When Al Gliniecki wants a free beer, he usually gets one just by wiggling his tongue.

That's because bar patrons lose when they bet he can't tie a bunch of cherry stems with his tongue.Now the 36-year-old civilian firefighter at Pensacola Naval Air Station has turned a quirky talent into an entry in The Guinness Book of Records.

Guinness has agreed to list Gliniecki's feat of tying 679 cherry stems into little knots with his tongue unless someone else breaks the record before the 1996 edition goes to press in the spring.

"It feels good to be included," Gliniecki said. "I'm the world's best at something. I grew up reading that book, and now I'm going to be in it."

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He set his record in August during a live broadcast on a Pensacola radio station. He learned the barroom trick from a Philadelphia man years ago and uses his unusual skill to hustle beers from people willing to bet he cannot do it.

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