Bocktown Beer: At Long Last, a Non-smoking Bar!!

When we moved out to the metro West area last summer, one small plus was being close to another Rotelli Pizza (in the Target Plaza at the Pointe, North Fayette), as we were big fans.

Not big enough, apparently, as Rotelli closed almost as soon as we finished unpacking.

Sometime late last year, a new restaurant took over the space, called Bocktown Beer. "Oh great, another smoky bar," we assumed, so we never stopped in.

About a month ago, I did stop in, and quickly regretted not stopping in before.

Bocktown Beer has a huge bottled beer selection (around 400(!) types of beer), very good food, and, most important is non-smoking!.

Don't get me wrong. I have always liked Fat Heads and Sharp Edge and Pipers. I like a place with a varied beer selection and good food. But I can't love a bar that allows smoking as being around smoking gives me migraines. A non-smoking area in a bar is still usually too smoky to be really pleasant (though both Sharp Edge's have relatively smoke-free restaurant areas). I'd like to be able to sit at a bar and have a beer and maybe some pretzels without having to run out for fresh air after a half hour. When I travel to Massachusetts or California, I spend more time in bars there because they're non-smoking (and doing good business, frankly).

While the menu at Bocktown isn't huge, they do fine bar food and sandwiches. There are new specials everyday. And the French fries alone are worth the trip. They do beer tastings every Wednesday
evening, and I think there's live music once or twice a week.

I have three minor complaints about Bocktown:

• the bottled beer can be a little expensive. I guess I've
  been spoiled by The Beer Store over in Moon, where
  the cost of bottled beer for take-out isn't too bad at all.
  On the other hand, the bar under The Beer Store is so
  smoky I've never even had a drink in there.


• if only it could be a little larger. There's an empty
  storefront beside Bocktown, and I wish they'd lease it now!


• I know guys frequent the bar more than women, but there are
  TV channels other than ESPN...

Those minor complaints aside, we're now pretty regular customers. So if you're looking for a non-smoking bar with a great beer selection and good food, Bocktown Beer is for you.

Stunning Performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony and Violinist Julia Fischer

Jim and I try to go to the Pittsburgh Symphony once or twice a year. We bought tickets to four concerts this season and have really lucked out with our selections.

Last night, we heard the sublime violinist Julia Fischer perform the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

We're frankly not up on the current crop of classical performers. We had no idea who Julia Fischer was. We know now. To say she and the symphony were superb last night do neither of them justice.

The Beethoven Violin Concerto is the sort of classical piece we've all heard snippets of. It is a fairly long and challenging piece, for the orchestra as well as the violinist. They were all beyond wonderful last night.

I know that the Brahms piece in the second part of the concert was recorded; I wonder if the violin concerto was because I'd run out and buy that without hesitation once it is released.

Ann Coulter: Why Does the National Media Pay Attention to Trolls?

From Wikipedia (as of 3/4/07)

In Internet terminology, a troll is a person who enters an established community such as an online discussion forum and intentionally tries to cause disruption, often in the form of posting messages that are inflammatory, insulting, incorrect, inaccurate, absurd, or off-topic, with the intent of provoking a reaction from others.

In 1996, in the early days of the popularization of the Internet, I attended a journalism conference in Pittsburgh. At the time, I said I thought the lack of editorial control on the Internet was a strength and not a weakness. Let the people do their own content creation and their own filtering.

However, the irrationality of some areas of the Web have been embraced by mass media. If anything, some people now considered part of mass media are nothing more than trolls.

In particular, Ann Coulter.

This woman has had nothing useful or rational to add to public discourse. Yet, she is considered a media celebrity, and when she says something, people pay attention.

Why?

The only way to raise the level of public discourse is to ignore the people who only want to shout inanities. If we want a rational, reasoned discourse on the issues, we should ignore the Ann Coulters, the Bill O'Reillys, the Al Sharptons, the Kenneth Engs of the world, and only pay attention to people who can back up their opinions with facts.

Trolls are people who should be ignored in the public discourse. They should not be leading the public discourse. They only want to stir up controversy, not enlighten issues in any way.

