Jack M

TV: can't go wrong with Sony. Sony makes a lot of junk, namely their H/T receivers for one, but their TVs are tops. Decent receiver on a budget: Harmon Kardon. I would pick H/K over Yamaha or Denon. If you can spend a little more look at NAD and Rotel. Speakers: a friend of mine in the business swears by NHT. Based on his critique, these will be my next speakers. If you need to go cheaper, the Boston Acoustics CR line is a great value. I like them better than Cambridge Soundworks. I don't know anything about Bose.... Todd? Subwoofer: you've missed the boat, but THIS would have been killer!!

Maybe your formatting test is appearing as a leaf node because you originally didn't give it a title....???

Interesting - the hybrid threaded view is just like the old Carving Community 1.0. If you post a reply with a title, it appears in the thread tree as a "root" node. If you post a reply without a title, it appears in the thread tree as a "leaf" node of the previous root. Request - can we get a link back to the Carving Community at the <i>bottom</i> of the page?

post of the month!

Haven't had time to download any of these, but how do they compare to Google Earth?

A tattoo on the small of a woman's back.

A cougar is any woman visibly <i>well</i> into their 40s or beyond who is trying desperately and unsuccessfully to appear 23, and is on the prowl in a bar/club, waiting for some unsuspecting 20-something male to take his 3rd shot of tequila before she pounces for the kill. Of course, we could just replace this thread with a link to www.urbandictionary.com, but what the hey, it's summer.

Don't worry, they'd blur it out when you stood on the bar and flashed everyone.

You might think so, but I'll never forget my admissions tour at the University of New Hampshire (which is where I ended up going) - that place is a friggin' hotbed of 9s and 10s. I have no explanation for why this is, but day-em! I practically had to wear a jock just to walk across campus!

BEWARE THE COUGAR!!! :D

I for one, would like to see Aisling mix it up on Elimidate. Rowrrr!

so where are you going to put the Donek tatoo?

and um... what helmet?

Wait a minute.... that's a picture of your ass???

Aisling, I believe what Michelle is saying is that you and Fin should get together. I always knew Fin only started this website to get chicks.

See if they have El Tesoro Reposado. They may not yet, but if it's there, I'll bet it's wonderful and not too expensive like Patron. Otherwise, try Cuervo Tradicional or Herradura Reposado. Those two aren't quite sipping quality (eh, maybe on the rocks, but not straight like the good stuff) but they make smooth margs. If you want to try a good sipper, any El Tesoro or Don Julio is very nice. I personally am not interested in the silvers, I like the extra complexity in reposados and anejos. Understandible. Didn't mean to come off like a prick, calling your drink of choice piss. But there really are much better bottles out there for not much more money. I will. I actually tried a marg made with Odwalla Limeade and it just didn't do it for me. Maybe I have been corrupted for too long by the Cuervo mix, because now to me that is what a marg is supposed to taste like. Although now I'm into Margaritaville mix because it's a little cheaper and tastes just as good if not better. On that mix I believe it says to add triple sec, so maybe there isn't any fake triple sec flavor in it...? I tried the fresh lime juice recipe Bob gave me, but all I could taste was the limes. I probably didn't do it right. Pat Donelly sent me a recipe that uses half limes and half lemons, I have to try that next. In your limeade recipe, you say a half can of limeade, half can of tequila, half can of water..... does that mean a half can of straight limeade concentrate, or a half can of prepared limeade? Another thing - while you're at Kappy's pick up a sixer of Leffe Blonde if you like good beer. You'll thank me later. Trust me!

Dano, 1800, in any form, is piss. For margaritas, settle for no less than Cuervo Tradicional at LEAST. Other decent brands in this price range are Herradura, Cantera, basically any ~$30 bottle of reposado that is 100% blue agave is worth trying once. I realize 1800 is 100%, but it is the bottom of the barrel. Finer tequilas such as Don Julio, El Tesoro, Chamucos, Patron, etc make superb margs, but are not necessary. Besides, they should be saved for sipping. To answer your question, I don't really know of any $20 bottle I would use. <i>Maybe</i> Sauza Hornitos or Commemorativo, but it's been a while since I've tried Sauza. Although I can find Cuervo Tradicional out of state for $22 on sale (in state it's $30). Bob gave me a very involved recipe for Margaritas made from fresh lime juice, but it makes a mess and takes many hours (preferrably 24) to make. My fall-back recipe for a quick and tasty marg is this: 2 parts 100% blue agave tequila. 1 part (or a little less) orange liquer. I like Gran Gala, because I think it is 98% as good as Grand Marnier, for nearly half the price. Cointreau is too harsh, imo. 4 parts margarita mix (Cuervo is good). juice of one lime wedge. IMPORTANT: shake vigorously with ice. The taste and strength depends on the water from the melted ice. Oh yeah, frozen margaritas are for chicks. Pour all into a highball glass, including lime wedge. NO SALT. For a change every now and then I love to use El Tesoro Anejo - it imparts an interesting, more complex taste. I can get it for $32 on sale out of state, but it's always $45 in state (wtf?). I am very excited to try El Tesoro Reposado which hasn't made it to my area yet. If you can find that, I'm sure it's delicious and not too expensive. -Jack (marg fiend/snob)

Thanks for the info Bordy. The sidecut radii are conspicuously random numbers. I would presume these were generated by using Burton's technique of designing around edge length and sidecut <i>depth</i> rather than radius. Also, the 13.31m radius on the 178 is a radius Burton used for several years in the FP line. So one could surmise that SG is either using experience from his Burton days, or is having the boards made by Burton. I wish him luck!

