SouthernMan

Who's wearing the pants in the family anyway? Tell the old lady to shutup and go bake a pie.

Taxes are pretty reasonable in the metro Atlanta area, and even for a house of that size (about 5,300 SF), I doubt the yearly tax bill would exceed $5,000 in that area. If they budget the $100,000 wisely, and get a little interest off of it, they shouldn't have too much trouble making it last.

They should have done the procedure at the HSBC arena. They haven't had a face off all year!

Song Suggestions: 30 Days In the Hole Rock The Boat Pretty In Pink Our Lips Are Sealed How Deep Is Your Love And a special one for the Giants QB of the future... Eli's Coming

You wouldn't happen to be in Ohio, would you? Everytime I have to drive through that damn state from Cinci to Cleveland, there's always a slew of self-rightous pricks who think it's their job to police the speed limit by blocking the passing lanes. Some kind of power trip I imagine.

Bruschi is a class act all the way, and I'd bet the same folks who claim to hate him would be drooling with elated anticipation if there was any chance for him to become a Buffalo Bill. The Patriots in general are a class act and deserve the praise they receive. Best wishes to Ted for a complete recovery.

Bledsoe is missing the anticipation and timing components. His screen and short passes were consistently behind the receivers. How many times did Moulds have to reach back to snag a pass? It was on one of these passes that McGahee was injured. His long passes weren't a whole lot better, but the receiver has more time to adjust to a vertical pass. It wasn't unusual t osee Evans or Moulds have to come back for the ball. Fortunately, the rules favor the offensive players so they had a better chance than the defenders. Out patterns, which depend on timing as much as screen passes, were not used effectively. Bledsoe has the same mental timing flaw in his game that Rob Johnson could not overcome. I have a feeling that Moulds had something to do with Bledsoe's ultimate fate. I wouldn't doubt that he was consulted on this matter.

When you break it down, it comes out like this: The Bills gave up a 2nd and 5th rounder in order to get a year's head start for Losman. This has also afforded them the opportunity to save money by 86ing Bledsoe. With the money saved, they should be able to buy FAs at least equal to the two draft choices lost last year. I don't know much about this year's QB class, but I wonder if Losman would have been one of the top 2 or 3 taken. Only Losman's preformance will determine whether this was a good deal, but on paper, it looks like the Bills made a good trade.

Anyone who read previous guitar thread knows I love Taylor acoustics when it comes to production guitars, but Santa Cruz and Larivee both make some fine sounding and playing acoustics. I'd take them over Martins every time. BTW - I'm not deliberately knocking Martins. I just haven't played a decent one in a music store in ages. A friend bought a fantastic playing Martin HD-35 about 6 years ago, and that was the last new one I could get excited about. A lot of their "lower end" stuff is way overpriced. Another friend with $1000 to spend was set on finally getting a Martin. The Martins in that price range were average, and I talked him into getting a comparably priced Tacoma, which was a far better sounding guitar. For the money, Tacoma makes a decent guitar. The old Martins played by Stephen Stills, Neil Young, and others had a beautiful tone and a real resonant precussive sound from picking the bass strings. It's rare to hear that kind of tone from even the best acoustics today. Unfortunately, Martin has been living off their reputation for too long.

I believe you played it a couple of years ago. I think it was you that broke it (bastard)!!! I'd send it to you to fix, but I don't want it coming back to me with flower power and peace stickers all over it.

I've got a vintage Sears 1964 copy signature Miami Don Johnson model. Plays like shiite, but it's great for shoveling the driveway or clubbing penguins. Previously mentioned: 1999 Taylor 714CE 6 string 2003 Taylor 355 Jumbo 12 string 1978 Guild D-40, sunburst finish, 6 string acoustic 1985 Jap Strat, good sound, won't stay in tune worth a damn 1974 Classical from same Village Band Wagon store were Surf got his Guild Jay Turser McCartney Hofner bass replica - bought mostly as a wall hanger, but it actually plays pretty good. Gave my nephew a few lessons on it this past weekend. 12 string guitar from Century or Brand Names. Bridge pulled up a few inches from all the tension. Barely playable. Time for the wood pile. Also have various percussion, just bought a nice set of congas, Alesis Q8 keyboard, Mackie PA, Peavey speakers, Tascam 4 track, Boss digital 4 track, same Zoom pedal, chorus, digital delay, several condenser and preformance mics and other crap I can't remember about. Also have some compuer software I can't figure out. Next up: A decent mandolin. At some point I'll probably swing a banjo or strap on an accordeen.

