Washers- The Perfect Game for Outdoors



I had the incredible fortune to play “Washers” the other day for the first time-and let me tell you- it was an experience like no other. There are several variations to Washers, but game I played consisted of throwing giant ring-like metallic “Washers” into a box with three holes worth one, two, and three points each respectively. (According to the Official Washers page, usually the Washers are thrown into a pit, but this version was much more portable.)

The point system we used seemed like a strange and unusual combination between Shuffleboard or a card game of 21 or 31. The objective of the game (as described to me) was  to reach 21 points without going over, which is, of course, easier said than done.


My game was complicated by the fact that I had already drank a few cheap beers, and couldn’t understand the finer rules of the game, such as who should go first after each turn, primarily because the turns seemed to alternate without rhyme nor reason, despite who won the previous throw or not. I was then informed (politely) that arguing about the rules was also part of the game, but was unclear about how exactly the arguments were factored into the score, which also appeared to have been decided with somewhat fuzzy math.


None of this took away from the enjoyment of the game; in fact, I would say that it added to it. The worst frustration for me was learning how to throw correctly without looking like an idiot.  Once I got over my fear of absolutely hurling the Washers over the wooden box structure and onto the TV playing in the background in the shed, I felt more confident about my throwing ability even though I am sure my aim was little more than random.

Another sad moment came for me during the game when I realized that I had rudely failed to collect the Washers of the opposing team member, which is a faux pas that I should have learned from bar games.

(It also should be noted that the "box" I was throwing into was higher off the ground with the holes at a 45-degree angle, which probably makes it easier to get the Washers in.)

Washers stands out from other games because of the ease it takes to set it up (getting the boxes straight and level is next to impossible, but should take no more than two minutes at the absolute most), because it is played outside, and  because of its mobility- all you have to do is throw the boxes and the Washers in the back of your car, truck, or mini-van and is the ideal "bar game" that can be instead played outside.

The Chemical Reasons for Hangovers

St. Patrick's Day is definitely the time for a few of us to gulp down a little too many beverages, most of them green, and most of them causing a not-so-happy Thursday.

 

Earlier, I wrote some hopefully-helpful tips about avoiding hangovers, but if you are interested in discovering the chemical reasons behind hangovers in the first place, these videos are definitely worth taking a look at.

 


The Chemistry of Alcohol and Hangovers: Part One from ACS Pressroom on Vimeo.

Chemistry of Alcohol & Hangovers: Part Two from ACS Pressroom on Vimeo.

Can Drinking Alcohol Help Women Stay Thin?

You might be able to drink and stay thin at the same time. I’m not sure that I believe it because it sounds too good to be true, but that doesn’t stop me from wishful thinking about this one.

After a slew of studies about the benefits of moderate drinking, a new study conducted in the United States was released with surprising results - women who drink stay thinner than those who don’t drink at all.

Who knew?

Of the 19,000 female participants of the study, the non-drinkers gained the most weight. In fact,  according to the BBC (who we have to trust, right?), “there was an inverse relationship between alcohol drinking and weight gain.”

The red wine drinkers stayed the thinnest, but other drinkers stayed slim as well. This doesn’t mean that they didn’t gain any weight, just less weight than their non-drinking counter-parts.

Unfortunately, the results were only for moderate drinkers, which means about two drinks a day, so don’t get the idea that a super extended cocktail hour can keep you looking nice and svelte.

Of course, there is the distinct possibility that this is a hoax, or that the non-drinkers were all recovering alcoholics too addicted to chocolate and sweets as a substitute to their preferred choice or that the majority of non-drinkers used sweets as a way to unwind after a hard day. Seriously, often times drinkers will have a drink after a meal while the non-drinkers will have half an apple pie.

In any case, this study should take away some of the smugness from people that are proudly claiming that alcohol has never touched their lips.

My favorite part of the story was the helpful advice from the expert from the Diabetic Association, “It would be a mistake to think that drinking alcohol helps you lose weight." I'm glad that someone is clarifying that for me- I was about ready to start my beer diet, but I guess I won't now....

