Scott Dolan

The medical marijuana angle is something I have absolutely no insight on, uli. But, you should never be afraid to ask your physician anything. Ever. Even if your physician is 100% opposed to medicinal marijuana (which I don't think is legal in your state at this time), you are protected by HIPAA. So any conversation you have is confidential.

Understood. All of it. I obviously wasn't clear enough when I mentioned visual fields testing. That test is designed specifically for patients that are at risk for glaucoma. Glaucoma is the destruction of photoreceptors on the retina from the outside in. So glaucoma patients start losing their peripheral vision, to the point where it's like they are looking through a straw (stage 4). So unfortunately, there is no "maybe" button. Their vision is mapped out on a circular graph which shows what they can, and cannot, see. A great example of what I'm talking about came from this one cat I tested. He told me that sometimes his wife would leave upper cabinet doors open in the kitchen, and he'd just fucking bonk right into them, because he couldn't see them. Rule of unfortunate thumb: Macular degeneration works from the inside out, glaucoma works from the outside in...

Agreed.

Easy, tiger. (full disclosure: I worked as an Ophthalmic Technician for years) I'm not sure what the threshold is for legal blindness in the UK, but here in the States it's a corrected V/A (visual acuity) of 20/200, or worse. For those uninitiated with the Snellen Chart and what it implies, if all you can read (corrected) is the huge E at the top of the chart, that means you can only see at 20ft what the average person can see at 200ft. That means that you are "blind" by legal definition. From there you move into the territory of 20/400 and then into simply LP (light perception). Now, I have no idea where Mr. Wonder falls into that range, but even at the lowest end of LP there's no reason to believe he wouldn't have seen Mr. McCartney's huge-ass noggin knock into the mic stand which sent it falling. That doesn't mean he isn't blind, by even the loosest standards. People often confuse dark glasses with meaning the cat wearing them can't see a thing. That couldn't be further from the truth. Unlike Ray Charles, who had his eyes surgically removed, Mr. Wonder may still have his eyeballs and be incredibly light sensitive, which is why he'd wear dark glasses. Now that we have the technical garbage out of the way... While Jim and I don't always…often…maybe once in a blue moon (even though it isn't actually blue in color)…see eye-to-eye on a subject (absolutely NO pun intended), I will venture out and nervously say that I think he started this thread as a tongue-in-cheek shot at the "truther" movement at large. I will allow him to speak for himself in his patented and insufferably long-winded fashion, but while I also worked with people who had either lost their sight, or were scared to death that they were going to lose theirs (glaucoma patients were my own "specialty", as I did tons of visual fields testing as a tech), I took no offense to what was posted. I just found it as silly as I'm assuming Jim did.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place!

Perhaps we should revisit From Dusk To Dawn? Folks, can we please stop trying to present this as some kind of badge of honor? It really must be incredibly insulting to those who do watch tv. And it doesn't highlight some imagined intellectual divide.

Actually, yes. The 10,000+ other threads you could have clicked on here. The 1.34 million posts contained within them should provide you with a safe haven.

He/she has turned into the world's biggest train wreck. How he/she avoided vehicular manslaughter charges is beyond me.

I never did it, and never knew anyone who did. What happens? I know if you get too many fingerprints/oil on a CD it can cause problems in playback. Same thing with LPs?

Jeff Lynne has to be one of the most underrated Rock artists of all time.

I guess the definition of "good" is going to vary wildly from one person to the next, but I'd say $25-$45 usually gets you a pretty damned good entree. The $15-$18 range Clifford notes above can as well. Tastes and budget factors in. My wife and I don't eat out often, and have fairly adventurous tastes, so we don't mind spending a little more, if it's highly recommended. But, like Clifford, we usually do all of our own cooking. And with my wife being just shy of a master chef, we tend to be really picky about where we eat out.

The entire price of the round?

I tip 20% at least, sometimes more. I have friends who work at a bar and who usually give me fat discounts, in which case I figure what I was comped and tip on what the "real total" would be. I consider this borderline unethical. Why? You treat your regulars well. Your regulars then stay regular and keep the atmosphere nice. Also, living in NYC off tips isn't easy, though maybe at upscale restaurants a bit better. Being of a somewhat younger generation and having been broke with a lot of friends in the service industry or working freelance, I've realized that in lieu of livable wages, those tips matter. Y'all stingy. well it obviously all depends on the circumstances. If your friends who work at the bar are also the owners of the establishment it's not the same issue as if they just give their friends a generous discount on the cost of the owners. for a generous tip. As I said having worked in the business myself I have all the sympathy for the workers. On the other hand they are also notorious for cheating, Wow, I can't understand why you side-stepped that one, uli. The answer to the question is "because it is stealing from the company". That's not to say that don't also sympathize, but stealing money in that fashion is outrageously unethical. Not to mention grounds for immediate dismissal.

Hey, that's awesome! Yeah, I downloaded Grace this morning, can't wait to sit down with it later this evening. Great show, and thanks for the link.

That's fine, but you won't force that into being by not tipping. Aside from that, add me to the growing "I'm with Jim" camp. My wife and I always tip around 18-20%.

Hey, our local sports store sells a bucket of 50 balls for $22.99! Can't beat that. And they're all Top Flite. Oh, and five foot putts? Those are a breeze. It's the two foot putts that have me spitting nails! Actually, my short game got pretty damned good last year. Chipping/pitching onto the green, and putting became a strength. Now, actually getting up to that point, well...that was...how shall I put it? Problematic...at times?

We keep score by keeping track of the number of balls lost. Nothing screams hopeless golf addict more than that!

I won't post details publicly, but Ellery and Dennis didn't see eye-to-eye musically. Nothing personal, just kind of a Miles and Sam Rivers kind of thing.

NICE! That is excellent news. Now, if we can just get Dennis Gonzalez and Ellery Eskelin to come to a similar understanding!

Ah, yes. I believe that would be a point deducted in boxing! Eh, I can honestly say this: last year I shot the best game I've ever shot, and one of the worst games I've ever shot. Funny story, my number two golf partner (behind my son) is named Scott. He and I also share the same birthday. So every year we go out and play 18 on our birthday. This past year I couldn't hit the ball into the ocean from the end of the pier through the first six holes. Then I suddenly hit this perfect drive on seven, and my entire day turned around. Later Scott said to me, "man, I was really feeling bad for even asking you come out to play today. I haven't seen you struggle that bad since we first started playing together". But, after having been turned into a newt, I got better...

Did you and he get your issues worked out?

Nominated?! They fucking WON!!!! Not that I have an ax to grind with Jethro Tull, but Heavy Fucking Metal?!

Wow... Just got done listening to Detroit from the album, Grace. What a chilling and beautiful piece of music. Excellent program, Laz.

That's all? I'm thinking 98-99% is more in my range. God, how awful are the Grammy's anymore?

NICE!!!! Thanks, Laz! I really like his work.