As we've said on the Internet for many years: Do not feed the energy beasts. These people are nothing, nothing but energy beasts. Ignore them.

Oscars 2007: Predictions & Commentary

While there were a few good movies in 2006, the overall quality of theatrical movies continues to sink. I've been finding television (with things like Rome and Battlestar Galactica) to be much more interesting and challenging than movies.

For the first time in many years, I've only seen two of the nominees for Best Picture: Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen. I liked both of these movies very much, but The Queen is way too subtle and quiet to win a Best Picture award and Little Miss Sunshine is a comedy, which means it has almost no chance to take Best Picture. I don't like graphic violence so I haven't seen Babel or The Departed. I'm usually not overly fond of war movies, so I haven't seen Letters from Iwo Jima. I regret not having seen Dreamgirls or Venus. The movie that impressed me the most last year, Children of Men only got some technical nominations.

I will note what I haven't seen and will go ahead with my predictions anyway. For the last few years, I've been hedging my bets with a "will win" (WW) and "should win" (SW) before each predicted winner.

Best Picture

• Babel
• The Departed
• (WW) Letters From Iwo Jima
• (SW) Little Miss Sunshine
• The Queen

A really uninspiring year. Of the five, I liked The Queen the best, but it's way too quiet and subtle for
a Best Picture win. Little Miss Sunshine was probably the quirkiest and most original in the bunch, so
that's the movie I'll support.

Best Director

• Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima
• Stephen Frears, The Queen
• Paul Greengrass, United 93
• Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Babel
• (SW, WW) Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Scorsese is so owed... I'd rather see Stephen Frears win this year because The Departed doesn't sound
like Scorsese's best work and The Queen is a quiet little masterpiece. Still, I'm a realist, and I can't
complain too much if Scorsese wins.

Best Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
• Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
• (SW) Peter O'Toole, Venus
• Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
• (WW) Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

I have always had a soft spot for Peter O'Toole, another person who is so owed. But I would certainly have no objection is Forest Whitaker wins, who probably gave the strongest performance of the year. Still...O'Toole's of an age
where he may have given one of his last performances.

Best Actress

• Penelope Cruz, Volver
• Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
• (SW, WW) Helen Mirren, The Queen
• Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
• Kate Winslet, Little Children

There usually aren't too many locks, but this is certainly one of them. Helen Mirren has had such a brilliant
year. She is completely magnificent in The Queen. Judi Dench appears to give a great performance in
Notes on a Scandal, but the movie just seems oh so stupid - I hate it when the trailer gives away
every twist of the movie. Meryl Streep was terrific in The Devil Wears Prada, too.

Best Supporting Actress

• Adriana Barraza, Babel
• Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
• Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
• (SW, WW) Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
• Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

This isn't quite the lock it appeared to be a few weeks ago. I think Abigail Breslin could win. But the other
newcomer, Jennifer Hudson, is more likely.

Best Supporting Actor

• (SW) Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
• Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
• (WW) Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
• Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

This is another category that might not be quite the lock it once appeared to be. Alan Arkin has had a great career, and, like Peter O'Toole, never won an Oscar. Eddie Murphy is a wildly erratic actor, who keeps keeps making brain-dead movies for the money. It's of course a wonderful thing that Eddie apparently has given a fine performance in Dreamgirls. But, for the Oscar voters to be voting at the same time that they're seeing constant ads for Norbit, one of the most awful movies I've ever seen ads for...gaak. So I hope Murphy might have gotten enough backlash for the award to go to Arkin.

Best Foreign Language Film

• Efter Brylluppet (aka After the Wedding), Denmark
• Indigenes (aka Days of Glory), Algeria
• (SW, WW) El Laberinto del Fauno (aka Pan's Labyrinth), Mexico
• Das Leben der Anderen (aka The Lives of Others), Germany
• Water, Canada

While a bit too violent for my taste, Pan's Labyrinth was an incredible visual feast of a movie, with great performances
all the way around (especially from the young Ivana Baquero as Ofelia). There might be a chance that The Lives of Others could sneak in, but I doubt it.

Best Animated Feature Film

• (SW, WW) Cars
• Happy Feet
• Monster House

I don't have really strong feelings about any of these movies. I've only seen Happy Feet, and while it
was a charming little movie, it didn't quite work for me. Cars looks silly, but it keeps winning awards, so it will
probably take the award.