Those spec numbers look a lot like Burton designs (except for the long noses and big taper on the 185). I believe Sigi was a longtime Burton rider, I wonder if these boards are being made by Burton. Wouldn't that be interesting. Those noses are something else though. They're 9cm longer than anything Burton used since the days of the Safari and M series. Their standard formula for the FPs and such was a 15cm nose and 5cm tail. I guess they're supposed to be good in the powder?

http://espn.go.com/espy2005/s/05maleathletenominees.html and the Sox while yer at it!

Okay Fin, I put the real logo back. Can my avatar NOT be a moped now?

Then the 185 Freecarve is the wrong board. It's 12.5m sidecut is too short. Racers use about 15m in GS. If I was designing boards, I'd put a 12.5m radius on a 175 at most. The extra length is just not necessary for that sidecut. You can't carve a 12.5m sidecut fast enough to warrant 185cm of length. I'd want you to try the 180 with the 14m sidecut, or the 186/15. On days when it's <i>very</i> icy and the snow surface is rock hard, the 171 will be the ticket. Its 11.2m sidecut will allow you to complete a carve without building up too much speed that the ice cannot support. That said, a 12.5m sidecut would also be a better choice than a 14 or 15 on super icy days. However for high speed carving on nice groomed stuff, like when it's "firm" or like "chalk" but not solid ice, the longer sidecuts will give you ultimate stability.

Jim, I've had a bottle of Milagro reposado and didn't like it at all. I thought it had a chemical taste. Going by that, I would expect El Tesoro anejo to knock the socks off Milagro anejo, but I've never had Milagro anejo. Nils, Pitchers of Margaritas. Calvin, Funny, I was underwhelmed by Corazon. Didn't think it was worth the price. I also think I would put Herradura reposado on par with Cuervo Tradicional (reposado).

Porfidio is getting close?? At $125 for a fifth of Porfidio, what do you have to spend to get the best? $200??? I could not even entertain the idea of buying a fifth of Porfidio unless I was making 6 figures. This is worse than wine. Another reason I'm looking for a good bargain mid-shelf tequila is that when I drink tequila in margarita form, it disappears about twice as fast! cha-ching! What do you put in a basic marg Bob?

Chamucos vs. El Tesoro - I have been researching tequilas extensifly (hic) and I haff to say that Chamucos is unexcelled in the smoothness department. ET is still very smooth though. The flavors are almost incomparable as Chamucos is a reposado and ET is an anejo. They both serve a unique purpose for me, and I enjoy them equally. I would say ET is more complex. I can't wait to try the new ET reposado, and the forthcoming Chamucos anejo. I recently had bottles of Chinaco and Don Julio, both reposado. They're the same price, and Chinaco was good, but I liked Don Julio better by a significant margin in every way. I thought the DJ might be a contender against Chamucos, because by itself it is very pleasing. It has a great nose and great flavor and is quite smooth. However when compared with Chamucos side by side, the extra smoothness of Chamucos edges it out. If you've got a local place to purchase Chamucos, consider yourself lucky. I have to have it shipped. FYI, Milagro reposado is just bad. Tastes like chemicals. My challenge now is to find the perfect tequila for margaritas. Finding good sipping tequila is pretty easy - just spend more money (usually). Any good sipping tequila will make a superb margarita, but it's kind of a waste of money if you're tossing back several margs in an evening, or making a pitcher to share with your ignorant friends who don't appreciate fine tequila. The perfect margarita tequila has to be relatively cheap (like $30 or less for a fifth), smooth, tasty, 100% blue agave (of course), and have good presence in the marg but not be overpowering or harsh. Chamucos, despite being too expensive, is a bit too delicate - its flavor can get lost or obscured by the rest of the ingredients. I love a margarita made with El Tesoro anejo, but the oaky, slightly buttery flavor it imparts is somewhat nontraditional for a marg, imo. It also breaks the $30 barrier, but sometimes I can find it on sale for $33. Cuervo Tradicional is my current stock marg benchmark, but I feel like there must be a better bargain mid-shelf tequila out there I haven't found yet. Herradura is about as good as Cuervo Tradicional, maybe a smidge better. 1800 is schwag.