The Beer Bar

After a 16 year career, most of it with the New York Yankees, pitcher Andy Pettite today announces his retirement. The Yankees, having failed to land Cliff Lee, could probably use Pettite, but he has made millions and wants to spend time with his family. I always enjoyed watching him pitch, especially as the camera focused in on is big brown eyes as he stared at the catcher for the sign. So, goodbye, Andy. Thanks for the memories.

I'm in shock that no one either here or in the politics forum has mentioned a word about the riveting happenings of the past week in Egypt. I'd love to hear your comments.

I wanted to take a few minutes to express a few thank you's to some people who have, in one way or another, enriched my life. First of all, thank you to Hooboy who started the original escort review site. Secondly, a big thank you to OZ and TY for this site. They provide us a place to share ideas, discoveries, and to chat.. Sadly, I never had the opportunity to meet Hoo, and have not, as of yet, met TY or OZ.. Next, I want to say a big thank you to Marcanthony. I have never met the man, but it was his postings about Montreal many years ago that began me on my journey to discover all things good and international. Next, I want to thank TownsendPLocke. He introduced me …

Bet Chick-fil-A wishes this month would end. Over the past few weeks, the restaurant chain's deep ties to the anti-gay movement have been exposed and uncovered by a number of activists, most notably Jeremy Hooper at Good As You. Whether it's Focus on the Family, the National Organization for Marriage, the Pennsylvania Family Institute, or Exodus International, Chick-fil-A ties run deep. Of course, the President of Chick-fil-A wants gay people to share no hard feelings. The restaurant will gladly feed homosexuals gobs of chicken sandwiches, after all. But when it comes to marriage, Chick-fil-A believes strongly that same-sex couples just don't deserve equal rights. As we…

Best Places for Bargain Retirement Homes Baby boomers looking to settle down should check out these affordable locales. By Zack O'Malley Greenburg, Forbes.com Feb 1, 2011 In the suburbs of New York and Los Angeles, a four-bedroom home with a pool, three-car garage and vaulted ceilings could easily set you back $2 million or more. But 20 minutes from downtown Oklahoma City, a 2,800- square-foot house with those amenities at 9201 S.W. 26th St. is listed for a mere $239,500. That may seem like an unusually low price, but it's close to the norm in Oklahoma City, which tops our list of the best places to find bargain retirement homes. "There's just about any kind of …

Is anyone watching Piers Morgan? He is a much better interviewer than I had expected but I can't get the image of him and his fucking buzzer on America's Got Talent, out of my mind. He's ambitious, arrogant, extremely full of himself. My gut tells me Anderson Cooper should watch his back.

I have not been watching TV lately in fact hardly at all. So when I was looking at a news report on Fox News I was shocked to see my favorite CNN morning anchor, John Roberts. Anybody know why he ended up on Fox?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlVbEclPj4c&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

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Your New Smartphone Is Already a Dinosaur by David Goldman Monday, January 31, 2011 Smartphones are continually outdueling one another in terms of performance, and they're coming to market at a breakneck speed. For instance, if you picked up the Motorola Droid when it went on sale in November 2009, you had the best Android device on the market. But then the twice-as-fast Nexus One went on sale in January 2010. Then the HTC Droid Incredible hit the market in April. Then in June, the Evo 4G put the Droid Incredible to shame. The Samsung Galaxy S came out later that month. Then the Nexus S ... You get the point. The average time smartphones spend on the market is now j…

Mount Shinmoedake erupts in Japan Volcanic lightning is seen above Shinmoedake ... Volcanic lightning or a dirty thunderstorm is seen above Shinmoedake peak as it erupts, between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in this photo takenfrom Kirishima city and released by Minami-Nippon Shimbun January 28, 2011. Ash and rocks fell across a wide swathe of southern Japan straddling the prefectures of Miyazaki and Kagoshima on Thursday, as one of Mount Kirishima's many calderas erupted, prompting authorities to raise alert levels and call on for an evacuation of all residents within a 2 km (1.2 miles) radius of the volcano. REUTERS/Minami-Nippon Shimbun/Handout Shinmoedake…

