Last March here, I wrote about a man named Juan Manuel Alvarez who caused the death of eleven people, the injury of a couple hundred more and a whole lot of horror and financial loss. I could not understand why his trial was going to last "through June," meaning about three months. I thought it should take about twenty minutes.

As it turned out, the forecast was right. The trial ended on June 26 when the jury returned a verdict of Guilty on eleven counts of first-degree murder. I'm not sure how his actions fit the definition of first-degree murder I learned in school, which said that the death had to be "willful and premeditated." There's been no suggestion that Alvarez got up that morning and said, "Hey, I think I want to wreck a train so many will die or be maimed." I gather the explanation is that it's also first-degree if a death occurred as a result, even inadvertent, of a violent felony.

The conviction seems severe enough, especially since he is apparently not going to stand trial for the other damage he did. In any case, they're now in the penalty phase of the case, deciding if the Death Penalty is going to be applied here. If the trial itself was worth about twenty minutes, I think this stage oughta take ten.

I have highly-mixed feelings about the Death Penalty…about whether it's moral, whether it's wise, whether it's proper, etc. Oddly enough, a big argument against it — the strong evidence that we've convicted and executed a lot of innocent folks — doesn't apply here. No one is claiming he didn't do it…so we're left with the other questions, which are a lot larger than this one case.

Thus, what it boils down to is whether we believe in the Death Penalty. If we don't, then you toss the guy in prison for the rest of his life…and way down the line, others can debate the unlikely prospect of parole. If we do think the D.P. is applicable for the worst kinds of crime…well, there you go. I mean, if eleven counts of first-degree murder doesn't get you The Chair or a lethal injection or whatever it is they do in this state, what does? A dozen? More? Causing eleven deaths while you also litter?

Like I said: This one should have been over in ten minutes. In this article, the widow of a man killed in the crash told a judge that she didn't want to testify in the trial because, as she put it, "I don't want to relive it." I'm sure there are trials that should last months because there are so many questions, doubts, possibilities, etc. It's in everyone's best interests to make sure we convict the Guilty and clear the Innocent, and I'm not suggesting we should shortcut Justice when the facts are in dispute. But if only so that victims' families and friends don't have to spend months reliving their worst moments, maybe we could speed some of these trials along a bit. Hmm?

Which state in this country is the most overweight? Take a look. I think it's the one with the most Burger Kings, per capita.

Hey, wanna read an online conversation with Stephen Sondheim and the folks behind the recent revival of Sunday in the Park With George? You don't? Then don't click here.

Well, after many years of keeping my contacts, calendar and other vital info on Microsoft Outlook, I'm just about ready to pitch it. There seems to be no decent way to sync its data between my three computers. We (my assistant and I) have tried every sync program and nothing works the way it's supposed to. I've never particularly liked Outlook and have decided to try something else.

Anyone have a suggestion for a Personal Information Manager? I need one that will handle contacts, calendar, notes (preferably in multiple folders) and a "to do" list. I need it to have a simple desktop version (PC) and the ability to sync with a BlackBerry and also with other computers.

I'd give Lotus Organizer a try but they don't seem to offer a demo version. What is anyone else using and liking?

If you missed it the last time — or just plain didn't believe what you saw — you have another shot at Skidoo, my pick for the weirdest movie ever made by a studio and director you've heard of and starring stars who were sometimes in good movies. We started touting this one back in this post and have banged the drum ever since. If you want to see what the fuss is about, you want to tune in (or TiVo) Turner Classic Movies late Friday night (or early Saturday morning) at 2 AM Eastern Time.

Also: Friday morning at 8:45, TCM is airing Penelope, another movie I didn't like but write about often. Here's your chance to miss both of them at the same time.

Back from Minneapolis. I'll write more in a day or two about CONvergence but I thought I'd tell you about today. I had lunch with my friend Tom Richmond, who's one of the star artists for MAD Magazine these days. As he explains here in his blog, he whisked me away from the con for a few hours of conversation and lunch at the Guthrie, a magnificent theater in downtown Minneapolis. Named not for Arlo or Woody but for Sir Tyrone Guthrie, the place is an architectural marvel with a grand river view, and I very much enjoyed our little exploration of it.

