Get thee to an incline pronto. Mount Washington is one of the "10 Greatest Places to Stand in the United States."

At least it was Friday afternoon. These ratings at stoodthere.com are more volatile than Wall Street (79th greatest place to stand), and the results can be as loony as anything you'll find on the Las Vegas Strip (41st).

The Lost Sea in Craighead Caverns, Tenn., is the top place to stand in the USA? Come on.

Ciaran Bradley, who called me from England, can explain. Mr. Bradley and four others put together this list of 100 places, and the world began voting on their picks about four weeks ago. Anyone can go to the Web site and give a thumb up or a thumb down to any choice, and through these votes a place will soar or tumble. A week or so ago, Tennessee media gave the list some play. Voters there goosed the state's sites into the top six spots.

But Mount Washington has shot up recently, too, going from 27th to ninth in a matter of days, putting it with such tourist meccas as Hoover Dam, Niagara Falls, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Old Faithful Geyser and the Statue of Liberty.

Whether Mount Washington will remain in heady company when voting ends Dec. 1 is no lock, but Mr. Bradley says even its inclusion on the list "is my fault really.''

This native of Northern Ireland spent four months here in 1998 promoting rock concerts for DiCesare-Engler Productions, "had my fair share of Primanti sandwiches,'' and never forgot the view of the Golden Triangle from high across the river.

Not that his partners in this venture were immediately sold. "They started throwing pillows at me,'' Mr. Bradley, 32, said. "I had to convince them and pull out the photographs. It is one of those perfect views.

Few places have a natural perch allowing an across-the-water vista down to a city skyline, so sharing Pittsburgh's star portrait (the site allows photos) is "a personal mission for me,'' Mr. Bradley said. "It tends to get overlooked on the world stage.''

Actually, with the G-20 Conference coming in September and Pittsburgh winding up high on a list of best-this or best-that seemingly every time someone's in the mood to compile one, "overlooked'' may no longer be apt. Still, I have to admire Mr. Bradley and friends -- Sarah Begley, Sam Greenhalgh, James Black, Julia Black -- for taking beer talk to a new dimension. Many of us have sat around jabbering about places we've been or would like to go, but who before had the audacity to allow the world to vote?

I took the Monongahela Incline up to Mount Washington Friday to see how this went over on the overlook.

"Why isn't in the Top Three?'' was what Dan O'Neill, 27, of Shadyside wanted to know.

His friend, Tom Haynes, visiting from Milwaukee, said he's been all around the country, from big cities to national parks, and this view could stand up with any of them.

"Eighth sounds about right,'' agreed Patrick Griffin Boyle, 26, of St. Paul, Minn., said when showed the list.

Jessie Macfarland of Albuquerque, N.M., said her state is rich with stunning natural vistas but it had no cityscape to match Pittsburgh's. And, given the dismal afternoon, she wasn't even seeing the city at its best. Kortney Wittler of Bethel Park suggested they return at night for a more stunning view.

Michael Lamb, the city controller, lives across from the overlooks "on the poor side'' of Grandview Avenue. He said his neighborhood should be No. 1. on the Greatest Places to Stand List because he has noticed two key indicators of its growing popularity.

1) The number of sightseers with dogs is up, judging by the state of Mr. Lamb's lawn.

2) The prom-goer quotient has soared. Hundreds of teens in tuxedos and gowns have flocked to Grandview the past several weeks, making it clear this is the new go-to spot on prom night.

I'm not averse to shameless civic promotion, so I gave Mount Washington a thumbs-up. Votes are still only in the hundreds, so even a small group could nudge a place one way or the other quickly.

There's also a list of 100 Greatest Places to Stand on the Planet, but Pittsburgh isn't on it and it's clearly attracting a different crowd. That's why we have logical impossibilities like a public sculpture in Chicago, "The Bean,'' being 45th on the U.S. list but eighth on the planet.

Chicagoans can fix only one election at a time.