Mysteries of Pittsburgh

(No, not the Michael Chabon book. Just some things I noticed during last weekend's trip to Pittsburgh for the Catholic Forensic League's Grand National Tournament.)

*The 'Burgh is a much prettier town than I'd been led to expect. The hilliness gives it a certain intimacy, and the fact that the steep slopes are covered with a healthy number of trees makes it far greener than most American cities its size. You wind up seeing a lot more natural contours and a lot fewer buildings than you'd think. On Saturday night, we stood on the Point between the Allegheny and the Monongahela; a full moon was rising up the Monongahela, and Venus and Jupiter glowed fiercely over the Ohio; the lights of the inclined railways shone from the hillsides, and the roar of the baseball game reached us over the waters. I think I could enjoy another visit there, yeah.

*The two student speakers I was chaperoning hadn't been to the movies in some time, so I ended up seeing Spider-Man for the second time and Attack of the Clones for the third. The former definitely comes off better. The first hour or so of Spider-Man is just a joy to watch--a total wish-fulfillment flick for anybody who's ever been a nerd in high school, which, considering we're in an online journal, is most of us. As for Episode II, I find myself wondering if Yoda is really all that wise. After all, his lightsaber duel with Count Dooku is preceded by several examples of his ability to move huge objects using the Force, but when Dooku ends the fight by trying to drop a huge piece of machinery onto the floor where Obi-Wan and Anakin are lying helpless, what does Yoda do? He drops his saber and catches the huge piece of machinery with his mind. Uh, Yoda, couldn't you have just shoved Obi-Wan and Anakin out of the way? They couldn't weigh more than 300 pounds between them...

*We crossed the Roberto Clemente Bridge and went to the Pirates/Cardinals game on Friday night. I was delighted to discover a huge bronze statue of the legendary Clemente, right between the bridge and PNC Park. (There's a similar statue of Willie Stargell just down the street.) Clemente was one of the first ballplayers whose name I learned--thank you, 7-11 Slurpee Cups--and I remember being shocked and saddened when his plane went down in 1971. I was actually a little giddy going to the game, right until one of my students said "Who is Roberto Clemente?"

*I tried a Pittsburgh-style cheesesteak. They put the fries ON the sandwich. No, that just doesn't work. Sorry.

*I also ate at the Lemon Grass Cafe and had what's probably the best Pad Thai I've ever had. It was "Cambodian style," which I think means that it was a bit tangier and a bit less sweet than the usual Thai version.

*On Sunday morning, I had the opportunity to serve as a presiding officer of the semi-final round of the CFL's National Student Congress. I've been doing Congress for eleven years now--scary--and was happy to have a chance to prove I knew what I was doing in front of people who could appreciate the fact. My chamber of 16 speakers got through 46 speeches in just over 3 hours--not a bad pace, but one I thought was pretty reasonable. Several of the speakers and a couple of officials were apparently very impressed with that total, but the credit should really go to the students--they wanted to give speeches, rather than show off their knowledge of arcane parliamentary procedure, and I was more than willing to let them do so. Still, I have to feel good if I impressed people on the national debate/forensics circuit. We'll see if that and a buck will get me more than a cup of coffee at NFL Nationals in Charlotte in June.

*One birding note: at the Pirates game, I saw my first nighthawks in several years; perhaps I need to spend more time around large artificial light sources. There were dozens of the birds whirling through the lights, snagging insects, and displaying the distinctive white stripes on their wings. I got so distracted I almost missed one of shortstop Jack Wilson's base hits.

*Speaking of Jack, his theme song for plate appearances is "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Okay, not a bad song by any means, but c'mon, how can you ignore Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said"? A wasted opportunity.

*I set a new personal record by seeing Spider-Man on Screen 22 of Loew's Theater. The place was a sprawling Gormenghast of a multiplex, and I don't really know how many screens the place had. Hell, I grew up in a town where you could add up all the screens at all the theaters--the Plaza, the Carolina, the Varsity, the Ram--and still not hit double figures.

*I bought the kids a pair of bright yellow foam-rubber Pirates cutlasses. I am the King of Dads!
1:19 PM

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