Best Adapted Screenplay

• (WW) Borat
• (SW) Children of Men
• The Departed
• Little Children
• Notes on a Scandal

Children of Men was the best movie of last year. Clive Owen deserved an Oscar nomination. I'd like to see
it win this Oscar, but I have the bad feeling that Borat (which was simultaneously clever and stupid) will win.

Best Original Screenplay

• Babel
• Letters From Iwo Jima
• (WW) Little Miss Sunshine
• (SW) The Queen
• Pan's Labyrinth

This may be the trickiest category of them all. While last year was a rather weak year for movies, the scripts for Sunshine, Queen and Pan were all quite good, and I've heard interesting things about Iwo Jima.
So while I think Sunshine was a little more original (and gleefully subversive), the script for The Queen was
an amazingly restrained exercise in showing and not telling.

Best Music (Score)

• Babel
• The Good German
• Notes on a Scandal
• (SW, WW) Pan's Labyrinth
• The Queen

Best Music (Song)

• "I Need to Wake Up" - An Inconvenient Truth (performed by Melissa Etheridge)
• "Listen" - Dreamgirls (performed by Beyonce Knowles)
• (SW, WW) "Love You I Do" - Dreamgirls (performed by Jennifer Hudson)
• "Our Town" - Cars (performed by James Taylor)
• "Patience" - Dreamgirls (performed by Eddie Murphy, Keith Robinson, Anika Noni Rose)

I haven't even heard any of these songs, except for, maybe, Love You I Do. So I'll select that one.

Best Documentary Feature

• Deliver Us From Evil
• (SW, WW) An Inconvenient Truth
• Iraq In Fragments
• Jesus Camp
• My Country, My Country

So what will Al Gore do with his minute on international television?

Best Documentary Short Subject

• The Blood of Yingzhou District
• (SW, WW) Recycled Life
• Rehearsing A Dream
• Two Hands

I also have no idea about this one.

Best Visual Effects

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Poseidon
• (SW, WW) Superman Returns

It's rather appalling that Pan's Labyrinth is not in this category. The effects in Pirates, like the rest of
that movie - are a bit of a joke. Superman Returns is probably a less objectionable choice.

Best Cinematography

• The Black Dahlia
• (SW, WW) Children of Men
• The Illusionist
• Pan's Labyrinth
• The Prestige

People are still talking about some of the amazing shots in Children of Men. Pan's Labyrinth probably had
a little more "stylish" photography, but it just wasn't quite as interesting as the photography in Children of Men.

Best Art Direction

• Dreamgirls
• The Good Shepherd
• (SW, WW) Pan's Labyrinth
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• The Prestige

I'm sorry to see that The Illusionist, which I felt had a better look than The Prestige wasn't up
for Best Art Direction. However, this award should go to Pan's Labyrinth.

Best Animated Short Film

• The Danish Poet
• Lifted
• The Little Matchgirl
• Maestro
• (SW, WW) No Time for Nuts

No Time for Nuts is the only one of these I've seen, and it's quite clever.

Best Short Film

• Binta and the Great Idea
• Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)
• Helmer & Son
• The Saviour
• (SW, WW)West Bank Story

Best Costume Design

• Curse of the Golden Flower
• The Devil Wears Prada
• (SW, WW) Dreamgirls
• Marie Antoinette
• The Queen

Dreamgirls did the best job at showing the fashions of the time.

Best Make-up

• (SW, WW) Apocalypto
• Click
• Pan's Labyrinth

Apocalypto's make-up is so good that it's painful to watch and convinced me not to see the movie.

Best Sound Mixing

• (SW, WW) Apocalypto
• Blood Diamond
• Dreamgirls
• Flags of our Fathers
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Sound Engineer Kevin O'Connell is the Susan Lucci of the Oscars. He has now been nominated for the Best Sound Mixing Oscar an incredible 19 times over the last 23 years. He was part of the Sound Mixing team for Apocalypto, and I think his team may walk away with one this year.

