Complaining about humor?
Sunday, April 20, 2008 3:40 PM PDT
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E-mail this articleI read Cal FitzSimmons' March 14 column, "It's Been an Irrationally Ruff Week," on TDN.com. In the "comments" section below the article, several readers commented about how much they enjoyed the humor of the article. One reader, using the name, "Rational dislike," however, commented with these words, "I have a rational dislike of wasting time and space on such an amazingly worthless and pointless jumble of words. There is real news out there!"
Obviously, "Rational dislike" has no clue that humorous columns have been published in American newspapers since newspapers started being published in our country, even while we were still just colonies of the British Empire. In Boston in 1722, Benjamin Franklin wrote humorous columns that were regularly published in the New England Courant newspaper. Those whimsical articles, written under the pseudonym, "Silence Dogood," poked innocent fun at various aspects of life in colonial America, such as the drunkenness of locals and religious hypocrisy.
Life in colonial America was full of worthy news stories, as it is today. Why, then, the whimsical, light-hearted stories? Perhaps it is because, in times of stress and uncertainty, we need a bit of humor as a distraction to all of the "real news" surrounding this delightful column.
Michael Stone / Longview
Enforce immigration laws
If our immigration laws were properly enforced, Woodland wouldn't need to build a new high school.
Brian Iddings / Longview
All are bureaucrats
I retired to this neat little town because I thought I was escaping the "damn the taxpaying public" attitude of Southern California, also known as the State of Insanity, California Republic (it says so right on their flag).
However, there a few things that have changed in this country. One, the traffic engineer no longer works for the public. His guidelines no longer emanate from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. His marching orders now are directed by the Environmaniacal Protection Agency. The traffic engineer's job is to make driving as intolerable as possible so that you will take a bus everywhere. It doesn't matter that you live 15 miles from town.
Two, the traffic engineer is not an elected official. Elected officials tell you lies to get into office and then find they are impotent to do anything. He was appointed by the elected politician. Once appointed, he is part of a regulatory agency, which answers to no one - especially the public, who pays his salary. (By the way, Ocean Beach Highway is most likely under the jurisdiction of the state, meaning a bureaucrat from Olympia in charge.)
Three, anyone who draws a paycheck from the public trough, be they a janitor in the local school, a bus driver for the government operated transit agency, or the president of the United States of America, is a bureaucrat.
Dan Seward / Kelso
Drummer face
In regards to John Thomas and his commendable effort to bring drumming to our community, your otherwise excellent article neglected to discuss one of the great unrecognized risks of percussion, drummer face. Drummer face is a little discussed affliction of drummers that all parents and potential drummers should be aware of before embarking on a journey into the percussive arts.
Look closely at the picture of Thomas and you will see a silly grin that betrays a total loss of control of the muscles of facial expression. This is common among drummers. It most often occurs when the drummer gets in "the groove." In Thomas' case, his expression is one of hilarity and joyousness. However, the uninitiated need to be aware that drummer face need not produce only pleasant visages. It has been reported that the grimaces of some of the most revered drummers of our times could curdle milk and whither lambs.
Alas, there is no cure. One only discovers they are cursed with the gruesome drummer face when he or she finds "the groove" and the audience flees in terror.
It is not my intent to deter those who would master the varied techniques of hitting things well. I do feel a duty to warn those who are otherwise innocent of the terrible knowledge that there are hazards to percussion far greater than a stick in the eye, parental deafness and eccentric world views.
Beware drummer face.
Tim Randall / Kelso
None of the above
There are two items I would like to discuss. First, I agree with one of your letters. This is the first time since I was eligible to vote that I will not vote for a president. I do not feel like any of the ones -- Republican or Democrat -- running will do anything to clean up the mess we have now. This has nothing to do with gender or race; it has to do with ability to make a change.
Second, there is a great deal of talk about "gender" in the letters, which makes me laugh. I have belonged to a fraternal organization for many years that still will not allow the women to own property they bought, paid for and maintained over the years. When it's sold, the money goes to the men with nothing for the women. Is this gender discrimination or what? It's great for the women to cook meals, put on rummage sales, work in community projects, etc., but when it comes to equality, forget it.
In talking to other women, I find that my organization is not the only one with this stipulation. I thought women's rights came in some time ago, but it is out the window in some of these older organizations, and then the men wonder why these groups are losing members and closing down. They need to wake up and smell the coffee -- no doubt prepared by the women!
Betty Weldon / Rainier
Save time and money
I can't help myself. I must write this letter, both to offer objective criticism and to assist The Daily News in saving both man hours and money paid as wages. First, fire the person who was given the job of writing the apology printed on page 1 of the March 22 issue "... weekly guide dated March 29-April 3 ...," etc. Excuse me, isn't he apologizing for something that wasn't going to happen for another seven days?
Now, what about the failure to print the grid text as promised for March 23? A lot of people buy the rag Friday just for the TV Guide. Now they must buy it every day to get the listing. Ah, a slick monetary move on the rag's part.
Next, and maybe the most important. It involves the saving of time and paper. Consider canceling the comics and continue putting out the rag as always. Same effect, right?
Walter Rickards / Longview
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