For 11 years atop SSE, he's been, by turns, amiably combative and unusually thoughtful.

BBC: Ian Marchant: philosopher chief

Rolando, who'd taught himself Pashto using an MP3 player, chatted amiably with the local men he encountered.

CNN: From Marine Corps to Peace Corps

For an hour, over black tea and almonds, he chatted amiably about his entanglement with Kabul Bank.

NEWYORKER: The Afghan Bank Heist

The film ends up being a lovely, amiably persuasive demonstration of the personal sources of political conviction.

NEWYORKER: Cousin Bobby

D. and a mercurial spirit that allows him to administer pain amiably or vengefully, whatever the situation demands.

WSJ: In 'Zero Dark Thirty,' Zealotry in Pursuit of Zealots

They coexist reasonably amiably with my dogs and chickens, getting irritated only when the hay feeder gets too crowded.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Dog Days'

Mr Powell, whose second (and most probably final) five-year term expires in 2007, amiably waves away these trifling setbacks.

ECONOMIST: Face value

In an amiably impersonal way, he is both transparent and opaque.

NEWYORKER: No Death, No Taxes

Now all they have to do is work amiably together.

ECONOMIST: Iran

Barely a few minutes later, Francis was up on his feet, shaking hands with priests, nuns, and then with the parents and young children in a Rome family, chatting amiably with them.

NPR: Francis Honors John Paul II Before Installation

Standing silently but amiably to one side, he would unbolt the magic boxes, hold the ropes, demonstrate the emptiness of beakers and pots, confirm the thickness of a sheet of glass before a near-naked girl would climb into a magic box and pass straight through it!

ECONOMIST: Ali Bongo | The