Sound Editing

• Apocalypto
• Blood Diamond
• (SW, WW) Letters From Iwo Jima
• Flags of our Fathers
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

War movies or big action/adventure movies tend to take the sound awards. I expect one of Clint Eastwood's two war
movies to win this one.

Best Film Editing

• Babel
• Blood Diamond
• (SW) Children of Men
• The Departed
• (WW) United 93

People consistently praised the editing and direction of United 93, which was probably one of the most claustrophobic
movies of last year. Since Greenglass is unlikely to win Best Director, perhaps the movie will take Film Editing. Still,
I think I'd rather see Children of Men win.

SouthSideWorks Theater Has Sunk...

To go to SouthSideWorks Theater, you have to pay for parking and pay a little extra for movies. For the first year or two they were open, SouthSideWorks had an advantage - no pre-movie commercials. So it was worth it.

Unfortunately, this is no longer true.

SouthSideWorks now subjects its customers to an excrutiating pre-show barrage of noise called something like Preflix. Preflix advertises Pepsi at you, plays very loud noise and is an awful excuse for pre-show entertainment.

In fairness, SouthSideWorks isn't showing genuine commercials. Once this Preflix thing is over, they go straight to trailers. But, sorry, Preflix is even worse than standard commercials because it's too loud and hideous.

We went to SouthSideWorks to see Children of Men - a brilliant movie that I highly recommend. But I can't recommend SouthSideWorks anymore. I guess we've made our last trip there.

Happy Holidays!

Have a great holiday season!

Sharp Political Satire on SNL Last Night

SNL's satiric edge comes and goes but it was very much in effect last night:

Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco family value
Donald Rumsfeld moves out
Most of Weekend edition

Amy Poehler's Weekend Update opening was especially apt:

"This week, on Tuesday night, in an ironic turnaround, Iraq brought regieme change to the U. S."

Can't help but gloat a little over the Republican losses.

Gotta wonder how much longer the Republicans are going to keep Karl Rove around, given they can't blame everything that happened on Tuesday on Donald Rumsfeld...

We've Dumped Rick!!!!

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

YAY!

Casey was projected the winner by a fair margin early on.

I'm so glad we've sent Rick packing (hopefully to his new home of Virginia, since he really hasn't lived in Pennsylvania for a while).

In his concession speech, Santorum said the Pennsylvanians were opinionated, and sometimes, that wasn't a good thing. Oh yes it was. It was a very good thing for Pennsylvanians, just not for him.

Melissa Hart also lost. Much as we need more women in Congress, we didn't need Bush-rubber stamps like her.

Unfortunately, one of Bush's other local rubber stamps, Tim Murphy (my rep) did win. Oh well.

Vote!

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

Get out and vote today. It's important. No matter how much certain political hacks try to suppress the vote, annoy the voters and manipulate the votes once they've been cast, it's vital to get out and vote anyway.

Of course, I'd say you should vote Democratic, given the extremes of the Republican party over many years or so. If there's any proof that absolute power corrupts absolutely, it's the behavior of Bush 'n' buddies.

But the important thing to do is to get out and participate in your democracy. VOTE! And, if you live in Pennsylvania, use this opportunity to DUMP RICK!.

If you're in Melissa Hart's district, I'd observe how funny it is that she complains of her opponent's "negative ads" which simply pointed out how frequently she voted with Bush and Santorum. She's claimed she was an "independent voice." What a joke!

What I Want in Government

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

I want a fact-based government.
I want a government that listens
to the experts and the scholars
more than political hacks.

I want a government that pays
more attention to serving the
people than serving big business.

I want politicians who understand
the difference between partisanship
and behaving in a non-partisan way.

I want to have a government again
that respects the Constitution,
the Bill of Rights and the
rule of law.

America is supposed to be
a government of the people,
by the people and for the people.
It's not supposed to be
a government of the Republicans,
by the special interest groups
and for the rich.

I plan to help bring an ethical,
fact-based government back
to America on Tuesday, November 7.
I want to help elect public servants,
not people only interested in
serving themselves and their
political and corporate handlers.
That means I cannot vote for
any Republicans. It also means
I will watch everyone I do vote
for very, very carefully.

Representative Murphy, Like So Many Others, Is a Crook, Too

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

Is every single politician a crook?

