Son-of-a-Weizen

With very same argument I could support the legal growing of opium and cocaine in the Appalachian Mountains. Yes, you could -- but you'd better have a side job of sorts (Ostrich farming? Ski Guide? ) to help cover your bills 'cause you'll be the first Coca & Poppy grower to go broke trying to 'farm' in the cool lufty heights of Mt Washington or Mt Adams.

Got to give him credit.....he was all over the Smithsonian firings!! Whew....and after having seen the lengthy laundry list (think Nile River lengthy!!!!) of Smithsonian expenditures the other nite (functions/caterers, etc) there'll be more to come, Brownie!

Why? It's perfectly rational. Let's start with how Rousseau's 'Social Contract' -- you relinquish certain rights in exchange for personal protection by the state -- is seriously flawed. Now dialing Blacksburg S. VA........ring, ring, ring....

I often wonder if the chronic 'latey' types are also the ones out there moaning & groaning the loudest about how they were inconvenienced because the utility workers weren't there in a timely fashion when there was a power interruption......or the cable guy didn't make the previously scheduled 2:00-4:00 pm repair call, etc...?

I think his comments may have gone further than simply an assessment of the Nazis' PR and marketing skills -- "beautiful" and "amazing" are not neutral words. Guy Wow.....representatives of the requisite jewish groups jumping into action like sparrows mobbing a crow to grind a hapless singer's face into the dirt and -- no doubt -- busily preparing the next fundraising letter to show that they are remaining ever vigilant to protect society from the over effusive ramblings of artsy fartsy British singers. Yawn.

Wow.....that's $75 cheaper than John Edwards haircuts. Consider yourself lucky!!

See, the idea is to point the bottle away from your face when you pop the cork.

I dunno.....but if you're a white dude who happens to plant a few too many fun luvin' pecks on the cheek of some Indian film gal, they start going off the rails. Protestors in India Burn Richard Gere Effigies Fiery Reaction to Actor's Embrace of Bollywood Star By PRITHWISH GANGULY, Reuters NEW DELHI (April 16) - Richard Gere 's repeated kisses on the cheeks of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in an event to promote AIDS awareness sparked protests in India on Monday with demonstrators burning effigies of the actors. 'This Is a Bit Too Much' Footage of the Hollywood star sweeping Shetty backwards in a dramatic embrace at the Sunday night event in New Delhi was repeatedly aired on news channels on Monday. Many saw the act as an outrage against Shetty's modesty and Indian culture, though Shetty herself angrily dismissed the protests as an "over-reaction" that made India look silly. Groups of men burned and kicked effigies of the actors in protests across India, including in the northern Indian cities of New Delhi, Kanpur, Meerut and Varanasi as well as in the central city of Indore. Some called for the actors' deaths. Others wanted public apologies. But Shetty, the winner of the "Celebrity Big Brother" reality TV show in Britain this year, said the reaction to the kiss made India look "regressive." "I admit it went a little overboard but that was not the intention," she said to a crowd of journalists and protesters that had besieged her film set in Mumbai on Monday evening. "He did not do anything obscene," she said of Gere, adding that they had since spoken on the phone. "He apologized to me and told me to tell the media that he apologized." She said Gere was only re-enacting his moves from the film "Shall We Dance" to entertain the audience and communicate in a Bollywood style as he did not speak Hindi. The clinch between the two stars had originally gone down well when it happened onstage at an event on Sunday night to encourage truckers -- seen as a high-risk group in India's fight against AIDS -- to wear condoms during sex. They whooped with delight and whistled loudly as Gere swooped down on a visibly delighted Shetty to kiss her on her hand and a number of times on one side of her face. "No condom, no sex," an ebullient 58-year-old Gere shouted in Hindi to thousands of truck drivers who roared his words back in unison at a dusty fairground in New Delhi. Indian authorities have been focusing on high-risk groups such as truckers, who have helped spread the virus across the country as many of them have sex with prostitutes during their journeys and infect their wives back home.

Not only awful, but highly incorrect as others have already pointed out. Name another civilized country where you or I can purchase an assault weapon for our private use. Who needs an assault weapon to kill somebody? True....a shotgun perhaps? Brownian's talking about assault weapons, but I thought the guy had a couple of pistols 9mm and .22? Maybe the authorities haven't yet said?

