The Senator

T.O. will not only re-sign with the Bills next season, he will retire as and be inducted into the HOF as a Buffalo Bill - the only team on which he will have received Superbowl Championship rings... 18 and 1 baby!!! GO BILLSSS!!!! REVERSE THE CURSE!!!!!

corny, but funny (telephonic vodka shots for every bills score today?)

they teach Logic on monster too? i thought that site was just for job seekers. damn - all that money i wasted on fine schools, when i could have gotten my entire education over the 'net like you

Mmmm.... Carmelo's And, since you'll be in Lewiston more than one evening... Mmmm... Lobster Thermidor w/Petit Filet

The hotel is very nice and only a few year old - the casino is starting to reek a bit, but I don't think that smell has permeated the hotel yet. But you'll run into smokers everywhere - it is, after all, a casino hotel. And, you'll be dealing with all the activities associated with a full-scale gambling casino.... Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel Unless you're really hell-bent on being in downtown Niagara Falls, NY - and I can't figure out why anyone would be - why not go 10 minutes north to Lewiston and the Barton Hill Hotel & Spa - a relatively new upscale 'boutique' hotel... Barton Hill Hotel & Spa You'd still be very close to the casino and it's gambling and dining if that interests you, and the Falls itself is only 10 minutes away. The Maid of the Mist should still be operating, and I believe that's the last weekend you can do the Cave of the Winds, but verify that if you're interested... link link2 Just my opinion, but I think Lewiston and Barton Hill would make for a more romantic anniversary than the casino.

Michael Douglas To Play Liberace

I think what he's saying is that I can learn Logic better from Google than I did from the Jesuits - or, simply that Google is the omniscient source of knowledge which he relies upon for his specious arguments. But I was thinking about switching to bing myself - if an Ivy League education and 30 years of business experience won't allow me to understand his point, then I'm sure Google won't be of much use either.

Wow - this post screams "I'M AN INSECURE JERK!!!" so loudly, that I feel compelled to respond point-by-point: 1) Most of the folks that responded are, I'm sure, mature adults (unlike you) in their 30s/40s/50s - and I'm sure many have a far greater understanding of the game and the business of football than you. 2) Last time any of us saw a Bills playoff game was, of course, the last time they were in one - 1999. Bob Kraft has one of the lowest payrolls in the NFL to go with his 4 conference titles and 3 Superbowl wins this decade - what's your point? 3) Guy that fired Polian is the same guy that hired him and promoted him to GM. Go call your boss' daughter a vile name associated with the female anatomy, and see how long it takes you to clean out your desk. 4) Jason Peters is in Philadelphia - fat, out of shape, recovering from a quad sprain incurred running from his bed to the breakfast table on the first day of camp, and collecting a $60M paycheck while on a pace to allow 32 sacks (he's charged with 4 in the first 2 games) - which would almost triple his league-leading 11.5 sacks-allowed in the 13 games he managed to play last season. 5) I don't know if Fitzpatrick is better than Garcia - he may be. And Garcia also may have problems re-uniting with Terrell Owens, and wasn't picked up by the Eagles until McNabb got hurt anyway - so how desirable is he? Vick has already been discussed ad nauseum. The Bills have stated they have no interest in such a project - namely, rehabilitating the career of a recidivist criminal and convicted felon whose NFL career has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, and it looks like he's already stirring up problems in the Eagles' locker room... link Anyway, I'm fine with our QB backup situation - and with the new improved O-line, I'm not as worried about Edwards getting injured either. 6) Yes, the Bills will make the playoffs this season. 7) Yeah, Wilson makes every move based on money and has played Buffalo fans for fools - that's why he's hung on to a team he could have sold for nearly a billion dollars, and kept it in Buffalo when several other cities would have given him a brand new stadium and hundreds of $$millions$$ to move there.

I honestly don't know how to respond, since you now seem to be meandering a bit... "A necessary not not sufficient condition for continued prosperity"???? Huh???? Nor apparently does Bob Kraft, who, despite having one of the lowest payrolls in the NFL, attained 4 conference titles and 3 Superbowl wins in this decade.

watched it last nite, largely 'cause of this thread. thought it was pretty good - good enough for me to watch the next installment, anyway.

So did...

I know one guy who doesn't think much of Mangina... Mike Leach

Van Cliburn is certainly a very fine pianist, but his career benefited greatly from winning, as a young American pianist from Texas in 1958 - the very height of the Cold War, the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow - one of the most prestigious music competitions in the world. (It was a great propaganda victory for the U.S at the time, and Cliburn even got the ticker-tape parade treatment in NYC upon his return.) Of that generation of pianists, I think the very best (aside from Gould, who's so unique I can't really compare him to others of any era) was Vladimir Ashkenazy - who shared the Tchaikovsky Competition 1st place prize with American John Browning in 1962, four years after Cliburn. (Ashkenazy also won second prize in the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1955, and the first prize in the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels in 1956.) I had the great privilege of seeing him perform about a half-dozen times - his recordings of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev are just unbelievable... link - ashkenazy - chopin etude op. 10, no.1

I guess some things never change - Gregggo slung a bunch o' bull while he was here, and looks like he's still doin' it!

True - just not as many, since you moved out.

