News

Dry-Hump Fatigue

Our readers like barbecue and solid reporting. Chris Duncan humping random objects, not so much.

Picture Perfection

At its annual convention in Portland, Oregon, earlier this month, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies announced the winners of the AltWeekly Awards. Competing in the over-60,000 circulation division, Riverfront Times took home three awards.

In the Cover Design category, RFT art director Tom Carlson won first place. In the Illustration category, freelance illustrator Rick Sealock took first place. And in the Photography category, RFT staff photographer Jennifer Silverberg won a third-place award.

To see all the winners and links to the winning entries, visit www.aan.org.

For a firsthand look at Jennifer Silverberg's work, visit the Sheldon Art Galleries (3648 Washington Boulevard; 314-533-9900; www.thesheldon.org), where her photography exhibition, Jennifer Silverberg: Selected Projects, is on view through September 8.

STLog

Stale + stupid: Wow! You're so clever! Every day a new item Photoshopped into the hands of that preening asshole. Come on, this whole [Chris Duncan] dry-humping thing is seriously played out. Honestly, there's not much else to say other than it's totally fucking lame. Whoever is doing it thinks (s)he's funny, but in reality, it is a joke that was over eight months ago. The RFT and its readers deserve more clever contributions other than seeing some buffoon on the front page every single day.

Ryan Henke, Belleville, Illinois

Cafe, June 7, 2007

Pork, chopped: Thanks so much for Ian Froeb's thoughtful review of 17th Street Bar & Grill! Glad he enjoyed our newest 17th Street, and we look forward to welcoming him again soon! FYI: We only offer our pork shoulder chopped — we don't pull it.

Amy Mills Tunnicliffe, co-author of Peace, Love, and Barbecue, Hingham, Massachusetts

Summertime St. Louis, May 24, 2007

We have fun stuff, but it's small stuff: Yes, there was a lot of "fun stuff" to do in the area over the holiday weekend, but not many of the 50 million who traveled did so for "fun" stuff. They went to cities with big stuff. Veterans and families went to cities or towns who honored those who made the supreme sacrifice. When you acknowledge what the city has done to Soldiers Memorial and the Memorial Plaza, you understand why not many veterans came to St. Louis. Graduating classes go to cities with big music, arts and culture downtown. Travelers look for cities with choices in big entertainment. Without Kiel Opera House downtown and with the greatest outdoor theater in America kept closed, travel planners had much better choices in cities and towns all around us.

You listed the fun stuff very well. But it is mostly small stuff when compared to other cities. Twilight Tuesdays, opera on a university campus, free Shakespeare on a hill under a museum — small, comfortable stuff. St. Louis used to be a big destination over holiday weekends — when we offered the big stuff. Ed Golterman, Kirkwood

Feature, May 17, 2007

Kudos to Kristen: With "Bad Blood," Kristen Hinman has again impressed me. Through the 1980s I was a multimedia director for Maritz Communications Company, which was eliminated in 1990 (a skeleton staff continued, but I was not part of it). I can remember the producers bitching constantly about the union problems for business meetings in the St. Louis area. Reading Hinman's very detailed article brought back many memories of the headaches I, as an art director, experienced.

Keep writing, and I will keep reading. Mike Sweet, Valley Park

Ask a Negro Leaguer, May 3, 2007

No, really, we promise: As a ten-year Imus listener and viewer, I am aware of no one who has defended his remarks concerning the Rutgers ladies. How could they? We should look at Imus the whole man and observe his actions — not just his words — to appreciate him. In the May 3 column, Gary Giessmann wrote eloquently about his qualities better than I can, but please allow me to add something about my impression of him.

Imus laughs hardest when he is the object of supposed cruel and hateful remarks. Most remarks directed toward him have to do with wishes of his eminent demise; how old and feeble he is; his tasteless manner of dress; that Terry Bradshaw would like the hand of the beautiful Deirdre, his wife, for her affection and her hard-won inheritance as soon as Imus dies; or the fact that he is simply an "a-hole." Also laughable is that liberals think he is a conservative and conservatives think he is liberal! I believe in his honesty and sincerity, and I believe that he has tried to "make things right." The Rutgers women's basketball team has forgiven him; they were the offended parties. I am very proud of these young women. They show us that the future of this country is in better hands than ours. Len Schuttig, Blue Springs