The Dean

From what I understood, the vets weren't upset at being turned away, their WIVES were upset. And again, as far as I can tell the issue wasn't simply that they were vets. They had what some might consider a "special circumstance". Now you can either agree the circumstance was special enough or not. But I don't think this was to be a general referendum on vets obeying dress codes.

Wow. Blast from the past. I remember the commercials, but don't remember the taste. I do remember Black Label, though. It sucked. OTOH, as a youngster I laughed at those who drank Ballantine XXX Ale. Then I had one and thought it was pretty good, actually. At least it had some balls (not those kind of balls) and flavor. Ballantine is a brand that bounced around I think. I wonder if they still make the stuff. (I will go look.)

Based on the article and the restaurant's subsequent reaction, it seems as though they felt that for this particular group they might have been willing to make an exception to their rules. Who knows what they would have done for the people in your hypothetical situations? But all situations aren't the same and I have no problem with a business making exceptions based on the situation. I'm guessing that same restaurant would have made an exception had Tony Romo and Wade Phillips walked in without proper attire.

Horrible. You can add Rheingold to that list, too.

I don't disagree this particular situation seems to be centered on the the specifics of the people being denied service. That is, they should have been given special dispensation due to their service. But even if that were not the case, I would expect the hostess or host to act as the liaison to management for any special circumstance or request. That way, someone with some authority and (hopefully) intelligence and experience can make the final call and deal appropriately with the customer. In some fine restaurants the maitre 'd really runs the front of the house, so he/she really has the final say. What if the people sitting next to you were dressed in jeans but didn't have kids and weren't texting? What if it was a famous actor in jeans? Would that influence your opinion?

I'm always shocked when young people order a PBR. They think they are being retro-cool. PBR is what it is, cheap light industrial beer. Not much better or worse than most other garbage beers. Re: Steel Reserve, I may be in the minority, but I think it is among the better cheap high-alcohol beers. That's not to say I think it's "good", but Old English and the others are way worse, IMO. 24oz cans of SR for 99 cents helped me pull through a period of severe poverty. Some of the worst beers I ever drank were: A&P Tudor Stegmaier Duquesne Hamms Old Style (Dog Style) Iroquois Koch's (Golden Anniversary stands out) Genny Cream Miller 64/Select 55/Ultra (tried the Miller and Select once) Corona Light Coors Light Cave Creek Chili Beer Schlitz I'll think of more, I'm sure. The other day I was at a small local market known for their meat quality and price. I noticed Genny, Genny Light and Genny Cream in their beer cooler (that's pretty odd down here). Not only that, but they were selling single cans of Genny for 50 cents. It was a hot day, the beer was very cold and I was thirsty. So, in honor of a couple of my Uncles (tried and true Genny drinkers) I rifled one down in the parking lot. Good? No. But I've had worse. I was laughing quite a bit as I drank it, too.

I think this explains everything in a nutshell: I am continually annoyed by low-level employees denying service/saying no to a special request/etc. A hostess, bartender, waitress, store clerk, etc should be there to try to accommodate the customer. They should be empowered to say "Yes" but should rarely decline or say "No" without trying to help the customer, asking a manager, etc. IMO. Of course there are exceptions. Hell, I prefer they lie to me and PRETEND they are trying to help me out, rather than deny me outright.

Normally I'd agree with you. This year the break couldn't have come at a better time. I have a crapload of things I need to do today.

He is buddy-buddy with Ralph and a fan favorite. His restaurant and other ventures didn't fail because of his name. They failed because of mismanagement. Based on my observations, few seem to even know and/or care about his past business failures. If his high-profile involvement helps get the team into the hands of owners who keep the team in Buffalo, then I'd say he is the perfect public face...at least in the beginning. I'd be concerned if he was in charge of anything team-related, however.

I hate to say it, but I agree. Fortunately I think his involvement in any ownership group will be mostly as a front man...the public face as it were. He doesn't have the money to be a vital player in the group.

I thought it was, "Ward, don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver last night?" Either way, a winner. RIP Mom.

Terrific player and seems like a great guy. He was very easy to root for.

That's where I bought it.

Blows.

Well you'd be right far more often than you would be wrong.

Is it just me, or are others immediately putt off by 3-D movies? I know it may not be a just conclusion, but when I see a movie is in 3-D I pretty much assume it will suck.

The 30 second promos for the new show are absolutely abysmal. I'm sure the show will be horrible, as well. I just think the guy is a funny-killer as a performer. He can suck the funny out of just about anything. Not as bad as Colin Quinn, mind you, but pretty bad nonetheless.

I forgot Newcastle which is among my favorite beers, actually. Some people tell me it is good for one or two, but starts to taste nasty after than. But quite frankly I rarely drink more than one or two beers these days. As for OV, I liked OV splits any time and all the time. It wasn't a serious or high-end beer or a microbrew. But for a lighter lager it was pretty damn good, IMO. Far better than Bud or Labatt Blue even, IMO. Of course, I think my opinion is/was swayed by the 7oz bottles, which allows the beer to stay ice cold for the short drinking duration. It was the ideal "session beer" IMO. Speaking of 7oz beers, I am really lamenting their rarity these days. OV splits gone (they were actually 6 1/2oz), no more Rolling Rock ponies. I think you can still get Heineken 7oz bottles, but a case actually costs MORE than their 12oz bottles. WTF is up with that? I found a great 7oz bottle sampler from Flying Dog Brewery. The Canis Major Mixed Pack has two 7oz bottles each of four very nice, stronger brews. They come in brown bottles...I think you might like these bad boys. Finally (for now, anyway) I am one of the few people I know who will admit to really liking Molson Golden in the green bottles. It was a staple of my youth. Sometimes it was a tad skunky, but that was OK for some reason. I grew to like Export more (but still think Molson Stock Ale is their best beer) and even enjoyed O'Keefe Ale and Labatt 50 back in the day. Do they still make O'Keefe? I haven't had a Labatt 50 in years.

Didn't the Flutie Curse start when he fumbled away a playoff victory the year before he was benched?

OV splits were awesome, and they were in clear bottles (Cincy was another Canadian beer sold in clear split bottles). For some reason OV in 12oz brown bottles sucks. Maybe they changed the formula. Heineken and Grolsch are fine, and come in green bottles. I think Dos Equis is sometimes in a green bottle too, and it ain't bad (although it's no Negra Modelo). And I always thought the Rolling Rock ponies tasted pretty good, too. I would agree that clear and green bottles aren't the ideal packaging for beer, but the bottle doesn't dictate whether the beer put inside is any good, IMO. That beer may be compromised more quickly than had it been packed in a dark bottle, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKXkf0-Rrr8

How about Squeeze Box?

I despised that song when it first came out for the very reason Joe states. It was completely out of character for The Dead. While I didn't like the tune when it came out, it is aging rather well. Donald Fagen sang it with Levon Helm's band a while back, and now he does it with the Dukes of September. It's actually kind of a fun song, funked-up. Here's a crappy quality video (the audio is actually OK considering): I'm with you on that.

Sweet.

Was she from Pasadena? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUlH09TMKgQ