Train Wreck

Wrong side of the tracks: Regarding "Train of Thought" (Letters, July 10): I just don't get how Clay Chastain, who resides in Tennessee and not in Kansas City, can put his failed plan on light rail once again on the ballot.

We are not going to just get light rail but also some of the fringe benefits which come with it. Like, the city will get to declare eminent domain on property along the light-rail plan (or BRT plan). The property will be TIF or have a 353 tax abatement, and the schools will lose more money because of this. Our homes or apartment-building taxes will inflate. Take a look at the plans for light rail with the Park and Ride hubs. Notice how they are on corners like at 39th and Main, 55th and Brookside, 57th and Brookside, etc. So which corner are the city planners going to rebuild to put in a Park and Ride hub with 100 parking spaces so riders can ride the light rail?

If the 21-year-old person who wrote in would have read the plans, he or she would notice light rail only runs north and south. Not east and west. So you would have to take a bus going east or west to get to the north and south light rail. Apparently, you would still be late for work.

Is it a smart financial decision to commit money to any kind of bus service (BRT) or light rail, which is absolutely going to lose money, when the city is facing one of its worst deficits?
Howard Carson
Kansas City, Missouri

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Hear This!
Drum sit: Regarding Andrew Miller's "Around Hear" (July 10): Well, Andrew, Wes West, our wheelchair supplier, got stoned and forgot to bring it. And I think being able to SEE Brent play the drums is GOOD for showmanship (plus we get to see him play, which is cool for us).

Besides he's WAY prettier than Meg!
Dave Johnson, Everybody's X
Smithville

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Full thrust: You're wrong, Andrew Miller, and you're wrong in two ways.

First of all, you made Kingpin out to be a few high school garage-band kids. They're not. Just because only like two people ever go to America's Pub anymore because of their suck-ass DJ and their fat-people regulars, it doesn't mean that Kingpin couldn't get anyone out of their seats. Shoulda gone to SpiritFest and seen how many people were completely amazed by them.

The second way you are wrong is that for just a teensy little minute, I thought you were surely a Thrust fan/groupie/ whatever. You pointed out three things in your Thrust paragraph: (1) that the Hurricane has regulars; (2) that people were waiting just for Thrust; (3) that Thrust was the only standout. Well, most people would automatically assume that if you have people waiting for the band to go on, they're going to get down to the stage and rock out whenever "their" band goes on. And the regulars -- well, they'll like anything their favorite bar throws at them.

I've been to the club wars. I've watched more than a few of the bands you mentioned, and they were good. They drew crowds. The crowds got involved and sometimes a bit out of hand.

Everyone's entitled to their opinions. But next time you do an article on a few bands or more, don't seem so biased. You sound like a huge Thrust fan ... determined to give them the only glory your negative column could give. Want to give bad "reviews"? Go check out AKA or Green Means Go. Blech.
Name Withheld Upon Request
Filthy Lies

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Cradle robber: There are a number of misguided facts reported in Michael Tedder's article about Cradle of Filth ("Rock the Cradle," July 17). Mortiis did not have his face surgically altered. I met him on tour in 1999, and he is very normal looking. It's when he plays live that he puts on the makeup. There had been rumors that he had altered his face, but none of those rumors are true.

Count Grishnackh (real name is Kristian "Varg" Vikernes) does NOT remain on good terms with Mayhem or anyone in the black-metal scene. After he killed Euronymous, he was arrested and jailed for 21 years (the maximum sentence in Norway). He recorded two final albums for his one-man band Burzum while in prison before finally quitting music to no longer be associated with black metal. He has since engaged his studies in prison to Nazi philosophy and propaganda, completely renouncing his black-metal affiliations and agreeing instead with neo-Nazi ideology.

Mayhem did, in fact, play the Bottleneck in Kansas City in 2000, and none of them were interested in past politics anymore. (This version of Mayhem contains all original members except Euronymous. He is replaced by Aura Noir's guitarist, Blasphemer.) They went on in the interview I did with them to state that they are only interested in making music and what's past is past. Mayhem did, in fact, play a recent gig where a fan was injured when vocalist Maniac threw parts of (the already dead) sheep into the audience.

Just thought I would pass this on. Keep your facts straight before you report them. Thank you.
Pete Tucker
Independence

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Anything but Your Band
Scraps metal: I love the paper, read it every week, but I am a bit upset by recent music coverage. With your Music Awards coming up, I feel it VERY unfair for you to do a cover story and three-page feature on Anything But Joey (Geoff Harkness' "Joeymania," June 26), a local band with pop-punk music that is catchy, yet far from the area's best musicians.