Acerbic anarchy

Thank you, Dominique Ritter and Philip Preville, for your wit. Last week's article, "Roussopoulos ridiculed by prank posters," [The Front, Oct. 29] provoked laughs from some activists around town. One correction, though; Roussopoulos' detractors--myself included--don't consider him radical or anarchist, let alone what you termed "Montreal's most prominent anarchist."

To some people's surprise, Roussopoulos agrees: "Roussopoulos admits that he sometimes settles for alternative because radical scares people..." the McGill Daily wrote in a recent interview. When we were on better terms, he sagaciously counselled, "not to hoist up one's political colours too quickly." At the time I thought he was being modest or politically subtle.

But it's for strategic and financial reasons that he dithers about his anarchist pretensions: how else would he manage to get tens of thousands of dollars in government funding for his so-called radical projects? Being chummy with MPs and property developers also helps, I suppose.

So spare Roussopoulos the anarchist moniker; it "scares people" and he might loose his government funding. And for the sake of his former co-workers who left in disgust, it also spares us the nausea.

-Bernard Cooper

Chucky Trembles strikes again

I dreamt last night that Child's Play, "the movie," was happening in real life and Rick Trembles was Chucky [Motion Picture Purgatory, Oct. 22]. So, Chucky Trembles was attacking me in the back while I was babysitting two monster kids (a classic).

The first time, he succeeded in his mission by cutting me in pieces. But that wasn't my way of seeing things. I woke up and we started the scene again--while he was trying to backstab me, I turned and I grabbed Chucky and kissed him, so that's how I became Chucky's Bride.

And guess what will be the next Child's Play episode made by Hollywood? "Chucky's Baby." I bet a thousand dollars. Well, that's really sick.

-Anonymous

Hypocritical hate

In her "Hate=Hate=Hate" [Sasha, Oct. 29] piece, Sasha takes potshots at rural men and women, calling the women "brain-damaged." Hey, just because someone isn't a hip, cool urbanite doesn't mean they're fascist morons.

I've met very many people on my trips into the empty parts of both our country and the one to the south, where people were not only open-minded but kind, honest and friendly to boot (things that seem to be quite lacking in our hip, cool, urban wasteland).

These wonderful, sweeping generalizations are followed by childish name-calling: "big fat stupid." I'm sure the overweight people out there enjoyed that one.

I thought the idea behind the article was: "Don't hate people when they're different." Sounds to me like Sasha's pretty much the same: she just draws her lines around different groups for her contempt. I'll take articles like hers more seriously (and they'll do more good) when the author has none of their own angry rhetoric to add. If anything, the piece was aptly named.

-Mitch van der Leest

The lag in men's mags

I read your article on men's mags ["Urban Canadian males get libidinous in UMM," Media Circus, Oct. 29] and could not believe you left out the best men's mag on the market.

I'm referring to Maxim. First there was Details, which was good, but once Maxim came along it blew Details away. Ask anyone who knows the men's mag market and, unless they are insane, they will say Maxim rules. I could take a stack of all the mags--Maxim, FHM, Loaded, Details, GQ, Gear, etc.--and there is no doubt that Maxim would be picked number one by all.

Get in the know, dudes.

-Duncan Butler

Make alternatives available

Your newspaper features wonderful articles on a wide range of topics. It gives us the alternative slant, something that is so badly lacking most of the time in mainstream newspapers. Sadly, your paper is not available for research on microfilm or CD-ROM in any public library or university library. I hope you make it available thus within the next year or so. It would be a boon for researchers, scholars, students, writers and academic types who want source material with a different slant.

-Melvin Renaldo

[Ed's note: There are no plans to put the Mirror on CD-ROM at this time. However, the Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec has back issues and is in the process of putting them on microfilm.]