BIZARRE STORIES
List : July 2005

BEER HISTORY TIMELINE

1600 BC – Egyptian medical texts have hundreds of prescriptions calling for beer (Early brewers used balsam, hay, dandelion, mint and even oyster shells for flavorings)
55 BC – Roman legions introduce beer to Northern Europe
500 – 1000 AD – Brewing grows in Europe, especially in centralized production in monasteries and convents
1000 AD - Hops are introduced to the brewing process
1200 AD – Beer making commercialized in England, Germany and Austria
1420 – German brewers develop the lager method of brewing
1490’s – Columbus discovered Indians making beer from corn and black-birch sap
1516 – Bavarian brewers guilds push the Reinheitsgeobot Purity Laws, outlawing the use of anything but water, barley and hops in beer making
1602 – Dr. Alexander Nowell finds that ale lasts longer in cork-sealed glass bottles
1789 – James Madison proposed that Congress levy a low 8-cent duty pr barrel on malt liquors to “encourage the manufacture of beer in every state in the union”
1890 – Pabst is first brewer to sell over 1 million barrels in a year.

The pressure in a bottle of champagne is about 90 pounds per square inch. That's about three times the pressure in automobile tyres.

MAKE MINE A DOUBLE.
The worlds strongest beer is 'Samuel Adams' Triple Bock, which has reached 17% alcohol by volume. To obtain this level, however, they had to use a champagne yeast.

THE MOST EXPENSIVE BEER EVER?
That will be $HK20,000. In what must rank as one of the most expensive ales ever bought, a hapless New Zealander found himself slugged with a $HK20,000 ($AU4000) credit card bill for a beer in Hong Kong last year.

WHAT IS THE WORLD's MOST EXPENSIVE BEER (2)
It’s called “Tutankhamen” and is prepared according to the recipe recovered by a group of University of Cambridge archaeologists in Queen Nefertiti’s Temple of the Sun in Egypt. It costs US $52 a bottle, (about $69AUS ) and is produced in limited and numbered edition.

HOW DOES A BREATHALYSER WORK?
Just in case you were thinking of driving.
Modern breathalyzers work on a clever electrochemical principle. The subject's breath is passed over a platinum electrode, which causes the alcohol to bind with oxygen, forming acetic acid. In the process it loses two electrons, a process that sets up a current in a wire connected to the electrode. The higher the concentration of alcohol in the breath, the greater the electrical current, which can be read by a simple meter to indicate intoxication levels.

Dispelling the stereotypes
In the mid 70's, Australians were the 3rd biggest beer drinker in the world. (behind Germany and Belgium). In the late 90's, we don't even get into the top ten!

Well, if that's the law...
It is always helpful to have a law that clearly defines when a person is legally intoxicated. In Kentucky, anyone who has been drinking is considered sober until he or she cannot hold onto the ground.

The legendary King Gambrinus of the Middle Ages is known as the "patron saint of beer" (not to be confused with St. Arnold, patron saint of brewing).

In 1888, German beer consumers in Munich staged the "Battle of Salvator" over sharp beer price increases.

Portland, Oregon goes by the nickname "Beervana" because of all the microbreweries in the area.

 

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Beer Month !
SURELY YOU CAN'T DRINK THAT MUCH !

A little bit of relevance to Andrew Symonds who was ousted from 2 International One Day Matches recently. He just doesn't compare with the likes of Boonie.

David Boon was one of the toughest Aussie Cricketers that ever shunted a beer. A member of the Australian cricket team from 1984 to 1996, they called him 'Stumpy' because he batted with tree stumps instead of SS Jumbos.

As a drinker he was a legend. In 1988 he spewed on national TV when he was playing at Adelaide Oval. Although Boonie is a short man, he has been known to sink a &^%$load of beer. In 1989 he became an Australian cricketing hero when he put back 52 beers on the way to a cricket match in England. 28 hours = 52 beers! This (ridiculous) feat has been challenged but never bettered and if you tried to drink as much as Boonie you would probably die.

