I posted this comment to the anti-”dibs” article on Slate, but I am pro-dibs enough that I will also post it here:

I grew up in Pittsburgh and now reside in Chicago, so I am intimately familiar with dibs. (I’ve only heard it called “dibs” in Chicago, though — in Pittsburgh, just mentioning lawn chairs in a winter context is the accepted nomenclature.)

After reading the first part of this article and reflexively bristling with the anti-carpetbagger sentiment Tom identifies, I thought the piece was going to take a promising turn in favor of dibs when Tom went into between difference in theory and practice, yet the piece ended anti-dibs. I agree with Nancy that lawn chairs are a symbol of internalized community order and fairness — a shared respect for the value of hard work and earned reward. If value is created by the ability to drive one’s car around the city and partake in economic activity, potential value is destroyed by incentivizing everyone, including those willing to shovel, to leave cars in place until the snow melts and cut back on their potential economic activity. By respecting dibs, we create value for those who’ve earned it by shoveling and for those community members who are on the other end of now-possible economic transactions.

I’m just glad we found a place with an attached garage.

My current work project, in a nice coincidence, brought me back to the homeland. Tonight we made it out to PNC Park, where the Pirates made me feel more at home by losing. (They even gave up an inside-the-park homerun. Nice.)

Gotta give it up though for the best stadium in baseball:

A few days ago, a friend asked, “What’s that called when you have an area that’s contaminated with hazardous waste and there’s some federal money to clean it up?” and I instantaneously chimed in with “Superfund“.

You can take the dude out of Pittsburgh, but you can’t take the Pittsburgh out of the dude.

While slight, there’s still a shot for the playoffs. It’s pretty pathetic that the Super Bowl champs are one of those “Denver has to lose, then New York has to lose, and maybe Houston or Baltimore … and THEN we might get in” teams, yet that’s where we are. A dude can hope.

I’m obviously pulling for the Steelers next weekend, but shoutout to Miami’s two (!) Woodland Hills H.S. grads in the lineup — Jason Taylor and Lou Polite.

Happy Holidays to all.

Things I don’t like about the G20 in Pittsburgh today:

1. In Pittsburgh fashion, the citizens are mistaking dreadlocked-white-people protesters for a snowstorm and hunkering down with supplies of bread, milk and toilet paper.
2. College-educated anarchists breaking things, garnering tons and tons of sympathy for their cause. And by tons and tons, I mean zero.

Things I like about the G20 in Pittsburgh today:

1. National news outlets being forced to do stories (here and here and here) conceding that “Once smoky and horrible, Pittsburgh today is a creative, scenic center of high-tech industry,” or in layman’s terms, “Hey, it’s nice here!” We keep telling you it’s not a dump, but you just can’t stop indulging the “blue-collar” stereotype.
2. Mad props from the President and world leaders!
3. $8 million into the local economy — even if that’s not a ton, and G20 cities don’t usually see much economic benefit, it’s still a net positive. (Though what’s up with that taken-aback headline, former employer?)
4. This humorous image (from Magnus Patris via the blogger formerly known as PittGirl):
   
5. World summits hosted: Pittsburgh 1, Cleveland 0.

• So Wednesday was the 30th anniversary of President Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” speech. I’ve heard about this speech before as a turning point in his presidency, so I went ahead and read the full text. To sum it up in a phrase, I don’t understand why this speech was so hated upon — it seems to me to be right on the money.

  I haven’t watched the video — though I posted it below, so I should probably get on that — so a lot is missing in terms of the substance vs. delivery view. But in reading it, it’s striking for sure how much of the national debate is stuck exactly where it was in 1979. Here’s President Carter talking about energy independence, new forms of energy, and the corrupting influence of consumerism. Last I checked, it’s 2009 and we’re still talking about every one of those things. The historical verdict seems to be that conservatives’ favorite punching bag scored a lot of points immediately after the speech, but then fired most of his Cabinet and made himself look yet again like an ineffective leader. The guy was definitely lacking in a lot of his Presidency, but I think the speech hateration — “unprecedented disaster”? — is off the mark.

• This NY Times opinion piece is Tom Wolfe at his most annoying — exclamation! points! lots of emdashes … with ellipses! — but I think somewhere in there he made a good point about the philosophical aspects of the space program that don’t get touted.
• I’m noticing that there’s all Rust Belt downtowns have a part that always conforms to the same standard. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Milwaukee — you will always find a part of downtown that has a well-trafficked bus stop with the usual cast of characters, a run-down Dunkin Donuts, a parking garage and a near-total lack of office workers in the business-casual sense. (In Detroit, this encompasses everything within the city limits.) All of these elements will inevitably be present. This should probably get a name, so visitors know to look for it. Brownbagville? The Dunkin District?

  For real, that could be anywhere between Minnesota and Upstate New York.

• To all my NU readaz: did you know Le Peep is a franchise? I had no idea of this until I ate at one in Indianapolis this morning. Maybe I could have learned this if Le Peep were open other than 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (I would like to thank Paul for that joke from the year 1999.)
• Anybody ever dealt with Apple service before? My iPod is pissed at me and I need to know how helpful I can expect them to be. Thanks, yo.

Later.

… and on the NewsHour from a year ago.

It’s awesome that a brilliant dude like this is willing to come to Woodland Hills and work so hard to turn it around, and it’s equally interesting to me that he was able to find a community that was essentially a blank canvas to implement his public-policy ideals. Did he go through a search process of some sort? The whole thing makes most of our efforts seem puny in comparison, and he seems to be having some success.

And as my friend Todd pointed out, “I also know that I would not fight the Braddock mayor or challenge him in a Billy Madison style IQ test.”

Pittsburgh Thrives After Casting Steel Aside

This one was good too back in the day:

36 Hours in Pittsburgh

Not so much this:

As Deaths Outpace Births, Cities Adjust

So congrats to you, Nutting family, for this fantastic record of poor ownership. I also find remarkable my Pirate-fan friends, who each year continue to straight-facedly tell me that, “If the bullpen pitches at about 350% of their ability and the new kid we brought up from single-A ball can hit .403 or so, then I really, honestly, truly think we can make .500 this year.”

For real: give up already.