First the Bud Bowl and now, this. The new series of Budweiser commericals are really ticking me off. You know the ones, they feature various gaggles of twenty-somethings sitting around reminiscing in a variety of venues...a golf course, a wedding hall, a garage.

The one most often aired takes place in a pool hall. Three guys are playing pool while two women sit dutifully off to the side, letting the boys have their fun, waiting patiently to be included. Talk about your misbegotten nostalgia! Hey, Budweiser, it's the 90's! Women can play pool, too. Probably kick that dorky trio's butts in eight ball, in fact.

And the conversation! No one speaks in complete sentences in the World of Bud, they're reduced to random references. It's like a moveable game show, this tete e tete. The thread actually begins with the announcement of a category, "Classic television" and clues are bandied about. "Pete, Julie and Link." someone offers. "The Mod Squad!" someone responds. I fully expected bells and sirens to sound and for someone to call out,"What do we have for him, Johnny?"

And I defy you to find a 25-year-old woman anywhere that finds Sebastion Cabot sexy. Dignified? Perhaps. Cuddly? Why not. But sexy? This is just sub-text meant to reassure the oafs to whom Bud markets its swill: "Gee, if that gorgeous woman on TV finds Mr. French attractive, maybe there's hope for me after all!"

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