THE READERS RESPOND

We've been doing the newsletter for a while now, and what have we learned? That nothing gets our readers worked up like negative comments about our favorite pseudo-magician, DAVID BLAINE. A couple of you defended him in the wake of our anti-Blainery, but most of you gave us the thumbs-up. Here's our favorite email so far:

blaine is a self serving dick whose claim to fame is ramping up ratings for himself and ABC through cruel and unusual voyeurism.

given that television is a stunt itself these days (lest we forget great moments like fear factor and survivor) maybe next time he'll actually drown and star eyed parents can explain to their google eyed kids why he's floating inside a bubble like a dead goldfish. the next day they'll be doing endless features on whether his fatal bubble bath caused p.t.s.d... or some other psycho babble on the air... (anchors would cry, in mock sincerity i'm sure)

i'm sure ABC and shelly ross had already prepared an hour on a career, which should rate about 30 seconds.

we now live in a country where community is defined by what you watch andsee on a machine, not by what you watch, see and hear from your neighbors.

i bet Blaine would play in France where those sanctimonious frogs await the death of Jerry Lewis.>>

On a non-Blaine note, here's another email from a longtime reader:

3 weeks out of the warranty the ipod died. The whole time I used it I thought, "This can't possibly last, all those tiny little parts whirring away, everyday. I'm dependent on this little piece of shit and it's going to break my heart."

So I'm going back to cd's. Fuck the ipod.... now when I want to hear music in shuffle I put on WFMU.

While we sympathize with your plight, let your tragic fate be a warning to all the hipper-than-thou types who turn up their noses at the mere mention of CDs and worship at the altar of downloads and iPods. You'll see. You'll ALL see....

Thanks for the feedback! Keep those cards and letters coming!