Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

Those in the know know what Double D's really means

This letter is in response to the letter, "Is new sports bar trying to be cute?" in the June 12 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. While I understand this section of the paper is devoted to the public's opinions and agree that everyone, including the author, is entitled to have an opinion, I do not understand how or why they would form an opinion on a subject matter without any facts whatsoever.

Why don't we start at the beginning of the letter, where the writer expresses shock at the name of the establishment, "Double D's Sports Grille." I wonder exactly what is shocking about this name?

Why is it hard to believe that the name of the establishment is based on the nicknames of the two brothers, that their names (which were incorrect in the letter), both start with the letter "D," as does their last name. This nickname goes as far back as junior high school and has been on the personalized license plate of one of the brothers cars for over 10 years.

The author finds the name offensive and says that it obviously refers to a particular part of the female anatomy. Obvious, maybe, for the writer, but she clearly is speaking for herself here.

Anyone who knows Dean and Darin Devincenzi (these are their correct names, by the way), understands the concept of their establishment, which will center around sports, good food and fun, not the female anatomy as this letter would lead readers to believe. It may be disappointing for this person to learn that the employees, both male and female, will not be parading around in bikinis but instead will wear jeans and baseball shirts.

I hope the woman who wrote this piece will spread the word among the friends she polled earlier and see how they feel about the name now.

Maureen O'Connell
Los Gatos

Will suggestive sign replace family-event banners?

Is this a joke or is the town really looking forward to having a bar and grill named "Double D's" open soon on the corner of N. Santa Cruz Avenue and Highway 9? In the many years that we have lived in Los Gatos we have always looked at that building as a gateway to the downtown, as a place where banners announcing upcoming family events were posted on the roof for all to see.

Please don't tell us that in the banners' place will be a new restaurant marquis boasting "Double D's" for all to see.

For those who still don't get the double meaning of the sign, Dolly Parton wears a "Double D." Will the waitresses there wear T-shirts with "Double D" across the chest? Will there be a criteria set for hiring new employees?

Why not just invite Hooters to set up a chain as the flagship restaurant of our town, instead?

Anne Martyn
Nicole Ison
Claire Burke
Shannon Layne
Shirley Burke

Los Gatos

Hooters flap was actually about males

This is in response to the letter from feminist Deborah Deverse-Gaches. Close a restaurant because she feels that "Double D's" refers to a part or parts of the female anatomy? If that is, in fact, true, then we all want to troop over to C.B. Hannegans to see the lopsided upper female torso that the restaurant was named for, according to her logic.

Regarding the controversy of the Hooters restaurant chain, it is obvious that the author has never heard or read the facts. Men wished to be employed as waitpersons, claiming discrimination in hiring. That is the only "controversy" that abounded and was agreeably settled by all parties with status quo.

It is certain to my wife, eleven-year-old grandson and me when we dined at the Honolulu Hooters last year that they aren't even as sexist as Baywatch on TV. By the way, the mountain of fries is fabulous.

Please Ms. Deverse-Gaches, get a life.

Steve Geraghty
Los Gatos

Scent of mystery plant is truly Draconian

The mystery plant in Arturs Reinvalds' garden, which was described in the June 5 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, is very unique and not very well-known.

It is an arum, a member of the calla lily family.

Dracunculus vulgaris is the botanical name for this plant, which is native to the eastern Mediterranean region. "Dragon arum" is one common name.

It is a tuberous, herbaceous perennial, which means that it has a rather large tuberous root and it dies to the ground in the late summer and comes up again in the next spring.

The flower is very striking but extremely ill-smelling!

Truly an unusual plant.

Ed Carman

Carman's Nursery,
Los Gatos

Let's target litterers and graffiti artists

Reducing library hours. Reducing the ranger staff by 50 percent. These pending developments, and others caused by a tight budget, should be a concern to all of us who want the best for Los Gatos.

We also should be concerned about drivers rushing through intersections against a red light; dog dung, gum, trash on sidewalks and graffiti.

To alleviate those concerns, let's adopt an ordinance that stipulates, say a $5,000 fine for anyone who runs a red light, who doesn't clean up after his or her dog defecates on a sidewalk, who litters--even if the litter is only a gum wrapper--who inscribes or draws anything that marks it as graffiti.

For the culprit lacking money to pay the fine, the ordinance should stipulate a minimum of an untold number of hours of cleaning gum off walks and picking up litter.

Enforcement of the ordinance, of course, must be diligently pursued to ensure that big money will flow into town coffers, enough money to secure jobs and keep the library hours intact, as well as provide monies for the added enforcement cost.

But, you ask, $5,000 for just running a red light or dropping a gum wrapper on a sidewalk? That's right. Make it $10,000 as far as I'm concerned, for these culprits have no justifiable reason to commit the offenses. In my view, the desperately poor mother who steals a needed shirt for her child should not be punished as severely as the thoughtless people who run red lights and mess up our town.