The CD label on 'Now He Sings, Now He Sobs' (CJ32-5009) says Chick Korea.

Same thing imo with downloadable books. Tried it a few times and quickly bagged it. Yeah, cheaper than buying the book.......but?

You're talking about SWING (DRG) SW 8411? Shouldn't be THAT rare. Guess not 'cause I finally landed a copy last nite on eBay Express for $10. Sounds bizarre, but after so many years of trolling eBay, I can't recall ever wading through the 'Express' (DUH!) iso something..........and then, first time -- WHAMO!!! A good day indeed! btw, thanks for your previous offer of assistance. Another couple of months searching and I would have come a knockin' at your door.

Not exactly. None of those I purchased are available over here. Ditto for the fabulous wine from two different vineyards in Luxembourg.

Robert, my guess is that you'll have a good 'ol time in there. It's packed with fine brews. Here are a couple of pics. When I was in there, the owner was restocking....had multiple cases sitting about. He's a long haired Irish dude....had to be stoned...but definitely knowledgeable. Directly across the alley is Gollem which is a must see/must drink spot. Seemed to be mostly locals. Hendrix' 'Crosstown Traffic' was playing as I counted 39 bodies crammed in there (including the 2nd level located up 5 creaky steps with 3 good sized tables)....and 35 of us were smoking -- so you'll want to bring your Camels. Highly recommended! I will be there for sure! I've warned the misses that Amsterdam will by my 2 days of living it up. Hope my hotel has a mini-fridge to keep em cool, cause I doubt I'll take beer bottles on my flight to Paris. Yes, you must (lay down the law, that is!!) I was going to wrap the various Belgian/Dutch/German & Luxembourger brews and check them in the suit bag.....but decided instead to mix 'em in with the 8 cases of wine I shipped back from Luxembourg. Damn, a 71 kilo beauty of a box it was!! You don't want to know what that cost to ship!! Lucky for me my wife is a willing co-conspirator when it comes to slightly overdoing it on the Beverage Acquisition Front. She can always be counted on to toss in that extra case even after I've said (just pretending of course) 'jeez, maybe we ought to ease up a bit, huh?' So Robert, work on putting yourself in the correct frame of mind....and think 71.5 kilos!!

Robert, my guess is that you'll have a good 'ol time in there. It's packed with fine brews. Here are a couple of pics. When I was in there, the owner was restocking....had multiple cases sitting about. He's a long haired Irish dude....had to be stoned...but definitely knowledgeable. Directly across the alley is Gollem which is a must see/must drink spot. Seemed to be mostly locals. Hendrix' 'Crosstown Traffic' was playing as I counted 39 bodies crammed in there (including the 2nd level located up 5 creaky steps with 3 good sized tables)....and 35 of us were smoking -- so you'll want to bring your Camels. Highly recommended! btw, if you want to smke in a bar, don't wait too long, 'cause there are plans for smokefree public environment, like bars, restaurants, clubs, here, too. probably withing 1 or 2 years. JB Does this include the hash bars? Say "Amsterdam" to an American and the first thing they ask about is the "hash bars"... [sigh...] Are you sure it's that and not the red light district? Truthfully, neither of those 'things' pop into my head when I hear the city name -- more like bicycles and fabulous old canal homes -- but 'yes,' most people tend to fall into that category. Then again, it's not all that unusual to form associations like that, particularly when they (a segment of city dwellers) seem to work hard cultivating the image and it's omnipresent. You go to the large outdoor flower market and you see all of these little weed 'starter kits' in sealed metal cannisters....stuff like that. I stayed in a decent hotel and was somewhat surprised to see (in the elevator no less... which I thought was quite odd....tacky actually) a shiny 8x10 brass plaque warning guests that they'd immediately be assesed a 150 Euro room charge if they engaged in smoking cannabis products on the premises. So, even if you've no interest in walking around looking for the coffee shops, here it is in your face (literally..right in the elevator of a 4-star hotel!) The association 'game' works both ways -- I can't tell you how many europeans have quickly started talking about 'gangsters' when I've mentioned Chicago over the years.

