Bawl Street

I just wanted to say that this was hilarious ("Moms Tell Tots: 'You're Fired!,'" MetroNews, April 1). I shared it with several family members, some with and others without kids, and they all had a good chuckle. Even our three-quarters-of-a-century mother said "it was a real hoot." Good job!

Joseph C. Dilellio
Santa Cruz

Paying a Price

I take exception to the comments by Tim Frank, the senior policy advisor for the Sierra Club concerning the High Speed Rail project ("High Speed Derail," MetroNews, March 11). He claims this project cannot be canceled because people don't want a piece of the infrastructure running through their backyards, and that "some people will pay a price."

Addressing the second point first, there is no reason for anyone to "pay a price" if this is designed properly. The areas of highest impact on neighborhoods are relatively short portions of the overall line. If the train is undergrounded through these portions the increase in the overall cost of the project will be minimal, and release the liability for property-value decreases and lawsuits.

As far as people not wanting this thing in their backyards, we already have freight and commuter trains in our backyards. We have enough in our backyards already. We are burdened to the tipping point, and have worked very hard to bring our neighborhoods back from the brink; and trying to force a "cost effective" but too-bad-for-us design on the neighborhoods is unconscionable. (Obviously, I'm not from one of those "tony" neighborhoods.) We have patiently lived with the effects of railroads running through our neighborhoods and have worked very hard to make our environment otherwise peaceful. Don't make the mistake that we are looser, throw-away neighborhoods!

Alison England
San Jose

Trivia Tips

We loved the Club Scene piece (March 25) on local quiz nights. These places also have trivia nights:

Royal Oak: Tuesday, 1240 Coleman Ave., Santa Clara; max 8 people on a team, general trivia questions.

Khartoum: Tuesday, 300 Orchard City Dr., Campbell; heavy on sports questions; four rounds of questions; no food but if your team wins a round you get a Mountain Mike's pizza. Thanks and cheers from the Beer Swillers trivia team (swilling beer and trivia since 1998).

Elizabeth Rhein
San Jose

Cadillac Nights

I used to run a pub trivia night in Campbell and just wanted to inform you that Khartoum has a hugely successful and loyal following of trivia night on Tuesdays. It is run by Chris and Leigh Lampe (parents of the bartender Lyndon, who works on that night), and they have been doing it for almost two years now.

It consists of three rounds of 20 questions and a final round that is a themed 10-point fill-in. It is unique in the fact that they actually offer really good prizes for the teams that win. Each team who wins a round gets a large pizza from Mountain Mike's (delivered on the spot), and the winner of the overall night wins 10 drink coupons.

We used to go to Katie's and King's Head's trivia nights, but this one is the "Cadillac" of trivia; they have a much better mix of questions that appeals from young to older people (more Trivial Pursuit–style than pop-culture style), have better drink specials ($3 Stellas) and throw people out if they yell out the answers!

Anyway, just wanted to get the word out because I know trivia goers are very loyal and always looking for a new spot. Check out Khartoum in Campbell!

Nate McClouth
Campbell

Hucksters

These same success hucksters come to San Jose every few years, drawing crowds in good economies and bad ("Two Americas Come Together,' Mashup!, April 1). Drawing any conclusions about old or new America based on this event is a bit of a stretch. Besides, is Michael Phelps at age 23 really part of "Old America" in Raj's mind? I suppose if you define "Old America" as "unbridled capitalism, Jesus, and winning ..." then Mr. Phelps with 14 gold medals has no place in Raj's "New America."

Steve0
SanJoseInside.com