Don't Blame Vinoly
Re: Art, "The Ow Factor," by Mary Mulhern (March 23-29)
Having worked on the drawings for the now-deceased Tampa Museum of Art, I felt compelled to respond to your recent derogatory opinion piece on it. As a five-year resident of Tampa, I have been utterly dismayed with the barrage of substantially unenlightened potshots that have been taken at Rafael Vinoly's design by those who do not understand the whole of its parts, but felt free to criticize bits and pieces of it, in typically "sound-bite" fashion. Unfortunately for us, we will now never experience what might have been a truly exquisite shelter for our city's precious art.
Just as unfortunate, however, is that the and decision-maker [who] actually killed the project has never received her due credit. Much press ink has been spilled blaming the architect for the cost overruns and construction delays. Ms. Mulhern posed the question, "How much will revisions cost?" I'd like to set straight her misconceptions, as futile as that may be now.
In the fall of 2003, a set of completed construction drawings, incorporating all city and museum-requested revisions, and reflecting responses to a plethora of public commentary, was submitted by Mr. Vinoly's office to the city for building permits. This set of documents reflected a building that was certified by the city's own construction manager to be within budget. The museum staff had blessed it. The mayor herself had publicly supported it. The construction budget was somewhere in the $36-$39 million range
If all this is true, you ask, why then isn't it built? And why is the most recently published budget now $76 million? Because in a typically short-sighted decision, the mayor decreed that before construction could begin, the museum must have an additional $30 million in the bank, beyond what it would take to build the museum. That figure equaled enough money to run the museum for five years after it opened. Now, nearly two years later, the cost of steel and concrete have both essentially doubled, and the cost escalation and delays that have occurred are a direct result of Her Honor's fateful decision.
So don't let Ms. Mulhern or anyone else fool you. In her article she accused Rafael Vinoly of robbing the City. I'd like to know how she feels about murder. Because the mayor killed this museum.
John J. Prokop
Tampa
Grammar School
Re: Scene & Herd, "Warning Signs," by Scott Harrell (March 30-April 5)
Good stuff! My guess is that you've already read "Eats, Shoots & Leaves." (Oh no! Was I supposed to underline or boldface or italicize the book title?) It's a laugh-out-loud serious book about punctuation by an English lady, so she offers some dry humor and some interesting differences between English English and American English. Here's one of my favorite passages. "The big final rule for the comma is one that you won't find in any books by grammarians. It is quite easy to remember, however. The rule is: don't use commas like a stupid person."
Paul Cooper
St. Petersburg
Voices Wanted
Re: "Strong Opinions" issue and "The Vice Squad," by Mike Miliard (March 23-29)
First, let me say that I enjoy reading your magazine. The article on vices was delicious and captured my feelings perfectly. But here's the problem: Um … where are the black people? It came to my attention when I was with friends and picked up one of your magazines in front of them. I was ridiculed and told that your "liberal" paper completely ignores the minority voices in the community unless they are commenting about "poverty or write some obscure music minorities don't even listen to." As evidence they took me page by page through the latest issue and pointed out that there was not one minority pictured. (There was a black guy in a cartoon, but we decided to ignore him!) Dig this. I like white people. Some of the best sex I ever had was with a white chick who followed me here from New Orleans and now won't talk to me. But Tampa really is a diverse community. Cubans, Puerto Ricans and black folks are all over the place. It would be nice to have a voice of some kind in the most popular urban free magazine. Even the Bush administration is smart enough to have some minorities walking around the White House! Friends took place in New York and probably convinced a few denser folks that you could live in that city and not see a person of color. Is your magazine trying to pull the same wool over the eyes of Tampa? Please get your act together and while you're at it, give Tina my new phone number.
Prince Campbell
Ybor City
Editor's Reply: Our March 30 cover story, "Calling Dr. Vegas," was just one example I could cite (among many from past issues) that contradicts the notion that the Planet is ignoring minority voices. But judging by your friends' perceptions of the paper, we clearly have more work to do. Thanks for the reminder.
Pat's All That
Re: CD review, Pat Metheny's The Way Up, by Eric Snider (March 23-29)
What do you listen with, two tin cans held onto your head with pieces of string? And your sophisticated musical training comes from where – the Ding-Dong School of Music? And your training in critical writing from the Spiro T. Agnew School of Verbiage? If I am going to read a competent critical review I expect it to be more then an opinion – we all have opinions. A critical review sheds light on an art form based on a working understanding of that art form – which, when reviewing Pat Metheny's new work, you plainly show you have none. I have that training, with four years at Berklee and 40 years of musical experience, and you know what? In my opinion I like it. The review you wrote is not a critical review but an uneducated opinion that, in my opinion, you should have just kept to yourself.
David Sahadi
Mesa, Ariz.
The Law Won
Re: Political Whore, "Florida Catechism No. 1," by Wayne Garcia (March 23-29)
I respect Judge Greer in his decision to apply the rule of law in the Schiavo case. It appears he ruled with the facts of the case, putting aside any political and religious bias. It's important that we maintain a fair and balanced point of view as our founding fathers intended. Otherwise I fear (if not already) we will be on our way to becoming a banana republic.
Candi Jovan
Safety Harbor
Sub-Par
Re: All You Can Eat, "Subway Ride," by Laura Fries (March 23-29)
Your article elucidated the thoughts that have been rattling around my head for some time now. I rue the day that a national megachain fast food store invaded Davis Islands last year. Thanks for tapping into the zeitgeist.
Wayne Robinson
Davis Islands
You Know The Drill
Re: "The Freshman," by Allyson Gonzalez (March 30-April 5)
Senator Mel Martinez has certainly earned his badge of shame within environmentalist circles because of his outrageous vote that allows oil drilling in Alaska. The idea that oil should be extracted anywhere on the planet is a terrible atrocity. Not only does Arctic drilling set a bad example, but all drilling should be halted, everywhere. Why should only the caribou be spared any infringement of their living space? Wildlife everywhere needs mankind to back off and cease displacing their home space. Think of the fish that die every time an oil tanker leaks its poison into the oceans. Gasoline leaks from transport trucks also wind up in nature's waters. Even deserts such as in the Middle East have precious wild animals and plants that mankind has no right to threaten. The only forms of energy that should be permitted are purely natural ones, such as mule packs, windmills, ox-driven wagons and human muscle power. Any thing else is as you put it a "Faustian bargain." We need to go back at least a few centuries before so-called "progress" reared its ugly head.
Leonard Martino
Tampa
This article appears in Apr 6-12, 2005.