The Weekend Mailbag

We missed the weekend mailbag due to the Memorial Day holiday last weekend, but we’re back in full force this week.  Comments ran the gamut between calling me a “hard headed poo-poo head” and agreeing with my review for Pirates of the Carribean 3.  I’ve posted some of the most amusing below, including a rant that is so full of quasi-intellectual feminism that I still giggle when I read it.

Pirates

Tiffany writes:

Spot on review, Pete.  I watch the movies for Johnny Depp and I was disappointed at his minial role.  This is nothing more than a thrill ride for summer movie go-ers. 

Tom J. writes:

I happened to like this outing, especially since I thought Barbossa was one of the better characters in the first movie.  The only thing that was hokey was the whole “Calypso” thing.

The Nuge (Ted Nugent)

Nina writes:

I’m so done with you and your site.  Good writing can’t make up for your willinging endorsement of such an animal.

Bye! 

Robin K. writes:

Enjoy your toys while you can, Pete.  Soon you won’t be able to buy them.  Hopefully before Gen X fades away we’ll have the political majority to come and take them from you.  Your outlook is two hundred years old.  While there was a dubious place for the second amendment during the expansionism of the United States, it is no longer the wild west, nor is there imminent danger from Native American attacks or wildlife.

I shan’t debate the many questionable things you say in your email, but I find it interesting to think that any government could come and forcibly disarm a population.  I think that the body politic that decided that might be in for a rude awakening.

Hector G. writes:

I wouldn’t be surprised if you align yourself closely with an evangelical Christian agenda.  Tell me, sir, if that is the case, how does your willingness to commit murder jive with your faith?

I practice my faith as best I can in a fallen world; that doesn’t mean that I’m going to stand by and let evil win.

Marla T. writes:

Your aggressive endorsement of an outdated interpretation of the second amendent is a knee-jerk reaction to what you see as the encroachment of feminism on a traditional male role.  You long for the days of horses, cattle drives, and gun fights in saloons.  Unfortunately for you, you live in the modern day, so your gun play is acted out in guilty fantasies in the woods and on shooting ranges.  Hopefully God in Her wisdom will see fit to cure you of the rot of the male-fetishist culture and bring you to a state of peaceful enlightenment…In the meantime, try to not to kill anyone.

Wow.  Would you hate me if I said that I read your email and laughed?  Then I read your email to my wife and laughed even harder.  (She laughed, too.) 

God is a DUDE by the way.  FYI.

Alyssa P. writes:

As a woman who has been rescued by a “good samaritan,” I am happy to see that you are standing in the front rank of those willing to defend their fellow man.  Before an attempted rape, I was adamantly opposed to the personal ownership of firearms.  I was ambushed on a jogging trail in northwest Houston by two men.  I was beaten and was about to be raped when a fellow jogger, who happened to have his conceal/carry permit came upon us.  He drew his weapon. One of the men ran, while the other stayed at gunpoint as I used my cell phone to call for help.  Had he not intervened, I might be dead now…I’ve had my conceal/carry premit [sic] for 8 months now.  I carry a Beretta Cheetah in .380 in my purse and in a holster at the small of my back when I jog.

Alyssa, thanks for sharing your story.  I think I can speak for everyone who has/is prepared to defend another that we are grateful first of all for your safety, and second of all, for your willingness to stand up and be counted as one of those who will defend both herself and others.  Thank you for writing in.

Privateer – Writing Sample / Podcast

Arthur of the Mice writes:

Great work as usual, Pete.  I have to say, though, that I really miss Kate’s sexy voice.

Billy K. writes:

Thanks for posting the written form of the podcast first.  I assume that’s what you’re doing with this Friday’s writing sample?

You’re right, Billy.  Two of my real life friends that read the site also requested this format, since neither of them really care for the Podcasting format.  To each, his own, I suppose, but this way, I reach all of my audience. 

Yohann The Apple Man writes:

I’d love to see where you’re going with this, Pete.  You say that this isn’t your favorite story, but this piece rings more true than your novel does.  Perhaps you’re just being yourself in writing this one?

That could be.  This one was written a lot more quickly (and subsequently, I agonized less over the edits), so it is likely that this is more “me” than some of my other work that has gone through revision after revision.

Have a great week, all!