Later, after the convention's Closing Ceremonies (actually, before they were quite finished) my comrade Marv Wolfman and I were taken to the airport by a lovely librarian lady named Jody, who was my convention liaison. Jody took very good care of me during my stay, making sure I had every single thing I needed. She deposited us at MSP International in plenty o' time for Marv and me to grab a pre-flight dinner. If you're ever at that airport and have time for sit-down (as opposed to fast food) dining, try a place called Ike's. Best meal I can recall ever eating in an airport.

I have loads of e-mail to wade through, much of it from folks telling me of some place that, they insist, makes the best pizza on the planet. Samplings shall appear here soon.

Mark needs to sleep so I bid you good night.

The above photo is of New York Pizza. I know because I took it myself on E. 42nd Street near Madison when I was back there in April.

You want to generate angry mail to your weblog? Forget about the political stuff. Just suggest in passing that it's possible to get acceptable pizza outside the state of New York. I did once before here and the tirades are still arriving.

Some folks are more passionate in defending their favorite pizzeria than their opinion of the Iraq War but it's not quite that important. I mean, it's not like where to get the best barbecued ribs or anything of the sort. Where I really part company with most people is that I've had good and bad pizza everywhere I've had pizza, and that includes New York.

I once had dreadful pizza in New York…dreadful, inedible pizza. The kind where you feel you should check and make sure you didn't bite off a hunk of the paper plate by accident. Sergio and I were walking back from the Marvel offices to our hotel in Times Square and it seemed not only like Lunch Time but Pizza Lunch Time. We both craved slices and I said to him, "Do you know a good place?" Sergio replied — in perfect English but I prefer to quote him like he doesn't talk so well — "Every place serve pizza in New York good, Mark. We pick anyplace, be fine." We picked the first shop we came to and each ordered two slices and a large Coke.

Each of our two slices got two bites. Bite One, we each could not believe how awful the pizza was. To verify, we each took Bite Two. The pizza was, indeed, that terrible. So it was into the trash with our slices, whereupon we took our large Cokes, walked directly to the next pizzeria on that street and each ordered two more slices. These were a lot better but I still didn't think they were as good as the best pizza I've had elsewhere.

Here's what I think happens. The phrase "New York Pizza" has come to mean something special. It means "The best pizza you had in New York." And I agree there's great pizza in New York. There's so much of it that there must be. So let's say you have it at a place called Angelo's in Manhattan and maybe you even have a real good slice at a place called Tony's a few blocks away. That becomes New York Pizza to you…the standard against which all are judged.

By that, I mean all slices anywhere, even in New York. You go to Ray's over on 7th and the pizza there isn't as fine as Angelo's. But for some reason you don't say, "Hmm…some pizza in New York isn't so good." You just write that off. It's not New York Pizza even though it's pizza and it's in New York. You prefer to think of New York Pizza as the pie they serve at Angelo's and maybe Tony's.

Then one day you're in Los Angeles or somewhere else that's not New York and pizza becomes an issue. You compare whatever they have there to Angelo's and you say "This isn't as good as New York Pizza." Which isn't fair, just as it wouldn't be fair for me to compare Vito's Pizza in Los Angeles (maybe the best I've had) with that place Sergio and I walked out of in Manhattan and say, "L.A. Pizza is better." I also think people are unfair to factor the pizza from big chains into the contest. People judge non-N.Y. Pizza by Domino's, Papa John's, Little Caesar's, etc. But when they think of New York Pizza, they never average in all those ubiquitous Pizza Huts and Sbarro you find every other block in that town.

(My friend Randy used to insist that L.A. Pizza was awful compared to N.Y. Pizza…but his example of L.A. Pizza was a slice he once had at the airport. He refused to admit that all airport pizza is awful in every city. On the same trip where I took the above photo, I had a slice at JFK that they could have taken out and used to patch the runway.)

The point is that any pizza you sample anywhere is likely to fail when measured against the best pizza you ever had. But that's one restaurant versus another restaurant. It's not all the pizza in New York compared to all the pizza in some other city. There is great pizza in New York — I've had a lot of it — but there's great pizza everywhere if you go to the right places.

Let a new onslaught of hate mail commence.

