Postcards

A tanned Pat O'Brien. A young man dressed as a superhero. Lots of inane questions. Oh yes, it was Super Bowl Media Day yesterday. Under an overcast sky, players and coaches from the Eagles and New England Patriots spent an hour apiece entertaining nearly 1,000 international reporters at Alltel Stadium. The annual ritual was not as wild as in years past, but there were highlights. One was Pick Boy, a superhero - no, not Brian Dawkins - complete with green tights, cape and a mask.

One of Bob Seger's most poignant songs is titled "Beautiful Loser. " It kept playing in my head as I watched this lovely and ineffectual environmental film from Disney. Sacred Planet is an Imax feature that is dazzling yet superfluous. Stunning shots of natural serenity, from Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park to enormous Buddhist statues in the jungles of Thailand, are contrasted with sped-up scenes of urban bustle at airports and malls. Hmmm, sunsets over the desert vs. rush-hour traffic jams - kind of stacking the deck, don't you think?

It took a while to catch on to what his friend Lawrence Shaner really saw when he looked at the site of the old Spring City Stove Foundry, William C. Brunner recalled recently, as he reminisced over a photograph of Shaner taken in front of the big brick pattern house. Shaner had called Brunner that day in 1992. He told Brunner that they had to get down to the building, which once housed patterns for casting, and take a picture. "I didn't understand what all the excitement was about," Brunner said.

It took a while to catch on to what his friend Lawrence Shaner really saw when he looked at the site of the old Spring City Stove Foundry, William Brunner recalled recently, as he reminisced over a photograph of Shaner taken in front of the big brick pattern house. Shaner had called Brunner that day in 1992. He told Brunner that they had to get down to the building, which once housed patterns for casting, and take a picture. "I didn't understand what all the excitement was about," Brunner said.

In Pennsburg, Montgomery County, nostalgia costs 50 cents. Stacked neatly on three racks inside Heimbach Bros. Do-It-Yourself Center on Main Street, it comes in postcards of the Shady Nook, Knight's Covered Bridge, the Teen-Canteen: places that disappeared years ago but live still in the minds of local residents. "They cover the full gamut of history very well, from old buildings to industries to the churches," said local historian Vic Stahl, 91. "I think that's the prime purpose behind it. To keep those things alive.

Picture postcards of places in Bucks County that still exist or have long vanished will be on display Saturday through Nov. 30 at the Mercer Museum, Pine and Ashland Streets, Doylestown. "Greetings From Bucks County" includes postcards that date from 1900 to 1960. It also examines the origins and art of the postcard. An opening celebration will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, when visitors can bring old postcards for appraisal, make a novelty postcard, hear a talk about themes in postcard collecting, and see and discuss early views of Yardley.

The U.S. Postal Service is giving a boost to the sagging travel industry with a pane of 50 special stamps featuring names of each state printed in large letters, reminiscent of the colorful postcards of the 1930s and 1940s. The stamps, to be issued April 4 in every state capital, depict names of the states emblazoned across the design with the salutation "Greetings From . . . " printed above. In the background of each are images and points of interest. The Pennsylvania stamp, for example, depicts the Liberty Bell.

The headline read, "In times of uncertainty, how much more can we take?" (Inquirer, Nov. 4). We don't know, but we have a choice. We can curl up in a corner, wringing our hands, paralyzed by anticipation and fear. Or we can pick ourselves up and conduct our lives as well as we can in light of our new circumstances. The survival of the human species has always been due to our ability to adjust to our changing environment. Why would we stop now? We don't have to begin each day by listening to an hour-by-hour drip of bad news on CNN; we can begin each day by listening to our favorite music station on the radio and listen to only headline news.