Rarely are we treated in public to music by Beethoven, Mozart or Liszt - not for free, anyway. The artistry of such classical composers tends to be a staple of public radio, high-brow opera houses or intimate gatherings. Until now.

The optimist in me applauds the upcoming summit, by leaders of many localities along the "Golden Crescent" corridor, to find ways to confront transportation problems in Virginia.

Comedian Stephen Colbert is fond of saying he prefers feelings to facts. Cloaked in the persona he plays on his parody newscast on Comedy Central, he once told guests at a White House Correspondents Dinner: "Every night on my show, 'The Colbert Report,' I speak straight from the gut, OK? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the 'No Fact Zone.' "

Mammoth and menacing, the claw has an insatiable appetite. A worker in a moving, elevated contraption operates the device, whose technical name is a "crane grapple." The claw's dark, thick tines scoop up shredded bits of trash from a 4,000-ton pit.

Road signs rarely catch and hold my attention. I don't care about the latest mammoth burger - hello, obesity! - nor am I impressed by an offer to "buy three tires, get the fourth free." One pitch, however, always makes me look.

The Rev. Gregory Boyle has many qualities you would expect in a Catholic priest: a good listener, a disarming smile and an ability to quote Scripture passages that illuminate his message. But Boyle uses his skills in a way you might not predict: counselor to and employer of thousands of gang members in Los Angeles.

My erstwhile colleague Patrick Lackey had a quirky sense of humor. He displayed it from time to time when we toiled on The Pilot's editorial page.

The boss and I were headed west along U.S. 460 toward Roanoke recently, and she "requested" that we make a detour. Yours truly - who knows the right answer after decades of marriage - agreed that we should steer toward the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford. And the experience blew me away.

First, motorists in Virginia Beach didn't obey traffic lights. Now, they're disrespecting the law even further. So I'm not surprised that city officials cracked down on drivers who refused to pay for red-light-running violations. The only mystery is why officials took so long.

Fellas continue to be knuckle-dragging cavemen. Too many still act as if we're in an earlier stage of development, communicating only in grunts, using weapons to settle every disagreement and threatening women to make them hew to our will and lust. Women who resist often end up beaten, bloodied or dead.