Mueller Lake Park Outdoor Amphitheater
'It's a Bar Stupid'
RECEIVED Tue., May 3, 2005
Dear Editor,
Having just moved back to Texas from New Orleans (seven years there, more than 20 in Dallas, San Antonio, and other areas), I gotta tell ya I am absolutely stupefied by a no-smoking ban in the bars of Austin. I was under the impression this was the more liberal and accommodating portion of the state. Instead, as a working musician for more than 30 years, I find a noise ordinance law on Sixth Street, cops rousting folks and sending “burn baby, burn” IMs, and a City Council member feeling the need to offer $750,000 from the general coffers out of guilt. If Austin wants to get really healthy, ban the liquor. After all, if it is just the music all the nonsmokers want to hear, we don't need the booze either! Not many folk, after all, die or cause wrecks smoking and driving; the same cannot be said for drinking. We got rid of "Winston Cup" racing and the "Newport Jazz Fest" because we thought they would influence kids badly, took cigs off planes, out of amusement parks and ballparks because secondhand smoke was offensive ... let's go the whole route: Kids don't need to be around beer at ballparks (Busch Stadium, and we don't need an amusement park dedicated to beer; i.e., Busch Gardens). NASCAR, baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and golf should also follow suit ... after all, we really wanna be healthy, right? Loved the fact that Marcia Ball got her ad in the paper, but she would not have had the audience except for the smoke-filled rooms! Sorry, I just have to agree with the other ad I have seen ... just get over it ... "It's a Bar Stupid"!
Having just moved back to Texas from New Orleans (seven years there, more than 20 in Dallas, San Antonio, and other areas), I gotta tell ya I am absolutely stupefied by a no-smoking ban in the bars of Austin. I was under the impression this was the more liberal and accommodating portion of the state. Instead, as a working musician for more than 30 years, I find a noise ordinance law on Sixth Street, cops rousting folks and sending “burn baby, burn” IMs, and a City Council member feeling the need to offer $750,000 from the general coffers out of guilt. If Austin wants to get really healthy, ban the liquor. After all, if it is just the music all the nonsmokers want to hear, we don't need the booze either! Not many folk, after all, die or cause wrecks smoking and driving; the same cannot be said for drinking. We got rid of "Winston Cup" racing and the "Newport Jazz Fest" because we thought they would influence kids badly, took cigs off planes, out of amusement parks and ballparks because secondhand smoke was offensive ... let's go the whole route: Kids don't need to be around beer at ballparks (Busch Stadium, and we don't need an amusement park dedicated to beer; i.e., Busch Gardens). NASCAR, baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and golf should also follow suit ... after all, we really wanna be healthy, right? Loved the fact that Marcia Ball got her ad in the paper, but she would not have had the audience except for the smoke-filled rooms! Sorry, I just have to agree with the other ad I have seen ... just get over it ... "It's a Bar Stupid"!
Snuffy Duncan