I hate the N word. But, I also hate that a publisher would change the texts of such a well known book. Or, any book for that matter. Article from CNN: What is a word worth? According to Publishers Weekly, NewSouth Books' upcoming edition of Mark Twain's seminal novel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" will remove all instances of the N-word -- I'll give you a hint, it's not nonesuch -- present in the text and replace it with slave. The new book will also remove usage of the word Injun. The effort is spearheaded by Twain expert Alan Gribben, who says his PC-ified version is not an attempt to neuter the classic but rather to update it. "Race matters in these books," Gr…

Something to watch for, starting Feb. 7... http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/01/31/958027/lizard-lick-towing-the-tv-show.html ...Sounds authentic to me!

I feel in love with books as a child. The Wizard of Oz took me to another world. The Hobbitt was the book that deprived me of sleep for nights upon end until I finished it. Gone with the Wind and Huck Finn were read under the covers of my bed with a flashlight so my family would not catch me up so late. My favorites involved adventure: Robin Hood, King Arthur, Captain Horatio Hornblower, etc. I am embarrased to say The Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew Mysteries were some of my favorites as were comic books of any genre. When I ran out of legends, I read Edgar Allen Poe and Sherlock Homes. I feel in love with Keats and Shelly at an early age. But, I always took the tim…

Has anyone seen this reincarnation of the original which previewed 35 years ago? Seems that Siskel and Ebert retained the rights to the show and the patented thumbs up or down. Now with a young man and women team with an Ebert review each week (a narrator voices Ebert's review). In our area it's on PBS after Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday Nights.

I see that FFF has some chats in HD. AWESOME. I'm finding difficult to get any work done on my computer lately, although it's good for practicing my multitasking.

Has anyone seen this? I just watched the 4 episode increment. Think Upstairs Downstairs. Check out the Hot bad boy footman and the new heir. It's a fun period piece.

America's Richest Small Towns By Venessa Wong, Bloomberg Businessweek Jan 21, 2011 Want to buy Billy Joel's Sagaponack home? Last month the piano man dropped the price on his oceanfront house on Long Island's East End again, this time from $19.9 million to $18.5 million. It started out at $22.5 million when he first listed the property in 2009. And Joel is not alone. Across the U.S., prices last year continued to decline even in the richest neighborhoods. Sagaponack, a village with a population of only 582 (it swells during the summer), saw home values drop 14.5 percent from 2009 to 2010-yet it once again earned the No. 1 position on Businessweek.com's ranking of t…

Just got back from seeing No Strings Attached, starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman. Cute movie.. lots of naked/near naked scenes with Ashton.

The Hawaii Senate on Friday overwhelmingly approved civil unions for same-sex couples, a major step toward the proposal becoming law. The state Senate voted 19-6 for the bill, which now goes to the state House of Representatives, where a nearly identical measure passed last year before it was vetoed by then-Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican. But this year, Democrats who control the state Legislature said they want to quickly approve the bill and send it to new Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who has said he supports civil unions. If the House and Abercrombie approve the measure, Hawaii would become the sixth state to grant some of the rights of marriage to same-sex cou…

The Academy Award nominations are out and there are several movies I have not seen. In years past, we have put up a list on MER and let people vote. We will do the same this year when I have edited the list or I find a copy that is easy to cut and paste for a ballot. Who do you think got screwed by the Academy?

The Obama administration continues its efforts to get an openly gay man nominated to the federal bench. The third such nomination was made today, involving a New York lawyer, J. Paul Oetken. Another nomination is pending, and yet another tanked when statements attributed to the nominee, but denied, came to light. Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/nyregion/28judge.html?hp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkbOtrTmS04