship, Sun Valley shock-ability and general air of sin and depravity. I can’t think of anyone that I personally know who would describe the Phat Couch family of band as being especially Reno-sounding, but I suppose that statement must be representing some dark and ignorant corner of the town’s population.

There are hundreds of bands in our fair little town and any effort to make grandiose statements about a geographically-specific musical identity would be an effort to marginalize most of these groups while promoting a specific few. In other words, it is a serious discredit to your paper.

Brad Bynum
Reno

For the love of trains
Re “Why Balk at Trench?” [RN&R Letters, May 30]:

One insight into why many Renoites balk at the trench:

”The gigantic freight engines of the S.P., often two to a train when headed into the mountains, gently shake all the windows in the city in their passage. At night their tremendous mushrooms of smoke, lighted from beneath by the center of the city, may be seen from the hills of the north edge, swelling above the trees. Their wild whistles cry in the night, and echo mournfully all round the mountain walls of the valley. Thus Reno is reminded constantly that it is only one small stop on the road of the human world, that it trembles with the comings and goings of that world, and yet that the greatest cry of that world is only a brief echo against the mountains.”

—Walter Van Tilburg Clark, The City of Trembling Leaves (1945)

Richard W. Grefrath
Reno

On rock innovation
Re “Old Bands Still Rock” [RN&R Letters, May 30]:

It is clear that Dave Edwards completely misinterpreted my letter printed May 2. In his response, he defends middle-aged musicians everywhere. I, however, was not attacking older musicians at all. I was attacking the format of devoting an entire column a week to one band while ignoring the other musical happenings about town. This has since been changed. I made a remark about a couple specific bands that had recently been profiled. I DID NOT make a remark about all older musicians, nor the influence of bands that have come before. I happen to love Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and yes, even Bob Seger. But numerous local bands try to emulate these styles exactly and do not create anything themselves.

As for his apparent distaste for newer music and his belief that all young musicians care about is image, well, he made my point of the need to diversify the music coverage in this town better than I could. He dislikes new music and so do many like him. And many, like me, dislike the tendency of older musicians to play it safe rather than trying something new with their art.

Joshua Wrenn
Reno