Chris Hitchens wishes waiters would stop refilling his wine glass.

The vile practice of butting in and pouring wine without being asked is the very height of the second kind of bad manners. Not only is it a breathtaking act of rudeness in itself, but it conveys a none-too-subtle and mercenary message: Hurry up and order another bottle. Indeed, so dulled have we become to the shame and disgrace of all this that I have actually seen waiters, having broken into the private conversation and emptied the flagon, ask insolently whether they should now bring another one. Again, imagine this same tactic being applied to the food.

(He's not a lush, he's just a victim of Big Sommelier! Why oh why will the all-powerful restaurant server lobby not let him beeeeeeeeeee?)

I always thought he was more of a Scotch drunk anyway. Maybe the problem is that all that extra wine takes up too much space and forces him to get wasted less efficiently?

Ah crap, my flowerbuckets are going to get flooded. If not knocked over.

More to the point, he doesn't seem to realize that a simple "no thank you" will put a quick and painless end to this traumatic event so he can continue with whatever scintillating anecdote he was in the middle of dazzling his dining companions with.

[eta: Oh wait, here's the real heart of the matter:

Not everybody likes wine as much as I do. Many females, for example, confine themselves to one glass per meal or even half a glass. It pains me to see good wine being sloshed into the glasses of those who have not asked for it and may not want it and then be left standing there barely tasted when the dinner is over.

It's not refilling his glass that's a problem, it's refilling the glasses of all his lightweight lady-friends. Makes perfect sense.]

Yikes! [link]

Again, imagine this same tactic being applied to the food.

Oh, the utter insolence! Imagine if the waiters had the absolute temerity to inquire if one would also like dessert. Have they no sense of decency?

It's not refilling his glass that's a problem, it's refilling the glasses of all his lightweight lady-friends.

So basically this is the snootified version of crying "party foul!" when someone knocks over a glass of the precious alcomohol.

Huh. Chicago makes the cut

ATHENS - Chicago has advanced to the final phase of the contest to become host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics, although it has ground to make up on its three remaining rivals before the International Olympic Committee's 110 members choose the winner Oct. 2, 2009.

The IOC executive committee decided Wednesday to eliminate three of the original seven bidders, Prague; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan. That leaves Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.

eta:

Both the USOC and Chicago 2016 officials expected the report to show concerns about transport, given the aged nature of the city's subway and bus systems

No surprise there....

the new M. Night thing is a rapture thing, isn't it?

Probably a RickRoll thing instead.

I don't think so; I spent way too much time the other day looking for spoilers, and nothing was rapture-y. (I found one spoiler which, if it's true, is so inane and ludicrous that it's pure comedy gold.)

You mean like the actual spoilers for The Village?

Probably a RickRoll thing instead

Imagine the soundtrack cd.