 

THE A-Z OF WORLD BEER TERMS

ABW Alcohol by weight, given in percentages. A low-alcohol beer typically has 3.5% abw or less, a medium alcohol beer 3-6% abw and a high-alcohol beer 6% abw and up. To convert to alcohol by volume, multiply the abw by 1.25.
ale: "Top fermented" beer; i.e., beer brewed by letting yeast ferment at room temperature and float to the top of the beer. Ales tend to be malty, complex, sometimes fruity. Examples of ales include porter, stout and pale ale. (see also Lager)
altbier Literally, "old beer" in German, referring to way beer was made before the discovery of lager yeast, by fermenting beer with ale yeast and then conditioning it with cold temps. These ales tend to be yeasty, well-hopped and clean tasting - a very lager-like ale.
amber ale A general term used to describe copper-colored ales or lagers, which are more full-bodied than golden lagers, often with a medium maltiness and strong hoppy bitterness. (see Vienna)

barley wine Strong, malty, slightly spicy ale reminiscent of brandy or strong wine. Like wine (and unlike other beers), barley wine improves with age.
Belgian ale Strong, lighter-colored but potent ale. Some people claim they detect "pear notes".
bitter Crisp, dry, hoppy ale with malty aroma and bitter aftertaste. This is the protypical English pub beer.
bock Complex lager (either light or dark); strong, malty and a little sweet; some people taste caramel or chocolate undertones. Originated in Einbeck, Germany, where "bock" means "goat", perhaps referring to the beer's kick. Many breweries produce a spring seasonal bock.
bottom fermentation The new-fangled way of brewing beer - it's only been around since the Middle Ages. (see Top Fermentation) Occurs when yeast ferments at lower temperatures at the bottom of the beer, producing a lighter, crisper, clearer brew than ale: lager. Process was discovered by medieval brewers who found that storing ("lagering") beer-in-progress in cool caves helped improve the finished product. (see also Top Fermentation)
brown ale Similar to pale ale, but (surprise) darker and sweeter, with a malty flavor and a "pleasing nuttiness" (sort of like the movies of Monty Python...).

cream ale Light colored, mild ale, lagered at cold temps or combined w/lager.

degrees Lovibond (°L) Measure of the color of the malt.
Dortmunder Pale lager originally from Dortmund, Germany. More body and less hoppiness than a pilsner, with slightly fruity, lightly carbonated edge. Also known as Export beer.
double bock (doppelbock) Lager with twice the alcohol of regular bocks and an intense, malty sweetness and dry finish. Doppelbock was originally originally brewed by monks for Lent and, like regular bock, is still served to celebrate spring's arrival. Due to their potency, doppelbocks are often named with an "ator" suffix - Dominator, Terminator, etc.
dry beer  Invented by the Japanese, dry beer has less aftertaste due to more complete fermentation
dry stout With its malty flavor and dry, bitter finish, this ale is similar to porter, but creamier, darker and more bitter.

extra special bitter (ESB): English-style ale; well-balanced hoppiness and sweet maltiness.

framboise: Dry, almost carbonated ale with raspberry taste and aroma. (See Lambic)

hefeweizen: Traditional German ale; in German, "hefe" means "yeast" and "weizen" means "wheat". (See Wheat Beer)
hops: Cone-shaped flowers that grow on climbing vines, used to flavor beer. Hops added early in the brewing process impart a dry, bitter flavor to the beer; added later, they add an herbal spiciness. There are dozens of varieties of hops.

ice beer: It sounds like a stereotype, but ice beer really was invented by the Canadians. Ice beer is frozen slightly during the brewing process and the the ice crystals removed, in hopes that the flavor and alcohol content will be more concentrated.
imperial stout: Heavy, complex ale; slightly sweet with hints of coffee and chocolate. Its bitterness comes from roasted barley.
India pale ale (IPA): Spicy, highly-hopped beer brewed for export from England to the British colonies in India in the 1700s; its high alcohol content helped it survive the long sea voyage from England to Calcutta, and no doubt helped keep British soldiers happy in the heat, as well.
international bitterness unit (IBU): A measure of a beer's bitterness. Specifically, the IBU is a unit of weight equal to one part per million (ppm) of an alpha acid called isohumulone, the bittering agent in hops, in the finished beer. Different varieties of hops contain and release different amounts of isohumulone. Most beers are in the 16 IBU range, but can be as high as 72.


kolsch: French (from Cologne) ale, similar to altbier, but pale and slightly fruitier.
kriek: This ale wins points for being fun to ask for in a bar. Made with cherries (kreik) and unmalted wheat for a tart, fresh, fruity flavor.