Even my Congressman, Tim Murphy, has been accused of illegal activity - making your paid Congressional staff work on your campaign has always been illegal. And taking a TV reporter's papers related to this scandal while on the air has to be one of the most amazingly stupid things I've ever seen a political hack do.

So here's the note I E-mailed to Rep. Murphy tonight:



Dear Representative Murphy:

You've always presented yourself as just a citizen working for his district. That does not seem to be true; you're just another political hack feeding at the public trough. Your behavior on KDKA was ridiculous in the absurd - you don't think the reporter has other copies of the evidence against you? I'm glad I never voted for you.



Laurie D. T. Mann

Garry Wills on How the Republicans Are Ruining America

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

This is nothing new, but it is very well researched, and is a reminder to thinking people of why the stakes are so high in the 2006 American elections. Thanks to Stephen Leigh for pointing this out in his LJ this morning.

While I've heard most of the information that Wills reports, I hadn't heard the bit about the National Park Service being forced to sell coloring books at the Grand Canyon suggesting that the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's Flood.

We truly do have a delusional government.

I Have a New Job and Assorted Political Musings

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

My blog will probably be fairly quiet for a while as I have a new and very interesting contract job that will keep me pretty busy through at least the end of the year (and maybe longer). We also may have sold our old house. After months of money being tight, it was weird to both get a new job and enter into a contract on the old house on practically the same day.

I still follow politics and will definitely be voting out any Republican next month. Y'know, it occurs to me that one reason why there's so much fussing about the current political situation in the country is that so many more people or unemployed or underemployed. When you're unemployed, you have a lot more time to think about politics. When you're working, you don't.

The government continues to overreact to people. Recently, I read about a man who was "arrested for assault on the Vice President" for walking up to Cheney and basically telling him he was doing a bad job - he neither touched Cheney nor threatened to assault him. A 14-year-old girl was questioned by the Secret Service for daring to write "Kill Bush" on her MySpace Website. Doesn't the government have better things to do with its time than harass its citizens over engaging in their Constitutionally-protected right of free speech?

It's Time to Teach People to FIGHT BACK

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

Enough of hostage-taking for any reason, in any venue.

People should be trained from the youngest age to FIGHT BACK.

While I don't advocate arming everyone, no one should be well-behaved or obedient when people's lives are at stake.

Even though the last few hostage-takers have been well-armed, I think it's way past time to let hostage-takers think that they are "in charge." It's past time to assume that hostage-takers can be "reasoned" with.

If someone comes at you with a weapon, you have to instantly assume that he is going to kill you. And the only way you have any chance to evade it is to cause a ruckus and try to escape.

Everyone, from the youngest age, should be trained to run, flee, scream, bite, kick, attack anyone who threatens them. Period. No one should control a situation merely because he has a gun or a bomb.

In short, throw a tantrum.

Whe one child throws a tantrum, it basically takes all of an adult's attention to deal with it. So how can a potential hostage-taker deal with a whole roomful of people throwing full-out tantrums? I'm not saying everyone would escape from situation uninjured, but I am saying it would immediately take away most of the hostage-taker's power.

Anyone who ever comes near me or any of my friends with a weapon will have to go through me, and I promise it will not be easy.

Do not go gentle...

BTW, I'm not promoting anarchy. Sometimes, you have to take some verbal or even abuse from people and not throw a tantrum. I'm arguing that when someone has a weapon that could kill you, you must fight back. Instantly. If all hostage-takers were instantly viewed as murderers and not "merely" as kidnappers, we'd have a tidal shift in the power structure.

10/14/2006: Interestingly, a school in Texas is doing something similiar to what I've recommended - they are teaching kids to fight back by throwing books/et.c. at any armed intruder. I never thought I'd be praising a Texas public school for anything, but good for them!

All Republican Congressional Representatives (and Some Democrats) Sink to Bush's Level

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

I'm very disappointed by the vote to geld the Geneva Convention. A shame all Republicans have been captured by the rovian ravings of the Bush administration.

So here's what I wrote in response to my recent thank-you letters to several senators:



Dear Senator [[McCain/Graham/Warner]]:

A few weeks back, I sent you a thank-you letter over your then stated support of treating detainees fairly.