Legal implications of this proposal are beyond me, and I'm not driven to deal with details such as just how much should the fine really be, so someone else will have to carry the proposal to fruition. But regardless of the proposal's fate, the sentiments expressed are heartfelt.

Bill Burr
Los Gatos

Dome's tradition is noble, but this one is a miss

Alas, alas. How erotically explicit were the impressions of Harry and June Fromm [in their letter in the May 29 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times] as they viewed the creation under construction at the intersection of Los Gatos Boulevard and Blossom Hill Road. Don't they know the prominence rising skyward disguises an emergency reservoir, "the water tank," say the neighbors, for use when the "big one" strikes?

Perhaps a more sympathetic approach to the Byer Center is an historical one. The most-copied Italian 16th-century architect, Andrea Palladio, is famous for featuring domes. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello is a noted copy of his style.

It is my opinion that the Byer Center architect appreciated the large Italian immigrant heritage in the Santa Clara Valley and was catering to their memories. Unfortunately, he neglected to realize that Palladio always sited his buildings with consummate consideration of the immediate surroundings and backgrounds.

Italianesque in its attempt to differ from neighboring building designs, the Byer Center fails in concept and will forever remain just an ill-conceived object; its mass intruding on, and its height obscuring, the views long cherished by Los Gatans.

Ralph Mitchell
Los Gatos

Environmental responsibility should be taught

Holding my empty fruit-drink bottle, I looked around for the recycling bin. To my dismay, I found food refuse, plastic containers, paper and glass all thoughtlessly tossed into the same overflowing trash barrels. This was at Blossom Hill School while kids and parents watched the playoffs for Little League Majors or massed around the Snack Shack after A and AA games.

Little League allows our children to learn fitness, sportsmanship and fair play. Shouldn't our behavior in this environment also model care for our environment and civic responsibility? I was embarrassed, in front of my children, to have no alternative but to dump my glass bottle in with the hotdog scraps and crumpled napkins.

I'd like to ask other citizens who feel the same way I do to contact me at 353-1246. Then, together, we can approach the Little League commissioner, the town of Los Gatos, or Blossom Hill School, and ask that barrels and trash pickup be organized so that the message we convey in this community gathering place matches the behavior we all are encouraged to follow at our own homes.

Keith Emmons
Los Gatos

Marriage should be recognized as a legal contract

The majority of those opposed to marriage between homosexuals protest that such a step would "sanctify" these unions and elevate them to the moral status of heterosexual marriages.

Let's get a few things straight about this problem.

Marriage is, first and foremost, a legal contract between individuals under the terms of which each has certain rights and obligations the law recognizes and enforces. It was created by early civilizations to assign responsibility for the rearing of children resulting from the unrestrained and indiscriminate mating practices of the populace. When tribal leaders (today's politicians) saw how successful their creation had become in stabilizing society, they conferred with the witch doctors (today's clergy) and persuaded them the marriage contract would be an even more compelling social force if it had the approbation of the deities in vogue at the time. After centuries of skilled propagandizing, marriage gradually became "a holy state instituted by God."

The problem was that no one really paid attention to the the fine print in the principal documentation (the Bible) supposedly validating divine intervention in the institution of marriage. We thus have God saying to Eve, "Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee" (Gen. 2:24).

Understandably, over the years the marriage contract began to spring leaks, and today we enjoy the freedom of no-fault divorces, wherein people can essentially call it quits whenever they feel like it--and if they can meet their legal obligations.

There is little talk about the "sanctity" of marriage. All the state cares about is essentially what it cared about eons ago, the care and support of the issue of the union.

There may be good reasons for the government to prohibit homosexual marriages. Polygamy is forbidden, as is marriage between those too-closely related by blood. But those who object to gay and lesbian marriages on the grounds that they demean heterosexual unions in the eyes of God are using evidence concocted by ancient and wily witch doctors and endorsed by their modern-day successors.

Frank Stagnaro
Los Gatos

Thanks for the help

The Fisher Middle School Home and School Club gratefully acknowledges the donations of the following merchants that helped to make our Open House Soup and Salad Dinner a success: Andale's, Baker's Square, C.B. Hannegan's, California Cafe, Ginger's Pastry, Green Thumb Nursery, Le Boulanger, Los Gatos Brewing Co., Lunardi's, Mabel's Lantern House, Nectar's, Noah's Bagels, Nob Hill, Peet's Coffee, Pigalles, Posh Bagels, Safeway, 7-Eleven, Smart & Final, Smith & Hawken, Sweet Water, Walgreen's and Whole Foods. It's a wonderful community we live in.

Andree Blevins
Los Gatos