tommy

herbacidal, do you mean inexpensive sparklers from Champagne, or rather all inexpensive sparkling wines. i can say that some proseccos, coming in at 8 or 9 dollars, are very satisfying, and certainly good enough to serve to even the most discerning guests. "red white and blue" brand beer, however, is best left to my grandfather.

i fucking *hate* last state-sponsered meals. we need a thread about that.

i know from scrapple. any suggestions, joy?

i'm with him. err, her.

let us not forget that i set him up. without me, he'd just be smug. with me, he's smug and funny, smacking those lobs i throw him right out of the park...

yes of course. only now am i starting to fully grasp your theory.

dunno! that's a question i have as well! taking past trips into account, i'd guess that most of my time will be spent going to and from restaurants. sersiously though, i'd like to see that market that i read so much about. and also the big bell and whatnot. there's a "seaport" thing near water, yes? (my notes are on my other computer, so i can't answer my own questions right now) i'm totally open for suggestions on this one...

which, clearly, is a step in the right direction from his usual habit of posting with no pants at all.

Oh, this is long-term Food Network policy: Jack McDavid, Chen Kenichi, Sarah Moulton, Gordon Elliott, Sissy Biggers, Mario Batali, the Two Fat Ladies. These people are getting air time for their looks, not their personalities or talent. Basically, it's twenty four soft porn, with some cooking thrown in. no no, just the new people are attractive. like the barefoot lady and those Lighten Up ladies.

ok, it's looking liked dinners at striped bass, django, morimoto. i'm tempted to substitute le bec fin for one of those. but i'm not totally convinced that i'd enjoy it more. lunches are going to be harder, especially considering 1) i'll be on the go during the day (hopefull) 2) i don't want to get too full 3) lunchy places aren't as well document considering: jacks diner or firehoues (2 places, same guy?), that bar place with beer and crabs typa thing, cheesesteak at one (or both) of those famous places, anything else that people might suggest. it's shaping up to be a decent food trip. thanks to all, once again.

rosie, i'm sorry, but i can't accept any suggestions until tomorrow. thank you.

tonite is already planned. tomorrow, however, we'll have to play "it's tuesday, where should i go to dinner." regards, chubby edit: last week i ended up in NY, so everything got all effed up.

where's my cut? i'm glad you're so busy. busy is very good.

no one in particular. i was explaining a possible impetus behind the choice of putting people who look like they stepped off of "fucking Melrose Place" on television. in fact, i'm not even sure TVFN started this.

the producers at TVFN are brilliant: they figured out that attractive people are more pleasant to look at on TV.

i'm accustomed to flat, stale, overly-cold, american piss-water from a non-charged can, and i like that blonde colored murphy's stuff better than guiness. what does that say?

wilfrid is right. i'll add that the only good thing about guiness is the mouthfeel and those bubbles. several other beers offer the same mouthfeel and bubbles and are just as good if not better than the irish or the english guiness. if you have any doubts about this, i'd ask the following: when has the world ever trusted the taste of the irish or the english. thank you. so there.

how many of which were on death row? let's not lose sight of the point here: no 3rd cheeseburgers for inmates on death row going to the chair for the 3rd time.

hey, hey. don't be introducing facts into this discussion. how dare you. (although, 16 were set free, proving that the system works. if it happened that 16 were wrongfully killed, then this stat might help your position elyse. )

in my many trips to the US, i've never seen this type of situation. generally (always), you give them the card, they run it, and you get a slip to sign with room for the tip.

duly noted.

a smile and a cheeseburger ends *all* silly arguments and discussions. more people should take note.

I totally agree. and those situations scare the hell out of me as well as anger me. but we're not talking about that segment of the population (the overall segment). we're talking about people on death row, and even more specifically, those people executed (which amounts to a fraction of those on death row). statistically speaking, the odds are very low that someone will be wrongly executed (not that it hasn't happened). however, my guess is that they there to begin with, they did *something* wrong and just didn't get caught. i'll take you up on that cheeseburger. i'll be at smith and wollensky's today if you'd like to join me. disclaimer: i'm totally bored this morning, awaiting a snow storm. otherwise, i'd have no interest in perpetuating this discussion after elyse so graciously ended it.

do they? as paul suggests, there have been 17 people sent to death row in the last 27 years or so. the odds are pretty slim that even one was due to a "mistake." i'm guessing that more people have been executed on death row in the movies and on TV in the last 27 years than have actually been executed. but if you have some numbers on how many people have even been suspected of having been executed for a crime they didn't commit, or by some mix-up or mistake, feel free to share with the class. no one here knows, i'm sure, but perhaps there's a "rule" or "law" or whatever it is saying that each inmate is guaranteed *one* meal of his/her choice while on death row. perhaps that nice man got an extra one, in which case, it wouldn't be petty at all. suddenly "da man" was being generous. all i know is, i'm not in prison, as i haven't committed any crimes against mankind (or at least i haven't been caught), and i can have a cheeseburger whenever i want...although i have to pay for it.

don't be silly. d'artagnan. 6 bucks for a little dish. quite worth it. ingredients are butter, truffles, and truffle "oil". it does the trick.