Now, given your vote yesterday, you've demonstrated you're nothing but a politician, Geneva Convention be damned. I'm disappointed, but not at all surprised by your behavior.

I look forward to the day when people of principle are elected to public office in this country. Because they clearly aren't being elected now.

Laurie Mann
McDonald, PA


I don't believe the Constitution is quite dead yet, but parts of it have clearly been amputated. This by the man who said, just last fall that the "Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper."

Toilet paper to many of them, apparently.

His administration has now done more damage to the Constitution than any other enemy, either foreign or domestic.

This is just plain sick.

Specter Sinks to Santorum's Level

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

In the past, Senator Specter had shown some amount of independence from the neo-cons.

Unfortunately, at a time when America again needs some independent Senators, Specter has shown an inability to comprehend why Bush is wrong about wiretapping and wanting to disregard the Geneva Convention. These days, about the only Republican in the Senate with any backbone at all is John McCain.

So here's a letter I wrote to Senator Specter today, after he sold out the Constitution and the Geneva Convention to satisfy Karl Rove and company:


Dear Senator Specter:

I am very disappointed by your support of warrantless wiretapping. I had hoped you had more respect for the Constitution than to support this the administration in this fashion.

I am also appalled that our government is trying to modify its acceptance of the Geneva Convention, and that you support this attempt. I would have expected such behavior from Santorum, but not you.

I no longer have a Senator whom I can believe in representing my state. I will remember this when you are up for re-election.

Laurie Mann
McDonald, PA


I suspect that Senators McCain, Graham and Warner are getting a fair amount of hate mail from the raving rovians out there. I sent each of them a thank-you E-mail today. I've linked to their contact forms if you're in a hurry and want to drop them a line.

Don't Panic - a Repost for 9/11

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

After 9/11, I was generally aggravated, by the terrorists who did it, but also by our country's over-the-top response. I wrote the following essay a few months later. I still stand by most of what I wrote (though I was clearly wrong on at least one point):



Don't Panic - Suicide Bombers, Anthrax and Other Fears of Modern Life

© 2001, Laurie D. T. Mann (with occasional updates)

We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression.
Confucius

I haven't been fretting much more about life and death since September 11. Sure, I had a major anxiety attack after watching about 36 hours of TV news on the night of September 12. But that was to be expected. Since then, no. I've driven to New York, New England and Maryland without any more concern than usual. I've gone to work and opened my mail.

Perhaps it's because I'm naturally a little more cynical than most people. When the media spoke of September 11 as "the day we lost our innocence," I wanted to ask what alternate reality they had been a part of. Just in my lifetime (I'm 44 now), I've seen bigotry and terrorism and war and just plain bad accidents. I've experienced sexism and hate speech. America has had many bad days in my lifetime.

While I do not remember the exact date, that terrible day in November 1978 when nearly 900 American citizens murdered members of their own families then took their own lives on the command of "religious leader" Jim Jones particularly affected me. How can people follow the insane commands of any person? Very few people ran out of the jungle to the relative safety of a nearby town. Almost everyone who was told to poisoned their children and then, themselves. The ability for nearly 1,000 people to think for themselves was completely lacking.

Or the day of the Oklahoma City bombing. Initially, we all thought it was some sort of foreign terrorist. It was almost a worse thing to learn that it was a pair of Americans who murdered 168 other Americans in cold blood.

September 11 was a bad day, but much greater in scope.

I live in Pittsburgh, a city with more bridges than any other city in the world except for Venice. I've always been aware that bridges could collapse or tunnels could be blown up, yet I travel on them daily. I flew in early December, for the first time since July. I did fret a little more than during my last plane trip, but I expected the plane would not be hijacked and that I would get to my destination safely. And home again. And, I did. Statistics bore this out, even after this year.

My husband and I went to England, a country with a long history of living with small-scale terrorism. There are more video cameras about, but I did not notice many more police. Security in English airports was a little stricter than in American airports even before September 11. It was not a coincidence that none of the September 11 planes were international planes, despite the fact a plane flying to Europe would have had even more jet fuel than a plane flying to California.

