Kickstart My Heart

What timing to see a copy of the Bohemian in a cafe with the cover story on scooters ("What a Scoot," July 20) while my sister and I were scooting through town on our two-week Vespa tour from Seattle to San Diego! We are on day six of this journey, and the article was spot-on. We have enjoyed every minute of the beautiful scenery on all the backroads in Washington, Oregon and California. The freedom of open air, the smells in the air and the sound of "the wasp" have made this adventure something I will never forget.

Dork? No way! If you want to check out photos and stories about our journey, visit our blog, SchnitzelWithNoodles.com. Cheers to scooters everywhere!

Anna Loewin & Gina Freize

Traveling

A Reckless Ride

I enjoyed Leilani Clark's piece on scooters, but I'm wondering why she seemed to completely neglect the most important part of the article—rider responsibility and safety practices that are required for operating any motorcycle or scooter.

There was nothing in the piece that talked about the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's reasonably-priced classes for M1 license seekers or that there's a far higher rate of accidents for new, untrained riders, emphasizing the need for beginning riders to buy and wear proper protective gear and to ride defensively.

The total lack of helmets or other protective gear as depicted in your otherwise excellent cover illustration does a major disservice to all people interested in scooters or other two-wheeled motorized transport.

Riding is fun, but it is not carefree. In even a low-speed accident, the riders on your cover could be hospitalized with serious road rash and possibly irreversible head injury. I see few scooter riders wearing even the basics, like gloves. Perhaps an addendum or a follow-up article can help your readers make an informed decision about using scooters—fun, inexpensive transportation for getting around town, but with all the personal responsibility and safety discipline that comes with a larger motorcycle.

Doug Broussard

San Jose

Hi Doug, thanks for writing. If you read the article again, you'll find that Leilani did in fact mention the need to take a safety training course.—Ed.

Why Risk It?

When we drive by large electric lines, it sometimes interferes with our car radio reception.

The pulsed radiation transmissions (approximately 22,500 per day) from wireless smart meters dominate by thousands of times the tiny bioelectrical signals sent from the brain to all the systems, organs and cells in our body. These bioelectric signals are responsible for recovery in adults when we sleep (recharging us for the next day). The bioelectric signals are also responsible for growth, proper development and healthy survival in infants and children. Now that the National Institute of Health has confirmed biological effects from smart metertype radiation and the World Health Organization put the non-ionizing radiation on its possible carcinogen list, why would anyone even consider risking putting such a device in their home, especially if they have children?

Robert Williams

Online

Dept. of Tooting Our Own Horn

Well, color us thrilled! At the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies conference in New Orleans last Friday, the Bohemian was honored with two national awards. One second-place award for Alastair Bland in Best Food Writing makes us very proud indeed, and another second-place award for Gabe Meline's City Sound Inertia as Best Music Blog, second only to the almighty Village Voice, has our heads veritably spinning. With 11 AAN awards in the last eight years, we just can't stop aw-shucksin' and well-gollyin'.

The Ed.

Off to Find Some More Frames

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