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Robert, my guess is that you'll have a good 'ol time in there. It's packed with fine brews. Here are a couple of pics. When I was in there, the owner was restocking....had multiple cases sitting about. He's a long haired Irish dude....had to be stoned...but definitely knowledgeable. Directly across the alley is Gollem which is a must see/must drink spot. Seemed to be mostly locals. Hendrix' 'Crosstown Traffic' was playing as I counted 39 bodies crammed in there (including the 2nd level located up 5 creaky steps with 3 good sized tables)....and 35 of us were smoking -- so you'll want to bring your Camels. Highly recommended!

Same here (the no kids along bit! )....2 in Amsterdam...2 Germany...4 Luxembourg. Hey, when you're footloose & fancy with no lunches to pack, homework to check or endless 'you've got to brush your teeth for longer than 22 seconds!!!' commands to bark out -- ALL beer tastes good from the tap, right!!! That Cracked Kettle place looks like it's reasonably close to where we'll be (Hotel Estherea) so I might pop in see what's happening on the Westvleteren front...and report back to you. So little time.....so much hooch to drain....

No, definitely not $76........but I'd easily pay triple the $4.98 asking price for the variation of it over at 'Oldies'. As for that one in the picture I posted...sounds like it gets a unanimous

Saw this Japanese only release over at eBay last week. It's not the same one put out by Collectibles.......sooooo, what's it all about?? Must be pretty good if it sold for $76....then again, maybe not? A bootleg?

Okay, thanks Hans! I should have no problem finding it now! btw, I recently read an interesting little fun fact that the authorities fish some 10,000 bicycles out of the city canals every year. At 27.39 bikes per day (27 bikes + 1 bent front wheel) that's some full time employment for someone!!!

Yeah, ok.....and all of that mold used to make Roquefort, Stilton and other blue veined cheeses drives you nuts too, right? ...and Camembert and that white surface mold....eeewwwwwwwwwyyy.

Have a great time Weizy and a have a Heineken or a Grolsch for your old drummer buddy! ...or even an Amstel Pils on tap? I'd like to find this place. ...anyway, thanks Randy & Jim....I'll tip one fer ya!

It's a pity people always mention coffeeshops (=drugs) in relation to Amsterdam. The city really has so many other things to offer... I'm going to be staying on the Singel Canal near the Raadhuisstraat and would like to see that enclosed inner courtyard known as Begijnhof dating back to medieval times with the Wooden House from the 15th century and so. They say that the entrance to it is located somewhere off the Singel but I haven't been able to pin it down. Can you tell me where that might be? There's also a church in that immediate vicinity that has quite a bit of 16th century stained glass that I'd like to see. Any others I should visit? Also, there is supposed to be a certain 'brown' cafe that's been in continuous operation since the late 16th century, never once having closed it's doors. That true? Do you know where it is located?

That actually ties in to another reason not to place early bids but rather wait to snipe at the very end. Let's say for instance that you're on some rock board and know that fellow board member 'Tommy' has been dying to get a rare copy of a Monkees CD...and suddenly one appears....and soon afterwards you see that 'Tommy' has placed a bid. Well, you're pissed at 'Tommy' because he insulted your mother and also beat you out on 10 other auctions over the years, so you start to screw with him (he doesn't know your eBay handle) and start placing bids. Well, given the fact that he's been foaming at the mouth about this rare cd for 2 years you just know that, up to a point, he's gonna keep coming back.....so you decide to place a few more bids and up the ante...but not too high......and suddenly just back off. The auction finally ends two days later and 'Tommy' ends up paying $78 for the disc...but had you not 'intervened', he might have had it for $40? He telegraphed his interest by placing an early bid and you took the opportunity to mess with him a little. He should have just popped in with a few seconds to go and avoided it. That was you???? YOU BASTARD!!!! Yeah, um sorry... But don't feel bad, that old Monkees disc wound up being an old Soviet era bootleg copy and they screwed up alot of stuff in the booklet -- like calling the 'Last Train to Clarksville'....'Last Train to Permafrost Camp #9'.