›› LETTERS Just the facts, muchacho Matthew Stafford is factually incorrect in his summary of the movie Biutiful [Pacific Sun Movie Listings, Feb. 4]. This movie is Spanish, as in made in Barcelona with Spanish actors—not Mexican. An important distinction. Frankly, given the nature of his job, I’m surprised at his ignorance. Maybe Mr. Stafford should go see a movie once in a while.
movies is one we support wholeheartedly. Perhaps you two could go together. Email Matt at mstafford@pacificsun.com. We highly recommend Black Swan.
Back on the chain gang We’ve got our suspicions about Antonio Ricci, title character in ‘The Bicycle Thief.’
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Jay Turner, Corte Madera
Editor’s note: Thanks for weighing in, Jay! We always appreciate readers keeping us on our toes by calling attention to inaccuracies or factual errors. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of those times. Biutiful, while featuring Spanish actor Javier Spanish actor Javier Bardem Bardem as a wanders the streets of Barcelona in Mexico’s official entry for Acad- single father on emy consideration. the outskirts of Barcelona society coming to grips with news of his advanced-stage cancer, is in fact a Mexican production. (It’s labeled a co-production between Mexico and Spain, actually, but the Spanish credit is mostly due to location and local crew.) Biutiful’s director-screenwriter-producer, Alejandro González Iñárritu, hails from Mexico City and the film is Mexico’s official entry for Academy Award consideration for best foreign language film. That being said, your suggestion that Matt, who has a bachelor’s degree in cinema studies, check out more
›› TOWNSQUARE
Thanks to Nikki Silverstein for her support over the holidays in publishing my story about the stolen bikes of a friend and myself [Hero & Zero, Dec. 10]. I wanted to take the time to update you on a couple of things. After a month with the bike stolen, and me having emotionally written off the loss in my mind, I decided to check Craigslist just for fun on the morning of Jan. 3. Lo and behold, I found what appeared to be my bicycle being sold out of downtown Oakland. The picture listed was of my frame and fork, wheels missing. I called the police and got them involved. They went and did a “fake buy” that night, and detained the two girls selling the bike. Since then, the girls have cooperated with the police, who just released the bike to me yesterday, and the investigation has halted due to lack of information about the flea market in Oakland where the girl sellers picked up the bike. This means that I am really lucky to get my bike back in the first place, due to my own police work—but unfortunately, my friend Justin Spivey does not get his bike back, nor does the bike thief get brought to justice. Justin bought a great bike for very cheap from a friend, and he has been riding from
the Headlands daily. Again, thanks for your support, as it really warmed me to know that there are people out there who we have never met before but care about us deeply. Justin Wong, Mill Valley
Martin Butt, Marin
Been there, Kennesaw that... This is in response to Eddie Katzman’s letter [“Freedom Can Be Messy, So Can the Facts,” Feb. 4] and your comments answering his allegations [that the prevalence of guns makes society safer]. I find your response to be appropriate and right-on. The first thing that grabs me about his diatribe is the tone—that vindictive rant we hear from Fox News commentators or certain right-wing politicians. No, I do not consider myself a left-leaning Michael Moore follower when it comes to guns and gun control, having spent 20 years as an infantry officer in hotspots like ’Nam, during and after the Tet offensive, etc. What struck me about operating in a war zone was how nervous it made me where every friendly carried a loaded weapon and on more than one occasion a weapon “accidentally” went off, killing or maiming someone. So to Eddie and other NRA patriots, I say fine—protect yourself with a handgun. But let’s get real. We need laws against assault rifles. Kennesaw sounds like a nice place I don’t care to visit. Richard Lloyd, Woodacre
Catchment if you can Wow, a whole edition on local water issues [Flowing Green, Feb. 4], a lot of column inches. But hold on, where’s all the information about personal and household water re-use? Isn’t collection and re-use of rainwater, shower, bath, sink, washing machine and even spring water the most obvious and cost-effective way of conserving lakes full of water? And wouldn’t it be responsible and empowering to take care of our own water use? Perhaps save some of it from the drain and return it to the garden for the benefit of our natural environment, all its inhabitants, and even our water bills? Or should we depend on large organizations to do it for us in a more complicated and vastly more expensive way? Ah, there it is, one column inch that mentions rainwater catchment at the very end of an interview with Dietrich Stroeh. Some of you might be interested to know that one 6 PACIFIC SUN FEBRUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 24, 2011
inch of rainfall on a 1,000-square-foot Marin roof amounts to 600 gallons of water and your washing machine merrily pumps out a pond full while the garden is drinking precious treated water!
Salt on the climate change wound I’m writing in regards to the interview with the Pacific Institute’s Peter Gleick [“Prometheus Unbottled,” Feb. 4] in the recent water-themed issue. I respectfully believe that one of Gleick’s statements about Marin desalination merits further discussion. He said that desal “should be compared on an equal basis with other alternatives” to determine whether it is cheaper. I agree, if “an equal basis” implies looking not only at the per-unit financial costs (persuasive enough against Marin Municipal Water District desal), but also at any “externalities” involved (e.g., potential health risks, impact on global warming and otherwise on our environment, etc.). Taking just one example, construction and operation of an MMWD desal plant would require a huge increase in our electricity use, and the water district is already our county’s largest user of electricity. Even if MMWD utilizes 100 percent renewables (via Marin Clean Energy), only a limited amount of renewable electrical energy will be available in total for the foreseeable future. This means that renewables devoted to district desal will be unavailable for use elsewhere in our country, thus requiring an increase in usage elsewhere of carbon-emitting power. More CO2 emissions outside of MMWD’s boundaries will ultimately affect our climate here as well as everywhere else. By contrast, efficiencies and conservation in water use will not only save money, but also reduce carbon emissions. While measuring the bottom line, we also need to not lose sight of the bigger picture. Alexander Binik, Fairfax
›› OOPS! In Dani Burlison’s recent story about a Colorado woman’s kidney donation to San Rafael’s Shar Carlyle [“A Vital Connection,” Feb. 11], the donor’s name was misspelled. The correct spelling is Sally Kennerson.
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