I don't want to sound too much like a Pollyanna. I'm always aware of the terrible things that could happen, but I'll go along with living regardless. Life isn't about seeing how safe we can be, it's about having many different experiences, interacting with many different people and making contributions to society. Despite the horrible events of this year, statistically, we aren't that much less safe than we've ever been. Statistically, we aren't going to die from the acts of terrorists or from a war. We're way more likely to die in car accidents or from cancer or heart disease or AIDS.

These are the facts: Terrorists, whether they be foreign or domestic, do not have limitless resources. A number of their planned activities had been discovered and stopped before September 11 and continue to be discovered and stopped now. That doesn't mean they will never succeed again - it's likely that they will. It's unlikely that they will ever be able to hijack a plane and turn it into a flying bomb. But we might have small-scale suicide bombers like those in Israel. We may have more anthrax and other acts of bioterrorism. (Frankly, the anthrax letters and most of the threats look more like the acts of the American looney fringe than the Islamic looney fringe.) The looney fringe might even deploy "dirty bombs" (bombs made with nuclear by-products, but without enough enriched uranium to go critical), but getting a real nuclear weapon is unlikely (unless the government of Pakistan collapses).

Next fact: Lots of people get their kicks from making bomb (and now anthrax) threats. Bomb threats were very common in the '70s and early '80s and making threats have made massive comeback. None of the major terrorist incidents from the last few years had any real warnings. Frankly, I'm ignoring all threats as hot air.

Anthrax has people very upset, but I have to take the attitude of Dan Rather - if we let things like anthrax paralyze us, the terrorists, whether they be domestic or international, have won. Most of the people who got anthrax were mail handlers. Most of the people who died from anthrax had compromised immune systems. It's sad that anyone has gotten sick or died from bioterrorism, but, statistically, it's unlikely to happen to you, me or the vast majority of people alive today.

The level of fear is particularly troublesome when you consider how much the world has changed over the last hundred years. One hundred years ago, the life expectancy was not all that high; people died easily from TB, from childbirth, from viruses. Yet people still went out of their homes and went on with their lives. They explored all parts of the world without being guaranteed of their safety. We who have long lives and sanitary environments should not be so afraid of dying from a statistical unlikelihood like "murdered by terrorists."

I might be more fearful if I had lost a loved one on September 11. I heard the terrible news at work, and the Internet was so slow that virtually no news was available for an hour. Once I heard about the Pentagon, I thought of my brother who lives just down the street in Alexandria. It took nearly an hour to reach his answering machine, but even hearing his voice was reassuring. I was so shocked by the events of September 11 that it was literally days later that I remembered that, with all his business travel, he could have been on one of those planes.

I have many friends who live and work in Manhattan, but they work in publishing, within sight of the twin towers, but not in them. A handful of acquaintances have not been able to return to their apartments in lower Manhattan. Still, the closest call was an acquaintance from Massachusetts was due to fly out to California from Logan Airport to have a meeting that Tuesday morning. The man he was going to see called to postpone the meeting on Monday night. The flight he cancelled himself off of later crashed into the World Trade Center.

We felt extremely safe in Pittsburgh that September 11. No one would try to crash a plane in Pittsburgh, we all reasoned. But we had friends who called us to check in, having heard about the plane that crashed some 90 miles to the east.

I did panic briefly on September 11. I stayed at work but couldn't concentrate. My job was closed down at noon that day. I wanted to do something, but couldn't think of what to do. A friend sent around E-mail, urging people to go out and give blood. So that's what I did. Having something useful to do gave me a little better focus.

Short term panic in the midst of catastrophe is understandable. We're only human after all. But long-term panic isn't good, either for the individual or for the culture. We've got to do what we can to avoid cultural panic.

Photos from a trip to New York City, December 2001
We're Not Afraid - a Great Site, Post-London Subway Bombing 2005

I submitted the following two photos, and they used the Edinburgh one:

We're SO Not Afraid!
Not Afraid to Visit Edinburgh, 7/31/05! London - Be Back Soon!