Fine. Make me read the damn manuals. Thanks for nothing. I'll just take my questions over to the Patriot's board. I'm sure they'll provide some answers when they're finished celebrating.

I'd like to convert some home videos to DVD. I recently bought the latest version of Roxio Easy Media Creator 7. It gives instructions for converting analog (VHS) to digital via a the 'S' cable connection. I don't have a card or source for an 'S' cable installed on my (new HP Pavillion) computer. Is this the only way or the best way to do it. Has anyone here had any success with using this software for this purpose? Any other tips on getting my VHS tapes put to DVD? Any suggestions or shared experiences with this kind of manuver would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

On one hand, yes - it's Jim Kelly - and he's seen a few QBs up close and should have some sense of a QBs potential. On the other hand, it's the bread and butter of the pro personnel staff to determine if a player has what it takes. They're the ones that test him, interview him, give him the full looksee at the combine, and have reviewed hours of game tape. JPL must've had a good scouting report. They made the decision in concert with the coaches and Donahoe to get into the 1st round to get this guy. Bottom line: If I had to take Kelly's word or the Bills' staff on a player, I'd have to go with the staff. If ex-players where THAT incredibly astute at picking players, they'd be getting offered big bucks to help select draft choices and FAs. That said - an unproven player/draft choice is still a crapshoot. How they'll pick up on NFL speed, terminology, and overall maturity is an inexact science. Whatever Kelly has to say would obviously have more merit than the average joe, but still...take it with a grain of salt.

Maybe the rescue party knows exactly where they are, but the survivors stranded on the island are such a bunch of self-absorbed douche bags, nobody really cares if they're rescued, so the rescue party just ignores the group and goes out for a little joy ride in their cessnas every day.

Side note with Buffalo Bills tie-in: It was rumored that Linda Lovelace was the inspiration for the Bills to sign kicker Steve Christie following the 1991 season. Butler acted after scouts reported that he didn't blow the short ones and wouldn't choke on the long ones.

Taxes are high because of waste, corruption, and overly-abused social programs that keep tugging on the heartstrings of the bleeding heart liberals of NYS. Add to that, the inability to change with the times. To illustrate the mentality - a large portion of WNYers still cling to their Bell Telephone Systems dial wall-mount kitchen phones. The progressive thinkers have gotten the decorator avacado-colored ones! Too much of Buffalo is stuck in some kind of wierd post WWII time warp. The lone exception might be he kids bornin the late 50's and 60's. They're stuck in the 70's. The girls have the Farrah Fawcett wing cut hair styles and the guys still can't get enough of Rush and Aerosmith. I'll bet they thought they were really ahead of the curve when bellbottoms and wide leather studded watch bands started coming back!

I have a proposal for the great politicians and big thinkers of Erie County. If they start right now - I mean this year - after a few hundred studies and millions of tax dollars- just maybe they can have a plan in place to promote Buffalo as a tourist attraction by the year 28,000 A.D., when the ledge of Niagara Falls should be receded to somewhere near the Peace Bridge. This should coincide with the time frame of construction of the new Peace Bridge prefectly. Maybe put an observation deck with a 360 degree revolving wing and weck joint cantalevered from the bridge. The kicker in all of this is somehow they'll have to get the Robert Moses Power Plants to open up the cascade to let the maximum amount go over the falls, otherwise the erosive effect could take 4 times as long. WE CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG!!!! JESUS!! All kidding aside - You can blame the politicians until hell freezes over, but the reality of it is that they are elected officials. Until the fine citizens and constituency of WNY make their voices heard and make changes through their votes, it will continue to spiral out of control. I would love to live in Buffalo again, but the lethal combination of low wages and high taxes makes the decision easy. I still love to visit there. Unfortunely, there are too many small thinking Chicken Littles living in WNY who are tools of unions, government, and social programs living in the area. Anyone with any ability and motivation has already left. Family is probably one of the biggest reasons young people stay. If not for that, god knows what kind of ghost town Buffalo would be. WNY has a large temporary population matriculating through the local colleges and universities, but there's little incentive for them to stay in the area after graduation. More missed opportunity by the decisions makers of WNY. I can do a lot with the money I'm saving by not paying extraordinary taxes in NYS. Imagine for instance saving a mere $300 (conservative figure) a month in an IRA or other interest bearing investment over 40 years at a conservative 7% annual rate. That's a nice little retirement nest egg. With inflation accounted for, it wouldn't be that hard to convert those savings into over $500,000 in today's money in the 40 years until retirement. I don't see any end in sight to their troubles. The same crap has been going on for 30 years or more. I left almost 20 years ago because of a failing economy. If anything, it's only gotten worse in that time. I guess they still believe they can revive the steel industry. Keep trying.

