<HTML>In a message dated 5/28/01 4:36:17 PM Central Daylight Time, jmccorm@tfb.com (James McCormac) writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">The AP report of the piano breakdown during a concert of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra was mystifying. It is scary how we rely on journalism, be it print or broadcast, for information that guides our perceptions on a wide range of issues, but when they report on something we know well, they get it all botched up.    A staff writer for the L.A. Times interviewed the technician and reported the following:    A 9-foot Hamburg Steinway broke down while Jeffrey Kahane was conducting from the keyboard a performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto. From the wings and to the rescue came Brian P. Alexander, a partner in Pro Piano, described as an international firm that rents high-end pianos. The culprit was a broken jack. To quote the article: "The whippen, a tiny platform that holds the key-striking levers, was broken -- specifically the repetition jack, which allow notes to repeat."    </BLOCKQUOTE> Thank you so much, Jim, for clearing up the mystery.  I just couldn't imagine at all what must have happened.  I too, have noticed what concerns you:  when I have been a direct witness to an incident or have direct knowledge about something I have read or heard about in the media, the story always gets twisted with a disturbing amount of inaccuracy. It leads to question such incidents as Pearl Harbor, JFK's assassination, Waco, the Fed building in Oklahoma, Roswell, NM, even dare I say, the crucifixion and resurrection.  After all, we can only rely on what someone else has written. As for the loose jack tender, a spot of thin CA glue and the kicker would have it fixed in seconds flat.  This would not be the time to argue the merits of Hot Animal Hide Glue and the gluepot you need to heat up just to have it. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>