The Dean

Agreed. But if you provided the wine service, you wouldn't expect to receive NO tip on the wine, right? But obviously one isn't necessarily expected to tip 20% of a $300 bottle. An extra $10 or $20 on top of the regular tip should do.

I have some Marcus Stroud twenty dollar bills available. Are you interested?

I don't hate Campbell and would be fine with him coming to Buffalo, but Whitner is too high a price to pay, IMO.

I almost always leave the counter person a buck or two on a pickup. More if it is an extravagant order or I have asked for special services (on the side, extra hot sauce, make sure they are crispy, etc.) At a bar, if you're just drinking then I tend to tip on my own personal inexact formula that considers # of drinks, time spent at the bar, service and conversation with the barkeep, etc. If I'm eating, too, I might use the % calculation (especially if the entire bill comes on one check). If that's the case, you don't have to consider the regular price of the drinks (although that's a good touch if you actually know the prices), but keep in mind the bill is low and be generous with the %. In general, I figure out what a good tip should be (20-25%) and then add another buck or two (or more depending on the circumstance). It makes a difference if you are a return customer, trust me.

Whenever someone mentions Eddie Van Halen as a great guitar soloist......I want to get back into my car and drive through that stop sign again (if I were Clip Smith).

Good looking guy, though.

I almost posted Telegraph Road, too. It is Dire Strait's finest, IMO. Loved Knopfler's work with Emmylou (she's fabulous) and like his playing style. But he really isn't a flashy soloist most of the time. As you note, he tends to be restrained.

They must put up very few ads.

Pete, you're too smart to call this a free speech issue. Was he censored before saying it by the gov't? Was he charged with a crime?

I like Tony and Hannah, to tell the truth. IMO, the suspension was probably due to his attack on ESPN. If Hannah worked for NBC there would have been no suspension. I don't think this was a PC thing, rather a corporate loyalty thing.

Actually, they made it clear the box can take just about any fuel source, renewable or fossil fuel. But you are right, this is not a fuel, it is a revolutionary generator of sorts.

Very good episode, IMO. Even if you don't really like Ray Romano, you have to admit he does a good job in this show.

Actually, I may have mis-stated the real AKA of Mexican Polka. While Norteño has a lot of Polka influence (as you can hear from the links above), I think Banda is really close to Polka, overall:

Have you ever heard Mexican Polka (AKA Norteño)? And I picked this one just for you, Chef:

Try running CCleaner Portable off of a USB stick: http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFT...-Portable.shtml

While the St Augustine area is tolerable, Florida is definitely the worst state I have lived in.

Update?

Love it.

I think you are correct, on how it started and why it is widely used. As has been mentioned several times, it is a NYC-centric view of the state and a relatively uninformed one at that. I think what some (including me) are saying is, when we use that term about Buffalo, or when those from Jamestown, Elmira, New Paltz, etc use that term about their towns, we contribute to the ignorance and reinforce this sloppy label.

So you're saying there was a downside, too?

What's all this now?

We have a winner! I wish that was still the case. I don't like pros participating in the Olympics. If other countries want to do it, fine. The USA should stick to amateurs, IMO.

Exactly. As much as I would love to bash NBC on this, this game is just a preliminary battle, and skating is probably the most popular event for viewers. If it were a medal round, I would join you in bashing these clueless bastards. (Oh wait, did I just do that?)

You see that's a guy who says he is from "Upstate New York".

Your point?