Hope you had a safe 'n' reasonably sane Fourth of July. I'm still at CONvergence, a gathering which I've been lying to say is in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We're actually in Bloomington, which is about nine inches away.

I need to think up terms to differentiate two kinds of conventions I attend. One would be like the Comic-Con International in San Diego — a professionally-run event that has trade show overtones and underpinnings. To some extent, San Diego evolved out of the other kind I'm about to describe, and it took a bit of attitude adjustment for me to accept that transformation. At Comic-Con, there's a huge exhibit hall loaded with commerce, ranging from amateur dealers selling boxes of old comics…all the way to major entertainment corporations with expensive floor displays to promote product. There are panels (I'm now hosting 17 at the one later this month) and parties and such…but the spine of the event is companies and individual attendees trying to advance on their livelihoods.

There's little of that at the other kind, which would be typified by CONvergence or by the con where I found myself last Independence Day, a gathering of "furry" fans in Pittsburgh called Anthrocon. At neither of those gatherings were the organizers paid, even though they worked their buttockal areas off. The underlying idea is/was just, "Hey, it would be so great to have this event — for us and folks like us — so let's put it on!" While there are some dealers here selling stuff (mostly books and crafts) and while there may well be folks advancing their careers, that's not at all the reason for CONvergence. It's here because a lot of people thought there should be CONvergence and set about to make that happen.

Everything here is born of that generosity but nowhere is it more obvious than around the pool. There's a huge indoor one here at the Sheraton Bloomington, with an adjoining "party" area. Surrounding it is an atrium of hotel rooms and the bottom two floors have what I guess they call "cabana" rooms, which are perfect for parties. Congoers long ago booked all those rooms and in each one, especially during the evening, you'll find a themed party or event run at considerable personal expense just to please other congoers. There's one room full of belly dancers; another, where folks make and pass out sno-cones; another which dispenses pizza. A big fave is The House of Toast, a cabana room where its proprietors make toast all night, slather on any of about eighty toppings you choose, and hand you a lovely edible treat. It's free toast…how cool is that? (You can tip if you like, and most do, but the point is that they set up this elaborate concession just for fun.)

The most impressive rooms are probably the Star Trek ones and despite my microscopic interest in that franchise, I had to admire the enterprise (ahem) involved. Some folks rented these cabana rooms well in advance, took detailed measurements, then went off and constructed elaborate sets to turn their suites into Star Trek locations. In them, there is no trace of anything Sheraton — even the bathrooms are hidden behind faux walls — so you walk in and you're in the Transporter Room or wherever. I apologize that I don't know sufficient Trek lore to describe what they did…but folks who do are stunned by the replication…and even a non-Trekker like myself can tell that hundreds of man-hours and thousands of dollars have been expended to do something just to delight others.

There is also liquor — free-flowing and free — and for those who don't partake, the convention has two suites that do nothing but dispense gratis soft drinks. It all contributes to a wonderful atmosphere. The whole bloomin' Sheraton is full of CONvergence attendees. I'm told Northwest Airlines has a handful of rooms for its crew but otherwise, the place is crammed to the rafters with creative, fun people with an interest in science-fiction, fantasy, comics and/or certain related areas. I should have stressed the word "creative" because that's the atmosphere in the halls, which are festooned with clever signs and costumes and decorations. And I haven't even made it yet to the many rooms showing both classic movies and films made by members of the convention.

And why do they do all this? Just for fun. That's really the best part of it.

I do not mean to suggest, in speaking of these two kinds of conventions, that one is better than the other. I enjoy both and am glad we have both varieties…and of course, the mindsets are not mutually-exclusive. But the impressive thing about the Comic-Con in San Diego or the gathering I attended in New York earlier this year, is how much of the industry is present — how many deals and careers are made. Here at CONvergence, it's more about how many friendships are made. This is going to be a great con-going July for me because I get to attend what must be the best in each category. Plus, I got free toast. Doesn't get much better than that.

A reminder. On our recommendation, some of you have been listening to the serialized radio interview with Miriam Marx, daughter of Hugo Z. Hackenbush, on BBC Radio. The third and final part is now posted and may not be up past this weekend. If you want to listen, listen soon. The links in this message should get you there.