lager: "Bottom-fermented" beer; i.e., beer brewed at cooler temperatures to allow fermentation to occur at the bottom of the beer. Lagers tend to be more delicately flavored, lighter, crisper and clearer than ales. Examples of lagers include pilsner and oktoberfest.
lambic: Dry, tart ale made with unmalted wheat and malted barley; usually has a sweet fruit flavoring such as cranberry, cherry (kriek) or raspberry (framboise). Traditionally fermented with wild airbourne yeast in Belgium's Senne Valley.
light beer: Beer brewed to have fewer calories and a lighter body. Alcohol, with 7.1 calories per gram, is the major calorie contributor in beer, so brewers add water to reduce alcohol content or use a special enzyme to change the unfermentable dextrins into fermentable sugars, thus allowing the addition of even more water without diluting alcohol content so much. Usually quite bland.


malt: Malt is to beer what grapes are to wine - it gives beer its color, flavor and body. Malt is made by steeping a grain (usually barley or wheat) in water until it starts to sprout and then drying and roasting it to convert the starch to fermentable sugar. The grain and roasting technique used in the malt affect the flavor and character of the finished product - dark beers, for example, use a portion of malt that has been roasted or dried at very high temperatures.
malt liquor: Malt liquors are technically lagers, but the beer is fermented more thoroughly to convert more of the extract to alcohol, producing a strong, smooth, pale beer and a fast buzz.
microbrewery: By strict definition, a "micro" brewery is one that produces fewer than 15,000 barrels per year. For our purposes, the microbrewery genre includes some breweries that surpass that output, but maintain the hand-crafted microbrewery ethic.
Munchner: Lager also known as "helles", or "pale" lager. Malty, sweet and dark, despite its name. Originated in Munich, Germany.

oatmeal stout:This ale is a variation of sweet stout, with oatmeal added for a smooth texture and warm flavor. Oatmeal stout was once prescribed to nursing mothers in Britain, and is the favorite drink of my 90-pound mother-in-law, proving that stout isn't just for crane operators and dockhands.
oktoberfest Smooth, drinkable lager with slight malty sweetness. Before the days of refrigeration, oktoberfests were brewed with a high alcohol content so they could be preserved in caves from March till fall.
original gravity (og): A measure of the density of the wort before the yeast is added; shows the fermentable sugar content available to be converted into alcohol by the yeast, which will affect the strength of the final product. An og of 1.020, for example, means there are 20 units of fermentable matter (malt, etc.) in 1000 units of water.

pale ale: Brisk, subtly spicy, hoppy, refreshing ale. "Named in England," one source says, "in the days when achieving a translucent ale was a novelty."
pilsner: Dry, carbonated golden lager originally from Plzen, which is now part of the Czech Republic.
porter: Complex, dark, strongly flavored ale which takes its name from the dockhands it was originally brewed for. Similar to stout but without the bitterness.

rauchbier: Lager brewed with malt which has been smoked over a beechwood fire ("rauch" means "smoke" in German), giving it a strong smoky aroma and flavor. Similar to oktoberfest, but smoother and heavier.
Reinheitsgebot: The German Purity Law of 1516, which decrees that beer should contain only malt, hops, yeast and water (as opposed to rice, corn, chemicals and other things that sometimes find their way into mass-produced beer). Many microbreweries voluntarily brew to these standards.

Scotch ale: Rich, malty ale, full-bodied (almost chewy) and faintly sweet. Also known as "wee heavy".
seasonal: Beer brewed and sold only at a particular time of year, such as a winter holiday ale or a spring bock.
specialty ale: Ale brewed by fermenting beer with unusual ingredients such as pumpkin, chiles, various herbs and spices, etc.

Standard Reference Method (SRM): Measure of the color of beer.
steam beer: Highly-hopped, foamy lager popularized during the California Gold Rush. The name comes, depending on whom you ask, either from the hissing pressure wooden casks of the stuff made when tapped or from the steam power used in the early breweries. Either way, Anchor Brewing Co. has trademarked the term "steam beer", so this style is now known as California Common Beer.
stout: This ale is just what its name sounds like - dark, sturdy, and strong. See also dry stout, oatmeal stout and sweet stout.
sweet stout: Dark, thick, soft, sweet ale with hints of chocolate and coffee. "A beer enthusiast's answer to good port."

top fermentation: The ancient method of brewing, where yeast ferments at room temperature and floats to the top of the beer. Top fermenting produces ales, which tend to be malty, complex, sometimes a little fruity.
Trappist ale: Strong, fruity, yeasty ale brewed by Trappist monks since the Middle Ages. Only beer brewed at a Trappist monastery can bill itself as "Trappist Ale".
two-row barley: Type of barley with only two rows of grains on its stem (most barley grown in America has six rows). Two-row barley produces less protein and converts less starch in the brewing process than six-row, resulting in a clearer beer.

