Letters
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday July 15, 2009
No Hottest 100 conspiracy to suppress the sisterhoodEmma Hart (Letters, July 14) asks where the songs by female artists were in Triple J's Hottest 100 of all time. With 100 songs selected from tens of thousands, many great artists were necessarily overlooked, both male and female. There is no conspiracy, or even scandal, in no female artists being present; it simply reflects the preferences of the listeners, both male and female. Should Triple J have inserted quotas for gender, genre and geography to ensure an even spread?Simon Biddle Dulwich HillYou're on to us, Emma Hart. The Triple J Hottest 100 wasn't a list ofthe opinions of a statistically unrepresentative group of people. It was yet another patriarchal conspiracy to oppress the sisterhood.Craig Sheppard BilgolaChange isn't always progressDavid Breeze's comparisons (Letters, July 14) overlook the fact that using the self-service checkout option in supermarkets is often much slower, not to mention more difficult, than the "old-fashioned" method he derides unlike email and ATMs. I find the lack of staff in supermarkets frustrating: who else has spent five minutes trying to get help to find an item? Shoppers should boycottthe self-service checkout until Woolworths gets the message.Jarvis Ryan GreenwichChris Mangan (Letters, July 14) leaves out one important fact: the number of unemployed people, particularly among the young. Supermarkets employ the fewest people possible. The introduction of self-serve checkouts is more to do with this than any concern for shoppers or anticipating a lack of people to employ.The Illawarra has one of the highest unemployment rates for young people in the country. If supermarkets really concerned themselves with the shoppers, they would not leave checkouts closed while there are queues at every available outlet. Profits determine actions, not peoples' needs or conveniences.Naomi Cartledge ShellharbourPainstaking PontingIt is a bit rich for Ricky Ponting to complain about delaying tactics by England's tail-enders ("Gloves are off as first Test ends in wails", July 14). Ponting must be penalised for slow play more frequently than any other captain in international cricket.Terry Llewellyn St IvesThe trumpeter was indeed allowed in to the last Ashes test at the SCG (Letters, July 14), as well as 11 of the last 18 Ashes Tests I have attended. If Michael Sandilands had to endure the same songs over and over for four or five days, he would not describe the trumpeter as wonderful. Why should one person be allowed to spoil the match for others in the crowd?Lisa Dolan-Brown BirchgroveThe England and Wales Cricket Board needs to do more than allow a trumpeter to relieve the tedium delivered by the England team. Watching bouncing bums on bike saddles is made palatable only by the accompanying panorama of the French and Spanish countryside. If the board could play continuous film of the British countryside on the sightscreens at Test Match grounds it might claw back some viewers from Le Tour.Ian Johnston BowralOur forgotten heroesRoadies such as Norm Sweeney are forgotten heroes and should be recognised for their enormous contribution to the music industry ("The king of the super-roadies", July 14). Many roadies spend their entire working lives carrying black boxes, and in their last days are left with lousy backs, bad hips and no super. It is people like Norm who should receive music awards.Lindy Morrison ClovellySymphony's bad noteThe Sydney Symphony Orchestra dropped the third word from its title some time back, but it still irritates ("New horizons: Sydney Symphony set for historic China tour", July 14). A symphony is a grand musical work, not a collection of musicians.Julia Archer North Rocks
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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