MattPie

I think it's entirely correct, there's a ton of casual racism and xenophobia around. You get little snippits of it from things like the recent hearings in Lancaster to things you hear when people don't think anyone else is listening. I remember someone in Maryland telling me, "the cops used to be able to keep those people (blacks) down in Great Mills (local town), but that doesn't happen as much now".

I've had other Blue Cheese (and Feta) olives, and they're OK. The Blue Cheese ones it I remember right were kind of slimy as the oils from the cheese leached out in to the brine. I have a jar of Feta olives in the fridge; MrsPie says they're also slimy, but I don't notice it nearly as much. I need to start eating them so they don't go bad. Now if you want to talk tasty I have a jar of these, but the Spicy variety in the fridge:

It'll be interesting to see if a team can "protect" a certain amount of salary, or if the expansion team can "draft" a certain amount. Or both. It'd be an interesting equation for the expansion team, do you draft a few higher value players and fill in with FA, or more cheaper, already in the NHL players.

I assume you're thinking I'm advocating another tank. I'm not. I'm acknowledging that, like every season in every sport that's set up this way, teams that aren't realistically looking at the playoffs at the trade deadline start planning for the future. And it would be easier for GMTM to have a clear direction at that time. In any case, I don't think we'll see any mortgage the future moves even if the Sabres are in contention.

The Sabres are still at the point where the trade deadline is an opportunity to trade anyone that'll be a UFA or anyone doesn't look like part of the solution. As much as I'd like to see* the playoffs this year, being more or less out of the race at the deadline would actually make it a little easier the make the moves that'll make the team better next year. * see is figurative, you don't get to watch the NHL playoffs unless you're paying big-Cable your dues. On the odds: If a team finishes last this year they have a 60% chance of picking 1-3 (3 * 20%), and will pick no later than 4th.

Holy cow, Lake Erie is awesome (in the "bringing about awe" sense): http://www.boredpanda.com/the-freak-liquid-mountains-of-lake-erie/?utm_source=iosapp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=iosapp

I watched an episode or three, and it's pretty good. It might turn into one of those "everyone is good, then bad, then good, etc." type things (soap operas for men). I haven't continued on because it's something I want to Watch, not just have on while I'm doing other things. I've been mired in Longmire lately, which I started as something I wasn't that interested in but would put on while working or whatever. It's actually a pretty good show, FWIW.

Anyone know if it's just tradition or do they have some rationale for it? I suppose it makes it easier to see who is coming onto the ice during line changes, but that's all I can figure. OT, kinda: the way streaming works for most (if not all) online TV and radio is you're really getting chunks of content that are queued up and played back to back. Let's say 5 second pieces; you download the first 5-second piece and start playing it while downloading the next. Hopefully, you manage to get the next piece before the 5 seconds are up. Because the streamers figure people value uninterrupted video more than "real time", they'll actually wait until you have several 5 second chunks in place to start playing, giving more time to keep chunks coming if there's a network hiccup or something. Truth.

I'd have to think long about going with my local team over a Sabres that included Marchand. And I hate the local team here.

As long as the league dinosaurs win and they keep fighting in the league, I'm all for it. Actually, I wonder what polo fights look like. Is it something like a joust or simple melee with the two riders swinging their mallets at each other. I'm also now thinking about dinosaur polo (or hockey, for that matter).

Well, I was dancing around the fact that I've had it on two occasions: one I was in the bag enough that I can't recall much about it other than thinking it was really great at the time. The second time was at a liquor tasting event at the Philadelphia Flower Show (aka, something for the bros to do). I had many samples that day and didn't take notes so I can't give any details, but Dad's Hat stuck out as being something I'd look for again. Sorry I can't be more help. Based on my tastes, I'd guess that means very little bite, maybe a bit sweet, and medium smoke and oak. But I'm just talking nonsense, really. The other local find from that day was Pennsylvania Distilling's Bluecoat Gin. I still like Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction's Sage Gin more for my G&T, but if I were looking for something PA-local, Bluecoat is a nice option.

RE: white vs. brown shooters I more or less did. The Conservative reaction to the Planned Parenthood shooter on my FB feed was really different than the CA shootings. In for lattercase, it was all about mental illness and how the liberals are going to take away their guns. In the former, OMG Muslims killing people at a Christmas party!! (and the liberals are going to take our guns!) How about this: mentally ill Muslims shot up an education center, vs. mentally ill Christian shoots up medical center. Doesn't have the same pop. To be fair, the tone of the liberals on my FB was different too. Everyone is susceptible to it.

