Barbara Vancheri's article regarding the screening of the film "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" ("Only in Pittsburgh: 'Mysteries' draws crowd," Nov. 25) repeatedly referred to the Michael Chabon book and suggested the film should have been a mirror reflection of the book.

I take issue with this premise. Books and films are completely different media. Seldom does a good book make a good film. Rawson Thurber was well aware of this when he sat down to write a film script based on a book which he admired. He knew his first responsibility was to tell a cinematic story as opposed to a literary one.

I think Thurber did that and the result is a tribute to the book. Michael Chabon thought so too. He approved the script.

Jack Nolan
Downtown

I was interested to read about Maestro Manfred Honeck's reconfiguration of the seating of several sections of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra ("It's more than just musical chairs for PSO," Nov. 26). I am old enough to have lived through all the combinations past, present and proposed. Herewith a couple of comments.

I am sure (though nobody told me so) that the change from the traditional seating of violins up front -- firsts on the left, seconds on the right -- resulted from the recognition that the sound of violas and celli doesn't carry as well as that of violins, so that the audience would be better served with these mellower instruments up front. By way of contrast, Honeck stresses the musical advantage of having "imitation" be more audible, when both violin sections are up front.

That may be the case, though it might be noted that violas and celli "imitate" almost as much in classical music as do second violins.

My own perspective is more parochial. We sit in the Family Circle because that location is acoustically superior to orchestra seats. I only hope that Maestro Honeck will consider -- by actually going through the hall to hear what it sounds like -- what the effect of various configurations of orchestra seating has on the listener. To use an overused phrase, that's the bottom line.

Rudolph H. Weingartner
Squirrel Hill

With respect to the article by Matea Gold, pointing out that evening news viewership on TV networks keeps on declining (from 36.7 million in 1991 to 22.7 million in 2008, "Network evening news viewership dips," Nov. 24), Ms. Gold comments that the chronic issue for the networks has been the change in the American lifestyles: "it is becoming more and more difficult to catch the 25-54 age viewers, coveted by the advertisers."

Significantly, she does not even bother to mention the daily PBS news hour, or the BBC world coverage, to compare the statistics. Here is a picture, not unlike that of the "big three" car makers of Detroit who argue that their persistent dip in car sales over the years is mostly due to the overall collapse of demand by the public rather than their own blindness as to where American car buyers are, or should be, heading.

Evening news is a vital source of information in this modern world. How about some drastic changes? Make the news hour (or 1/2 hour) less of a show, studded with "catchy trivial news," and more of an account of what of importance has occurred on a given day worldwide. Reduce commercials to the beginning and the end of each news program. Reduce the incessant "drug" and "fear" advertising. Include some commentary from general public rather than from the perpetual professional commentators. Consider changing the time slot for the news. Make special effort to show younger viewers that news in the shrinking globe matters to all ages.

Above all, allocate more public money to PBS to restore two public network rivals who compete with one another and with commercial networks to make them all seek "change." Who knows, maybe TV news may become quite exciting.

Ted Massalski
O'Hara
Professor Emeritus, CMU

Kudos to singer songwriter Bill Toms and his wife Joyce for sponsoring their annual Thanksgiving Eve benefit at Cefalo's nightclub in Carnegie to raise money to help fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."

On a night when most musicians could be making good money at paid gigs throughout town, Bill and Joyce assembled an impressive array of talent that included Tom Breiding, Shari Richards, Andrea Pearl, Jill Simmons, Bill Deasy, and WDVE's Sean McDowell, who served as emcee.

Headlined by Bill Toms' own band, Hard Rain, it was a magical evening that combined great music with great food for a great cause. In a day and age where the holidays too often fall prey to materialism, commercialism and cynicism, the event was an optimistic reminder that most people really do care about the welfare and needs of others. The generosity of our local musicians, who constantly share their time and talent to support a variety of causes and organizations, is something that we can all be thankful for during this season.

Keith G. Kondrich
Swisshelm Park