Come blow your mind with east-side metal: Regarding James Kuntz's letter in the April 6 issue: No repressed farm boys here! Planet Granite is as much a part of St. Louis as the Landing. Come see the cover bands on the east side.
Where else would you find hard rock but in a place called Granite City? Former Head East front man Jim Murphy, now with StrikeForce, can often be found at the Village Inn in Pontoon Beach, a suburb of Granite City. Ivory Tiger, KnuckleHead, The Undecided, Kick 22, Steel City, The Stand, Scrap Atom -- all can be found bending metal in Planet Granite.
The list of venues includes Eddie's Lounge on Nameoki Road, Diamonds Bar on Pontoon Road -- right across the street from the Village Inn -- Bindy's on Nameoki and now Mack & Mick's Sports Bar & Grill, located right at the bottom of the I-270 South Granite exit.
So all you repressed St. Louis metal freaks are invited to the East Riverfront Promised Land: Planet Granite. Where you can blow your mind with metal instead of that shotgun, James.
Roy Weathers and Carol Henderson
Granite City
Straight Shot
Rinaldi to Roberts: Lay off Hagar! I was really interested in reading your article on Cabo Wabo tequila [Randall Roberts, Drink of the Week, April 6]. However, once I read in the first paragraph, "Hagar, the one who ruined Van Halen," I was so turned off. What do you know about Van Halen, let alone music? I am so sick of writers like yourself, who are so stuck in the '78-to-'84 rut that they're unable to let go of something that happened twenty years ago.
Get over it and get a life Mr. Roberts, the writer who ruined the Riverfront Times.
Jon Rinaldi
Takoma Park, Maryland
This Headline is 100 Percent Inoffensive
Nothing is sacred: Is nothing sacred anymore? Has the state of humanity deteriorated to the point of utter disrespect for people and their beliefs? The Jesus of the Week feature on the Riverfront Times' Web site is a slap in the face to Christians everywhere. While I don't expect everyone to profess a faith in Jesus Christ, I do expect a certain level of respect regarding spirituality. The images displayed on your Web site depict Jesus as everything from a pothead to a child molester. The entire section lacks dignity. There is no need for phrases such as "Reload to Resurrect" to update the Jesus of the Moment image; or "Have an image of Jesus you feel sums the ol' Christ up? Submit the bugger!" to solicit new contributions. Furthermore, the commentary accompanying each image is laden with vulgar sarcasm that is offensive to say the least.
Women's rights, civil rights, gay rights, etc. were all founded on a fundamental desire for respect. The same goes for religion. You don't have to convert, but please, at the very least, recognize that some things are sacred and should never be so blatantly defiled.
Ashley Smith
Clayton
Beef Eater
The Lieberman diet: What a cynical review of the new Fleming's in St. Louis ["All Sizzle," March 2]. Who cares how beef is aged, as long as it tastes and cuts great, as it does at Fleming's. And when a server graciously offers a chilled fork not knowing that a warmed salad is on the way, well, that is why God gave restaurant patrons a mouth. On the scale of restaurant mistakes, that barely ranks.
I dine constantly at Fleming's in Las Vegas and never miss the new Fleming's in St. Louis on visits and can't comprehend Rose Martelli's cynical review.
Robert Lieberman
Las Vegas, Nevada
Erratum
A gentle reader called to inform us that our backhanded paean to Steve Miller on last week's Night & Day spread erroneously identified the song "Fly Like an Eagle" as "Time Keeps On Slippin'." The guilty parties have been forced to listen to a continuous loop of the Joker's greatest hits of the 1970s and 1980s ever since. They're really sorry.
Publisher's Note
Ah, the rites of spring in St. Louis: Cardinals baseball, an excess of pollen, men wearing sandals with socks.
And yes, the Riverfront Times restaurant poll.
The poll is drawn up by our sales staff -- not to be confused with the editorial department's weekly restaurant coverage -- and gives St. Louisans the chance to vote for their favorite dining spots. To maintain fairness, ballots are tallied under the publisher's supervision.
This week we present the results in our "Restaurants 2005" special advertising supplement. Devour it in good health!
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