Vienna: Reddish, somewhat fruity lager introduced in the 1800s as Vienna's answer to pilsner. Grandfather of amber ale.

wheat beer: Light, bubbly, spicy ale brewed with malted wheat rather than barley for a fruity flavor. Also known as weisse (white) or weizen (wheat) beer.
white beer (witbier): Smooth, cloudy Belgian ale brewed with unmalted wheat. Some people taste spicy/fruity overtones like orange and coriander.
wort: Sort of the proto-beer, the wort is the mixture of malt, water and hops to which yeast is added before the whole mess is fermented.

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BIZARRE FACTS
List : July 2005

Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. Hence the term :
Rule of Thumb.

Historians report that during the Middle Ages, when monks were brewing their beer in their monasteries, each monk was allowed to drink 5 quarts of beer a day.
That's 2.5 litres or about 9 middies every day!

In answer to a question emailed to us ... "Is there a term for the fear of an empty glass?"
Guess what - there is.
Cenosillicaphobia - "Fear of an empty glass."

Hard to imagine an alcoholic drink not being available at any time time day or night, but when prohibition in the USA was in force, you couldn't legally get one for 13 years, 10 months, 19 days, 17 hours, 32 1/2 minutes.

What is the best selling beer brand in the Western Hemisphere outside of the United States? What country is it brewed in?

Answer: Brahma Beer. It is brewed in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Both red wine and dark beer are rich in flavonoids. The substance that gives these drinks their colour is also believed to have a positive effect on blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
SOURCE: "HealthSmarts"in The Verge Magazine,

Each of the Jivaro Indians of south Ecuador reportedly drinks on average more than three gallons (13.25litres) of quite-light beer a day.

Researchers at the American Department of Agriculture say laboratory rats that drink beer live six times longer than rats that drink only water.

Many brewers of the 19th and early 20th centuries incorporated a six-pointed star -- known as the "Brewer's Star" -- in their logos. The star was the official insignia of the Brewer's Guild as early as the 1500s, and its association with beer and brewing can be traced as far back as the late 1300s. The six-pointed Brewer's Star was intended to symbolize purity, with the six representing the most critical ingredients in brewing: the water, the hops, the grain, the malt, the yeast and the brewer.

The little-used term "cerevisiological" means "of or pertaining to the study of beer".

If you're a homebrewer looking for a fancy name for yourself, try "braxator" - Latin for "brewmaster".

The familiar Scandinavian toast sköl derives from scole, the drinking bowl shaped like the upper half of a human skull. Originally, these bowls were fashioned from the actual skulls of enemy killed in battle.

Toddlers
The term 'toddlers' originated in England. There were impurities in the drinking water that disallowed the water to be used for drinking. A common alternative drink was beer (it was cheep, plentiful and the water used to make it was treated during the initial boiling during brewing).

Toddlers, just weaning off of mothers milk were unaccustomed to the effects of beer. This coupled with the fact that they were just learning how to walk really made them toddle.

In the 13th century, King Wenceslas convinced the Pope to revoke an order banning the brewing of beer in Czech territories.

Bohemian hops were so prized in the 800s that King Wenceslas (yes, that King Wenceslas) ordered the death penalty for anyone caught exporting the cuttings, from which new plants could be grown.


What country has the most individual beer brands?

Answer: That would be Belgium, with 400.

 

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BIZARRE STORIES & FACTS
List : June 2005

THE BUFFALO THEORY
Jun 14 2005
( NOT FACT ! )

Reviving a BEER CLASSIC...
In one episode of 'Cheers', Cliff is seated at the bar describing the 'Buffalo Theory' to his buddy Norm.......

"Well you see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

"In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive drinking of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that is why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

ONLY HERE FOR THE BEER BATH
Jun 2 2005

THIS is the ultimate treat for bar sops- swimming in a pool filled with 42,000 pints of beer. An Austrian brewery are offering the dips as part of a 'wellness' program, despite the fact some swimmers swallow more than is good for them. The Starkenberg Beer Myth resort, which is housed in the medieval castle of Starkenberg in Tyrol, has filled seven 13ft-long pools with booze.

