in reply to Stupid question

One way would be to put all things related to $bar in it's own block:
{ my $bar = "I can see you"; }

Jeff

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
F--F--F--F--F--F--F--F--
(the triplet paradiddle)