I believe it was about a woman who had a clitoris in her throat. I guess they never got around to making the sequel, in which the woman had the same digit of delight located in her ear. Tentatively titled.... 'Come Again'. Linda Lovelace died a few years ago, but she was on record as saying she was a victim who was drugged and forced into making the film. Got involved with a bad crowd. Don't remember the exact circumstances. I believe this is entirely possible. I've known a woman or two who ended up in the wrong place when they were very young, naive, and vulnerable. It's not just molesters and cult religions who are predatory. There are plenty of scumbags in Hollywood who prey on runaways or other defenseless people who get lured into the world of vice and porn.

Well, that's the whole point, isn't it?!?!? If the popularity of the sport isn't comnensurate with the demands of the players, there's a bit of a problem. The owners are in the driver seat on this issue, and the NHLPA is either too stupid or too stubborn to realize they don't have the leverage. It's not like when baseball or the NFL players went on strike. The owners in those leagues WERE losing out. For most NHL owners, they're actually ahead financially without the costs of maintaining an endeavor that keeps them in the red. What are the players going to do, join a new league. If one were to start up, I can't imagine the players could come close to being paid what they're now asking. The bottom line is this: as great as people from the great white north and northeast may think hockey is, it's still never going to have the mainstream attention that the other sports get. The other sports attract minority players and fans, and almost any kid can in the USA can become aquainted with the sport by growing up playing a sandlot version of these roundball, baseball, or football. Hockey has the huge disadvantage of needing an ice rink - something 90% of the country doesn't have easy access to. The climatic and financial restrictions will always prevent minorities from setting their hooks into the game. So right from the get go, the vast majority of fans are cultivated in middle to upper class northern households. Do the math. It ain't gonna happen. I think the NHL might do themselves good (if they ever start up again) by making tickets real affordable. The way things are now, they try to make up for TV revenue at the gate. All they accomplish with this is alienating the very fan base they should be recruiting. They should sell seats for $10-$12 each and get fathers taking their kids and their kids friends to games. It wouldn't be long before they'd get a better TV audience from the fans who've had the "live" experience. It's hard for anyone who's never seen a game in person to have a great appreciation when all they've ever seen is some lame TV broadcast. Right now, I don't care if the NHL goes away forever. Let the toothless spoiled brat players get a real job with 2 weeks vacation a year, and see how long it is before they come crawling back on their hands and knees begging to play for $100,000. Maybe then the owners could make some money.

The only advantage to baking wings is that there's less mess to clean up and no chicken fry oil smell if you happen to do it indoors. What I don't understand is if you're going to all the trouble that goes along with frying, why not go all the way with it - why bother with the baking process at all? The only reason I can think of is maybe you had so many wings that you wanted only a couple minutes of frying time per batch so you wouldn't have to spend 2 hours doing multiple batches. When home frying becomes a hassle, I sometimes get the local grocery store (where I buy the wings) to do the frying for me. You have to time it until shortly before the gathering so they're as fresh as possible. They can be kept naked in a warming oven for a while, and when it's time to serve, that's when you want to dress them with sauce, otherwise they lose their crispness. It's a little more pricey, but if you have a local pizza & wing joint that just doesn't make your favorite recipe wings, have them fry 'em up and be sure to ask them to keep them neked. Take them home, and make them the Buffalo way. There are a lot of Asians masquerading as pizzeria owners around here, and they all refuse to stick to a basic Buffalo chicken wing recipe. They always have to add their crappy little asian spices. Rots of Ruck.

I guess that's why Todd Collins' was so successful as a Bill. In Marv's defense, maybe Todd actually WAS mentally ready, but the offensive line sure wasn't. Talk about throwing a green QB to the wolves. With all Kelly's experience, he knew he had little chance behind the O-line, circa 1997. Why do you think he called it quits when he did at the end of '96?

You're not suggesting that it's in some way difficult, are you? If you have socket and wrench sets, easy access to the dish, and a way to monitor signal strength, the whole process is simple and shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.

If I was one of those heavy Vegas bettors who bets on every friggin thing, I'd have been really pissed about that coin flip. That was the worst I've ever seen. The poor kid was probably a bit nervous, but damn....there was no flipping at all. The coin came down horizontal with the same side facing up from the time it left his hand until it hit the ground. The Eagles should protest the entire game