And despite claims that beer baths heal various skin diseases and have positive effects on hair and fingernails, some guests prefer drinking the brew while swimming in the pools.

But 23-year-old brewery manager Markus Amann said: 'I would rather swim than swallow, as we serve enough cold beer on tap at the bars next to the pools


DEATH BY ALCOHOL
June 2 2005

Average (Australian) annual deaths due to alcoholism and alcohol liver cirrhosis :

14-19 years : 1
20-29 years : 15
30-39 years : 70
40-49 years : 211
50-59 years : 273
60+ years :432
Total years : 1,000+

HELSINKI WANTS "PEE POLICE" TO CURN DRUNKEN FINNS
HELSINKI, Finland (Reuters) -- Finland's capital Helsinki wants to send a new vice squad into the streets to counter a surge in public urinating by the normally orderly Finns.
The city fathers have asked the government to allow them to create the force, dubbed "pee police" by the media.

SOME BEER FACTS

Germany produces more than 5000 varieties of beer and has about 1300 breweries.

Guinness sells around 50 million glasses of beer a week.

Americans spend close to $25 billion on beer annually.

Adding a miniature onion to a martini turns it into a Gibson.

Don’t swallow in Utah! Wine used in wine tastings in Utah must not be swallowed!

One glass of milk can give a person a .02 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) on a Breathalyzer test. That’s enough in most states of Australia for P Platers and Learners to lose their drivers license and be fined!
LINK FOR INFO

Tom Arnold, Sandra Bullock, Chevy Chase, Bill Cosby, Kris Kristofferson, and Bruce Willis are all former bartenders.

The Manhattan cocktail (whiskey and sweet vermouth) was invented by Winston Churchill's mother.

The pressure in a bottle of champagne is about 90 pounds per square inch. That's about three times the pressure in automobile tyres.

 

Urban Myths & Legends

JUST IN ...... ( June 1, 2005 )

ALL 3 GUYS IN THE ONE CAR DONE FOR D.U.I.     link

Three Mates decided to drive home in their Toyota Landcruiser last Monday after a few ( too many ) beers - at about 10pm in Katherine ( Western Australia ).

They were pulled over: the driver was tested, failed ( at 0.267 - 5 times the limit ) and taken to the police station. His mates were advised to lock up the car and find an alternative method by which to get home.

Three and a half hours later ( 1:30am ), the second of the team was picked up in the same vehicle. Tested, failed ( 0.11 ) and taken to the station. His mate was left at the car, told to lock it and get home safely.

Half an hour later, you guessed it, the last man standing - or driving - of that small group was pulled over - in the same neighbourhood. Tested, failed (0.162) and taken off to the station. The police say that this is a rarity and they cannot believe that the last guy was so dumb as to drive on after seeing his first 2 mates done fro drink driving.

 

CORONA ONCE ACCUSED OF URINE IN THEIR BEER

Some of our parents may remember when Corona stumbled in its fast charge to the top of the import ladder. In the late 1980s, there was a rumor spreading in the West that brewery workers in Mexico were, well...urinating into the tanks of Corona that were destined for the U.S. market.

It was ridiculous, it was revolting, it was racist, but it was effective: Corona sales were seriously affected by the rumor. Barton Brands, the brand’s west-of-the-Mississippi importer, decided they had to take action when stores in Nevada started taking the beer off their shelves.

Barton hired private investigators to trace the rumor to its source. The seemingly hopeless objective struck paydirt: the rumor had been created and spread by a Heineken wholesaler in Reno! Barton sued, and settled when the wholesaler agreed to print a full-page ad admitting their part in the rumor and denying that it was true. Barton quickly got the news out, company executives hit the talk-show circuits, and the damage was controlled.

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THE METALLICA CONCERT ( 1998 Urban Legend )

(1996) Police in George, WA issued a report on the events leading up to the deaths of Robert Uhlenake, 24, and his friend, Ormond D. Young, 27, at a Friday night Metallica concert.

Uhlenake and Young were found dead at the Gorge Amphitheater after the show. Uhlenake was in pickup that was on top of Young at the bottom of a 20-ft drop. Young was found with severe lacerations, numerous fractures, contusions, and a branch in his anal cavity. He also had been stabbed and his pants were in a tree above him, some 15 ft off the ground, adding to the mystery of the scene.