Thanks to "Aifacat" at We're Not Afraid for finding that Confucius quote about not being oppressed by sorrow. Perhaps that's a big difference between the Americans and the Brits - I think there are a lot of Americans who wallow in sorrow as if it was a national pasttime. Both ends of the political struggle in America are quite guilty of this.

Using TV to Understand Life: Steve Irwin and Chuckles the Clown

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

Like I said a few days back, I don't normally get upset when I'm updating Dead People Server. Not that I don't care, but I'm just a realist about death. I did find Steve Irwin's death upsetting, however. He was so youthful, so enthusiastic, and he left a young family. He was literally just getting started.

But, this morning, I was recording a segment on the Ugly Phil Morning Show, a radio show on Kerang in Birmingham, England. I'm unfamiliar with ths show, but it sounded like it was kind of a comedy show, and that's fine.

We talked about Dead People Server and about the shock of Steve Irwin's death.

And suddenly, thinking about a man who wrestled hundreds of crocs during his life, dozens of poisonous snakes and probably other encounters not recorded, to be cut down by a stingray barb, made us all laugh. We really didn't mean to. We don't look at Irwin's death as a joke...but...it...really...is...funny, when you get right down to it.

Back in the '70s, The Mary Tyler Moore Show comically dealt with the very odd death of Chuckles the Clown (dressed like a giant peanut and trampled by an elephant). Everyone in the newsroom laughed about Chuckles' death, except for Mary. She kept getting angry at the people who laughed. Suddenly, in the middle of Chuckles' funeral, it was Mary who couldn't stop laughing.

There is normally nothing funny about death, but, sometimes, the situation around it can be. If Jim and I die from a common cause like cancer or heart disease or a car accident, that's not so funny. If we die because a bookcase falls on us (we're avid book collectors)...well...that...is...funny!

If, say, Rick Santorum died of a heart attack, well, that wouldn't be funny (though it would make many of us breathe a sigh of relief). If he died of a heart attack during a homosexual tryst with a leatherman...it...would...be... HYSTERICAL! Not because he collects leathermen (to the best of anyone's knowledge, he does not), but because he is so adamantly and so publicly homophobic.

So sometimes death...can be a scream.

DPS Updates: Steve Irwin and Bob Mathias

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann

Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

I'm a realist - we all die. So while updating Dead People Server is sad, the vast majority of dead people listed on it are fairly old. Which is as it should be.

Every once in a while, you have an "Oh shit" reaction to someone's death. And that's what I said when I checked CNN this morning and read about Steve Irwin's untimely death from a stingray barb. Irwin was alternately entertaining and exasperating, but I always loved his enthusiasm and sense of humor. Since I was not a big fan of animal shows, he was the only reason I ever watched the Animal Planet channel.

Back in the days before the picture on the Wheaties box changed more regularly than Allen Iverson's tatoos, Bob Mathias' picture was there through the '60s and some of the '70s. He died of cancer at 75 over the weekend.

Shoot, and I always thought Wheaties were good for you. ;->

Seriously, he won two Olympic decathalons over 50 years ago, and that record still stands.

Some Thoughts on Mayor O'Connor

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann

Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

I haven't lived in Pittsburgh in a while (though I've lived in suburban Pittsburgh for the last 13 years). Bob O'Connor has been involved in Pittsburgh politics almost as long as I remember. Win or lose an election, he always seemed very enthusiastic about the city, and I was glad when finally was elected mayor last fall.

On July 1, he was involved with singing "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" at Point State Park with several hundred other people for Carl Kurlander's documentary "A Tale of Two Cities." He was looking very dapper that day, dressed in a crisp white shirt and talking to Dan Onorato, the Allegheny County Chief Executive.

Ironically, it was one of his last public appearances. Within ten days, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died tonight about 24 hours after being taken off of life support.

It's a shame. O'Connor is now the second Pittsburgh mayor to succumb rather early to a rare disease. Eighteen years ago, Mayor Richard Caliguiri died at the age of 56.

Unlike Tom Murphy who always seemed to be "going through the motions," O'Connor genuinely liked getting out and talking to people and trying to move the city forward. I will miss him, and I wish young Luke Ravenstahl, who'll become Pittsburgh's next mayor as he's currently the President of City Council, good luck. O'Connor will be a very tough act to follow.