Category: default || By jt3y

I forgot to mention I'm taking yesterday off. Ahem.

Happy Independence Day, too, one day late. Or, happy P.T. Barnum's Birthday, if you prefer. Speaking of a sucker born every minute, my house sits on top of a hill, which provides me with views of the fireworks in Our Fair City, Downtown Picksberg and Kennywood, at least on a clear night.

But when it comes to fireworks, I'm inclined to remember what the late Chet Smith supposedly said about the NBA: "If they were playing in my front yard, I'd close the blinds." You've seen one, you've seen 'em all, is my attitude toward fireworks.

Thus I thought Brian O'Neill's Sunday column in the Post-Gazette was particularly amusing:

I made myself go see "Land of the Dead" all for one inside joke.

Pittsburgh's own George Romero, who is to zombie pictures what Van Gogh was to sunflower paintings (and mangled ears), has this gimmick in his movie: The walking dead, or "stenches," stop their insatiable blood lust only to watch fireworks.

That knowledge allows the heroes in the film to go around in a big armored truck, sending up "sky flowers" and foraging for food while the zombies stare stupidly upward at the displays. ...

Anyone who has spent a summer in Pittsburgh knows the mouth-agape, skyward look that strikes almost all of us when the fireworks go off, which happens only every time it gets dark. So it seems anyway. As my friend Sean Cannon of Shaler has said, Pittsburghers would flock Downtown for free rectal exams if fireworks were promised afterward.

As a famous philosopher once said, "Hmm, hah!"

Which only serves to remind me that Stiller fan Arlin Roth has set up a Myron Cope tribute website with lots of sound bites of Myron, Tunch, Bix and the rest of the crew at (what else?) www.myroncopesounds.com. Yoi!

And speaking of radio (were we speaking of radio?), I hadn't been to Dick Ruby's "World of Radio" website for a while, but he's recently posted pictures of the old Long Run Road studios of McKeesport's late, lamented WIXZ (1360). Scroll down the page to see a young, slightly paunchy disc jockey named "Jeff Christy," before he discovered his talent "on loan from God" (and Oxycontin, for that matter).

Meanwhile, Alert Reader Jonathan passes along a link to a John Tierney column from the Noo Yawk Times about the Supreme Court's eminent domain ruling, with special emphasis on eminent domain:

The city managed to clear out shops and an office building to make room for a new Lazarus department store, built with $50 million in public funds, but Lazarus did not live up to its name. It has shut down and left a vacant building. Meanwhile, the city's finances are in ruins, and businesses and residents have been fleeing the high taxes required to pay off decades of urban renewal projects and corporate subsidies.

Yet the mayor still yearns for more acquisitions. He welcomed the Supreme Court decision, telling The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that eminent domain "is a great equalizer when you're having a conversation with people." Well, that's one way to describe the power to take people's property.

Also, for an opposing viewpoint on eminent domain, check in with the Angry Drunk Bureaucrat. He thinks some of the hot air vented last week was "fairly paranoid."

A belated welcome to the ADB, and we'll try to drive slowly the next time we're on Grant Street, just in case he's weaving through the crosswalk. Also a belated welcome to Jonathan Barnes, who has his own blog called "Barnestormin"; Jonathan frequently writes about Our Fair City for the Post-Gazette.

In other local Internet news, Bob Braughler has returned from his recent month-long hiatus, meaning that Subdivided We Stand has new content again, while Professor Pittsblog ran an interesting series of articles last week called "Welcome to Pittsburgh." It's information you're unlikely to see in Whirl or Better Homes & Yinzers ... er, I mean, Pittsburgh Magazine.

And finally, speaking of Whirl, I hope you didn't miss Chris Potter's very funny examination in City Paper of the recent boom in local city magazines, which are mostly devoted to overpriced boutique fashions that I don't want, parties that I'm not welcome to, and restaurants where I can't afford to eat.

Potter makes what may be the understatement of the year when he writes that "Venerable Pittsburgh Magazine has always run consumer and lifestyle features." I'd agree, although when perusing (but rarely purchasing) Pittsburgh Magazine at my local newsstand, I often suspect that the target readers are indiscriminate consumers with boring lifestyles.

Every issue seems to have features like "Pittsburgh: Aren't We Swell?" and "25 Places to Get Pancakes in Shadyside." If the goal of Pittsburgh Magazine is to produce a bland magazine that won't offend anyone, then it's succeeding admirably, but I doubt that very many people eagerly await its arrival in their mailboxes each month.

Now, if someone ever comes out with a magazine called "McKeesport," I'll be first in line to buy it. (Suggestions for feature stories: "25 Recipes Using Stoney's Beer," "How to Keep Your '87 Monte Carlo SS Running Forever" and "Living With Mine Subsidence ... and Loving It!")