If you are a man or a binge drinker, alcohol might not affect you in the same way due to how it’s metabolized in the liver. In other words, if you plan on drinking like a fish (or you are a dude), be prepared to add a few inches to your waist line around the time you reach middle age.

And, don’t be too jealous of the rest of us who will still gain weight, just not quite as much.

The Coca(ine) In Coke

Someone recently posed the question, "What flavor is Coke?"  Well, cola flavor, obviously.  But what flavor is "cola"?  Is there a magical cola root, from which we derive the taste?  I couldn't stop thinking about it, and I ended up having to research the question to save my own sanity.

First thing's first.  You have probably heard by now that Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine.  This is 100% true, although the amount was, in the words of a Coke spokesperson, "trivial."  And I believe this - particularly considering the patent medicines of the day, which were heavily laced with sweet cocaine.  I understand it was excellent for the digestion.

What you may not know is that Coke is still flavored with coca leaves, even though it does not contain cocaine.  Cocaine is derived from an extract of the coca leaf.  A non-narcotic extract from coca leaves are now used to flavor Coke.  There isn't any cocaine in there, but there is definitely coca leaf extract.

One company in the United States, the Stepan Company has a license to import coca leaves, and import it does. It extracts the cocaine precursor from the leaves, which it sells to the one company in the United States, Mallinckrodt, which has a license to produce cocaine for medicinal use.  It sells the "spent" coca leaves to the Coca-Cola company, which uses them for flavoring.

And it must be a pretty important flavoring, else why go to the expense and bother?

In fact, at one point the Coca-Cola Company decided that it wasn't worth the expense and bother.  That would be the notorious flop known as New Coke.  One change to the formula for New Coke was that it did not contain any coca leaf extract. This would be a huge relief for the company, as I'm sure that coca leaf extract isn't cheap.  But everyone complained that New Coke was not tasty.  I wonder if they were really tasting the absence of the coca leaf extract?

I further wonder if this absence is what makes store brand and off-label colas so insufficiently tasty.  I assume Go 2 Cola and Shasta (the off brands I most often find here) skimp on an ingredient as rare, difficult to obtain, and bizarre as coca leaf extract.

Coca leaf extract is used in Red Bull Cola (where it caused some problems when German officials detected measurable levels of cocaine in the beverage - obviously someone wasn't denaturing their coca leaves properly).  However, Pepsi does not contain coca leaf extract.  

So in that sense, the taste of coca leaf is the taste that Coke and Red Bull Cola have in common, but which is not found in Pepsi.  If that helps to clarify.  (I tasted Red Bull Cola once and thought it was awful.  Even though I have learned to like Red Bull proper.  But if anyone can explain what flavor Red Bull is, they'll really be onto something.)

According to Wikipedia, "the basic cola taste is vanilla and cinnamon."  I can kind of see that, but obviously it goes so much farther!  

Also, now I am really thirsty.

The French Easily Fake Out American Wine Drinkers

Everyone in the “Land of Freedom Fries” is more than aware that the French are snobs when it comes to their wine, their cheese, and their food. Because of this, today's news should come as no surprise:   “A dozen French winemakers and traders have been found guilty of a massive scam to sell 18 million bottles of fake Pinot Noir to a leading US buyer” for the very reason that they were under the (mistaken) impression that they could get away with it.


The 12 wine producers mis-labeled and mis-represented the expensive and popular wine in exports to the United States. How they were caught is telling both for the French and for the United States wine drinkers.

In a sad statement to all of the so-called “American wine connoisseurs”, not a single American noticed the difference between the expensive brand and the fake. (This, however, is according of course to the guilty parties, who may have a very good reason to lie about the situation.)

The “Fake Wine” was spotted by French customs officials who noticed quickly that the winemakers were selling more wine from the Languedoc region than the could possibly produce and not from the American purchasers. Ooops and ouch.

The French judge ruling on the case basically said that the winemakers had placed a black mark on the entire Laguedoc region. In total, the winemakers made millions of Euros of profit.

Thank you, France, for showing us once again how easily we are duped.

Hangover Avoidance Tips

The people who somehow or another always manage to abstain from drinking get more than a little sanctimonious about their non-drinking when around drinkers the day after a night out. While it’s always nice to have non-drinking friends who are willing and able to be the designated driver, it’s not as much when to listen to them gloat the next day as you pray to the porcelain God.


These same people would suggest not drinking at all as a method to avoid a hangover, but believe it or not, there are a few simple remedies to help out the situation, some of which are more obvious than others:

  • Water: Re-hydrate throughout the evening. Drinking one glass of water for every beer, glass of wine, shot, or cocktail you consume during the evening really goes a long way towards re-hydrating your system and keeping your brain from drying up the next day.


  • Vitamin B-12: Drinking alcohol depletes the body of the Vitamin-B’s, so you definitely should take a Vitamin B-12 before going to bed or even before you go out drinking if you can.


  • Take an aspirin before bed: Tylenol is not a good option to take when you are drinking because it can damage your liver.


  • Eat before and during drinking because this can lessen the effects of the alcohol.


  • Know your tolerance. If you are a 100-lb girl, remember that you are not going to be able to drink as much as your 200-lb friend on the football team. This means pace yourself, which is the key to drinking wisely.



Avoid:

  • Mixing up your alcohol. I have no idea if the old “Beer before liquor, never sicker. Liquor before beer, never fear” line is true or not, but mixing up your alcohols throughout the night does not help much.


  • Drinking games unless you can pretend you are not drinking by carefully placing the keg cup to your lips and not sipping. I definitely recommend this strategy to Freshman drinking with an older student.



Unusual Remedies and Cures

  • Hair of the dog. This refers to waking up and drinking a beer before a morning cup of coffee. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any scientific research into the effectiveness of this method whatsoever.


  • According to this article, drinking pickle juice is also an effective cure the next day.


For more hangover remedies, click here.

The Lush Chronicles: Why We Drink- Distraction

In the middle ages in Europe when local economies were driven as much by barter as by hard currency, food found its way into the wages of everyday laborers as much, if not more often, than precious metals. Some fiefdoms ended up having to deal with drunk workers because many of them were paid in high-quantity spirits like beer. After all, alcohol kept for a long time and could be parceled out in discreet packages like bottles, bags and jugs. For your average feudal worker, an ale today had more value than a coin to be spent tomorrow. And why not get a little sloshed when there's wood to be cut and fields to be plowed? An alcohol buzz is distracting, pleasantly or otherwise. Though we today aren't permitted to drink on the job, there are plenty of us who would gladly take the opportunity to do so.

For the rule-abiding and healthy among us, drinking during work hours has fallen by the wayside. That's not to say it's been gone from our lives for long, or has been completely removed from the table. As indelible a symbol of the 1960's as tie-dye and LSD, the martini lunch was a real-life indicator of power and success. But what does it mean when certain individuals in our society are permitted, even expected to drink on the job?

Well, for our executives it's a measure of ubiquitous leisure. The captains of industry have worked themselves to the bone for years getting to that high office. The martini lunch and the decanter of scotch next to the filing cabinet are as much a part of the perceived perks as the private jets and presidential washrooms. Alcohol is, as it has always been, a holy libation. If our priests today are the Chief Executive Officers, then we accept that they've earned the privilege of achieving altered states while on the clock.

But I think it's deeper than that. Alcohol isn't just an ephemeral symbol, it's a medication. We take aspirin for our headaches, caffeine for our energy slumps, and likewise ethanol for our doubt and stress. Alcohol is a distraction from reality. Whether it's during the pressure of the work day or a decompressing agent after all the cubicles have been abandoned, we want to forget ourselves for a portion of the day.

Whether or not it's a good idea to self-medicate with the distraction of booze is ultimately a philosophical question. The Muslim world came down firmly on the practice hundreds of years ago, forbidding it for essentially all the same reasons why Western culture praised it. By alcohol we become numb, or less self-conscious, or downright forgetful. We are not workers while drunk, not learners or reliable judges.

I suppose that's why it has become half a punchline and half a real expectation for our creative types to employ mind-altering chemicals. What is the writer, the painter or the musician without his drink, pipe or needle? We want him to be uninhibited, to be honest and emotional and utterly incapable of applying himself to the mundane. All those philosophical musings that inevitably happen over bourbon rocks and double-file beer bottles, we want on demand from our artists. After all, artists create our sober distractions, so we need them to be distracted while they create.

Growlers: Take-Out Beer at Its Finest

Today, the NYT had an interesting story about a new trend in beer-buying for the beer-buying elite among us.  As the Times reports it, New York City is super-hyped about the introduction of Growlers.

Growlers, in case you did not know,  are jugs that you can take to a specialized bar or shop and re-fill with your favorite beer. This is a way for people to drink better beer than they could typically get in a grocery store while drinking at home.

As one woman put it as she was getting her Growler re-filled before a play-offs game:

I like me some football, but I don’t like me some Coors Light. So I’m ensuring I will be happy this afternoon.

The typical Growler customer is a kind of beer geek or beer nerd who may prefer the Growlers for a few reasons. The jugs are 64 ounce glass containers that when filled apparently “look like moonshine” and one benefit to the growler over a typical bottle of beer sold at the store is that the bottle can hold carbonation forever and keep the beer fresh for one week, making your take-out beer experience all the better. Growlers are also popular among home-brewers who might wish to share beer with their friends, or store their own beer more effectively.  

Happy Birthday Canned Beer!

“Schlemiel, schlimazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated!”

I’ll give you five dollars if you can tell me where these lyrics are from and who sang them. OK, actually, I probably won’t because it’s too easy. Of course, the lyrics are from “Laverne and Shirley”, which is definitely an iconic television show from the 70’s. What the lyrics actually might mean is another story altogether.


“Laverne and Shirley” was set in Milwaukee, WI, which is pretty much famous for one thing only: beer.

I mention this today because yesterday was the 75th anniversary of canned beer, which was actually invented in New Jersey, distributed first in Vermont, but probably eventually made famous in Milwaukee.


It is definitely up for debate whether canned beer is  good thing or not. I’ll start with the positives first:

  • It is remarkably portable than bottled beer, making camping trips and hiking adventures that much better.
  •  Recycling is 100% easier because you can crush the can, which also adds to its portability.
  • Shotgunning a beer is not possible without a can. (For a step-by-step how-to video to improve your shot-gunning techniques, check out this link.)
  • It's cheap.


Negatives:

  • Canned beer tastes like crap.

The 100 Club

Who says college isn’t fun? I graduated quite a while ago, but still remember the good old days of watching the near-by guys religiously become members of “The 100 Club”, which was most definitely a rite of passage for many of them, even those who never joined the Greek system.

The idea behind “The 100 Club”, which now has its very own Facebook Group dedicated to the idea, is to drink 100 consecutive shots of beer, one every minute, for one hundred minutes without vomiting or running to the toilet. It is definitely debatable whether this is a positive drinking experience for most of the participants- my guess is that half of them can’t even remember it.

Sound like a good time? Not to me, it doesn’t. When I researched “The 100 Club” on the Internet, I found multiple cautionary tales warning against the dangers of binge drinking and few recommendations for the game itself.  The 39 devotees of “The 100 Club” on Facebook had other thoughts on the matter:

One member found it so easy that he joined the club while simultaneously playing chess; I’m guessing that it wasn’t his best game, but it’s still pretty impressive.

Another had this to say: just joined the other week it was really hard especially when my mate who was doing it with me threw up on 70 and 82 right in front of me.

Please note that I am definitely not recommending this club to anyone as I’ve seen several people get sick during the course of the game.

Are you a member?

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