I've had it, it's really nice but I'm no whiskey expert.

That'd carry more weight if he wasn't also the radio PBP. :) I end up listening to a bunch of games per year for various reasons. I haven't really noticed the issue people are talking about, but that's because I'm usually doing something else and only really pay attention when something happens.

Old Spice guy? Do you mean Bruce Campbell? (Disclaimer: I haven't seen many commercials in the last few years)

Resurgence's IPA is surprisingly good for a Buffalo beer. I don't want to sound snobbish, but most of the Buffalo micros are OK but not great. It seems they're catching up fast, and I couldn't be happier.

MattPie thinks refering to yourself in the third person is weird.

I don't love the commercials, but I wouldn't turn her down.

I just looked up Alburtis, for some reason I thought it was up towards Allegheny. Seeing where it is, I've probably ridden through at some point going to a friends house in Macungie. I know I've ridden Mountain Rd. and even went had a burger at Snuzzle's. If you ever pull over a guy on a silver BMW with an orange helmet, say hi!

I had a similar one, but on a fairly narrow but moderate traffic road. There's no way I could have gotten off the road enough to not block a lane, putting everyone at risk so I put the flashers on (to acknowledge the cop) and drove up less than a mile to parking area I knew was there. I like to think he appreciated that he didn't have to stand in traffic to talk to me; he didn't give me any trouble about not pulling over in any case. SS70, what would you prefer in that situation? I assume you make stops on those windy narrow roads up there often. Should the driver wait until there's somewhere safe for everyone or pull over immediately?

Hmmmm, maybe not? Western Executive: "You'd get the most for Hall...I like Hall but there is a missing level of engagement, somehow. You want to love him. He plays hard, with reckless abandon. He tries, he battles. But there is a lack of awareness, it seems to me." https://twitter.com/kikkerlaika/status/672519046877872128 Sounds a bit like E Kane, perhaps?

Gun owners (legal and otherwise) are generally killing non-gun owners (at least in the cases that get significant play in the media). If "liberals" aren't supposed to look to gun owners for the answers, and can't come up with their own solutions (because the liberals are coming for my guns), what other course to you recommend? The only we hear about is to become gun owners themselves in some half-assed effort to protect themselves. There may be a lesson from the movie and video game industry, both of which are fairly self-regulated (I think, maybe Josie will pipe up) in terms of ratings. If you don't come up with a solution for a problem with your industry/hobby, the government will. Entertainment decided to create their own solution and for the most part people leave them alone (except for the crazy parents that don't understand the ratings). Do you want to be part of creating a solution, or complain about the solution that the government comes up with when enough voters get fed up?

Stage 1: Adrenaline. Heart thudding. Nervous, even over "minor" stuff like speeding (or most recently, an expired registration) Stage 2: Prep, because I want to be respectful and as non-threatening as possible. Take my wallet out, get the registration out before the officer approaches and have them ready. If it's nice out, roll down all the windows and if it's dark, turn on all the interior lights. Shut off the car, of course. Stage 3: When the officer approaches, make sure to keep things visible (head, hands, etc.) to make sure there's no mistaking my intentions. Stage 4: Admit to whatever I did wrong. I'm not really going to fight the ticket; I was wrong, might as well suck it up. Stage 5: Wish the officer good day, etc. Now that's being said as a middle-aged white guy who is generally Lawful-Good. I give all that thought because in the back of mind I know these things can go bad, even though it's unlikely they will for me. I have a tough time imagining how I'd feel if I were non-white and had more chance (real or perceived) of being harassed by the police. (I'm not casting aspersions here, I think the data shows that minorities have more interaction with the police in general, and more bad interactions as well.)

They can set it on fire after the game as part of the fireworks!

I feel youse. My parents keep asking us to come visit them in Florida over the winter. Neither my wife or I want to go. My parents are nice and all, but from what I've seen of Florida it's an endless line of strip malls and golf courses between beaches. The NJ/DE/MD beaches are a really easy day trip for us, so it's not that big a draw, leaving golf (which we don't) and strip malls. We keep offering to have them come visit us but they mostly blow the idea off. It reminds me of this, if my parents weren't retired and I didn't have a toddler to manage for the trip. http://www.theonion.com/article/parents-with-more-vacation-time-financial-resource-37103 Fun fact: the Paoli, PA location for the article is 3 miles from here.