I'm not judging Pioli on 2 games - that's why I said, "So let's wait and see how Pioli does in KC (right now he's 0-2, one loss being to Oakland), compare it to how Brandon's Bills do, and I guess we'll know if you're right." You must have just skipped ove the "let's wait and see" part - or want only to wait and see how Pioli does, not Brandon. As you said, three to four years would be a good 'wait and see' period - one that apparently you're perfectly willing to give Pioli, but not Brandon. Really? I couldn't care less how Pioli does in KC - all I care about is the Bills. But just to hammer the final nails in your argument, as SJBF pointed out, we paid a ton of $$$$ for Donahoe, whose reputation was impeccable - the Steelers won Superbowl titles in '78 & '79 while TD was their director of football ops, ferchrissakes. How'd spending all that money on that 'big-name' 'proven-commodity' turn out for us? And, as nucci pointed out, Pioli's Cassell trade and huge$$$ contract reeks of belicheat* unloading an inferior QB with an exorbitant price tag on a naive GM - kind of like what he did to us (Donahoe) with Bledsoe. And finally, as far as 'rarely getting more than you pay for', it actually happens quite often in the NFL - just ask Jason Peters. (Conversely, just look at how much money was WASTED on 'established verterans' like Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker, etc.) Take a look at the Bills payroll and you'll see that we're going to have a good many underpaid players on this year's roster - probably because Brandon & Co. are doing such a fine job in the short time he's been in charge... GO BILLSSS!!!! REVERSE THE CURSE!!!!!

So let's wait and see how Pioli does in KC (right now he's 0-2, one loss being to Oakland), compare it to how Brandon's Bills do, and I guess we'll know if you're right - that is, if spending more money on a known guy like Pioli is smarter than going with Russ Brandon.

Whoa - get away with what? Not trying to "have it both ways" - as far as their management having nothing to do with the Boston's World Series drought, the Red Sox haven't had a playoff or talent drought - only an unbelievably long and supernatural series of bad breaks - until 2004, that is. (You're not blaming Red Sox management for the Bucky Dent's 3-run homer in the '78 AL East tie-breaker, or the Buckner fiasco in the '86 World Series, or Aaron Boone's walk-off run in the 2003 ALCS, are you?) The Sox have been 'in the hunt', or in the playoffs almost yearly - even before Epstein - so there's really no comparison between the Bills playoff drought and the Red Sox. I simply threw out Theo Epstein as an example of a young (even younger than Brandon), unknown, and unproven GM with a short resume, who went on to achieve amazing success. That's all. Then I'd have to disagree - particularly since Brandon really does seem to be doing quite well as GM, so far. It's always a crap-shoot - even with a so-called proven winner. (How'd Steve Spurrier do as a head coach in Washington? As have the Bills, with Terrell Owens, and (tried) with Pisa Tinoisamoa. Just makes no sense to bring on an aging, injured vet like Runyan - which is how this whole thread started - just because he was a passable OT for a while, a few years back. I'd have to chalk up not signing Runyan as another good decision by Brandon & Co. Again, dynasties - like Polian's Bills and Colts, and Pioli's cheatriettes* - are built MAINLY thru the draft, and that's what it looks like the Bills are doing as well.

There are tons of CBC footage of recitals, documentary, etc. from throughout Gould's life, but I believe you're referring to... Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould The title itself is a reference to Gould's most famous recording - Bach's Goldberg Variations, consisting of an Aria, followed by 30 variations each conforming to the same harmonic sequence, then the Aria Da Capo - hence, 32 short pieces. Each short film deals with an episode from Gould's life - such as his fascinatingly altered Steinway concert grand, serial # CD318, or one of his many idiosyncrasies or neuroses, such as his self-medication and addictions to various prescription drugs. Here's one excerpt - Gould playing a phonograph recording of his bizarrely syncopated interpretation of Beethoven's 'Tempest' Sonata for a German chambermaid...

To point out that Byrd looks like a rookie with 2 NFL starts, I guess...

Again, last season was Brandon's first as GM - I don't think anyone was ready to induct Polian into the HOF in his 2nd year. In fact, Bills fans were extremely unimpressed with Polian in his first season as GM, as the Bills finished 2-14 for the 2nd consecutive year. They went 4-12 in his 2nd year, then 7-9 in his 3rd, before things all came together and the Bills dynasty of the late 80's/early 90s was finally in bloom. So PLEASE - at least let Russ Brandon finish his 2nd year on the job before condemning him to mediocrity.

The failure of the Rad Sox for so many years had nothing to do with bad management or lack of talent - unlike the Bills 10-year drought you point to, the Sox were almost always 'in the hunt', only to end up on the losing side in the playoffs due to a twist of fate, the 'Curse of the Bambino', a fluke play like Billy Buckner's, or stroke of luck by some jerk like like Bucky Dent or Aaron Boone. And both Polian and Pioli relied on the draft more than veteran acquisitions to build their dynasties - in 2007, 19 of Indy's 22 starters came from draft choices, while 15 of New England's were draft picks. Dynasties are built thru the draft, not by overpaying for aging veterans whose talents are on the decline. No doubt the Bills have had bad management over the 10-year playoff drought. I'm just taking issue with your statement that they have a bad front office today - that is entirely unknown, as Brandon is only in his 2nd year as GM. Under Russ Brandon's leadership, we may very well be witnessing the beginnings of the next Bills dynasty - we'll have to wait and see. It's way too early to say Brandon's not a good GM - in fact, so far I'd say all evidence points to the contrary.

Yes - he's played in 2 NFL games, from which we can clearly tell he's a bust.

...would have turned 77 today. The Canadian pianist recorded practically everything Bach wrote for the keyboard, and is considered one of the most brilliant musicians of our time (and one of the most eccentric). He died in 1982, 9 days after his 50th birthday - an occasion upon which he predicted, with bitter ironic accuracy, he would cease to play the piano forever. This video and recording was one of his last - enjoy...

RIP Tim.