According to Commissioner-In-Charge Inoye Appleton, Uhlenake and Young had tried to get tickets for the sold-out concert. When they were unable to get any tickets, the two decided to stay in the parking lot and drink. Once the show began, and after the two had consumed 18 beers between them, they hit upon the idea of scaling the 7-foot wooden security fence around the perimeter of the site and sneak in.

They apparently moved the truck up to the edge of the fence and decided that Young would go over first and assist Uhlenake. They did not count on the fact that, while it was a 7-foot fence on the parking lot side, there was a 23-foot drop on the other side.

Young, who weighed 255 lbs. and was quite inebriated, jumped up and over the fence and promptly fell about half the distance before a large tree branch broke his fall and his left forearm. He also managed to get his shorts caught on the branch. Since he was now in great pain and had no way to extricate himself and his shorts from the tree, he decided to cut his shorts off and fall to the bushes below.

As soon as he cut the last bit of fabric holding him on the branch, he suddenly plummeted the rest of the way down, losing his grip on the knife. The bushes he had depended on to break his fall were actually holly bushes, and landing in them caused a massive number of cuts. He also had the misfortune of landing squarely on a holly bush branch, effectively impaling himself. The knife, which he had accidentally released 15 feet up, now landed and stabbed him in his left thigh. He was in tremendous pain.

Enter his friend Robert Uhlenake.

Uhlenake had observed the series of tumbles and realized that Young was in trouble. He hit upon the idea of lowering a rope to his friend and pulling him up and over the fence. This was complicated by the fact that Uhlenake was outweighed by his friend by a good 100 lbs. Happily, despite his drunken state, he realized he could use their truck to pull Young out. Unfortunately, because of his drunken state, Uhlenake put the truck in reverse rather than into drive. He broke through the fence and landed on Young, killing him. Uhlenake was thrown from the truck and subsequently died of internal injuries.

"So that's how a dead 255 lb. man with no pants on, with a truck on top of him and a stick up his ass, came to be" said Commissioner Appleton.

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DUMB DRUNK ( Feb 2001 )

A woman in Connecticut USA arrested on a drunken driving charge made an odd choice when calling a for a ride home. Sandra called on Mike, her drinking companion prior to her arrest, who was visibly drunk when he staggered into police headquarters.

Mike failed a sobriety test. More surprisingly, a routine background check revealed that Sandra had previously obtained a restraining order against him. Sgt. Alan Fournier said, "We can't allow him to come into contact with her, even if she says it's okay." Mike was charged with violating a restraining order and driving while intoxicated.

One question remains -- was Sandra or Mike more foolish?

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THE SMOKING GUN 2002 Darwin Award Nominee

Two drunks were goofing around, when one challenged the other to shoot him with cigarette butts "to see what it would feel like." His friend obligingly loaded a gun with three cigarette butts, placing ammunition behind the butts to make sure they left the barrel of the gun. He then shot his friend from a distance of seven feet. The friend who issued the challenge died of two cigarette butts to the head, and one to the heart.

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WACKY "DRUNK BUILDING" IN SOPOT, Poland
Though it looks like something out of a surrealist painting (or a Disney cartoon), this is a real building located in the Rezydent Shopping Center in Sopot, Poland. It is known, fittingly, as Krzywy Domek ("Crooked House").


                                    

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BIZARRE FACTS
List : May 2005

Most vegetable, and virtually all fruit juices, contain alcohol. East African elephants often eat fermenting mangoes and become drunk and boisterous

Drinking lowers rather than raises the body temperature. There is an illusion of increased heat because alcohol causes the capillaries to dilate and fill with more warm blood.

In English pubs drinks are served in pints and quarts. In old England, bartenders would advise unruly customers to mind their own pints and quarts. It's the origin of "mind your P's and Q's."

The word "toast," meaning a wish of good health, started in ancient Rome, where a piece of toasted bread was dropped into wine.

Czechs are the biggest consumers of beer per male in the world.

Recent reports of alcohol abuse and misuse in Russia has estimates of over 40,000 resultant deaths annually !

Alcohol in the body is one of the major contributors to strokes as it thins the blood, increases pulse rate and blood pressure. Be careful - the older you are the less you can counter the effects of alcohol.

Elephants are the only mammals that can't jump. Let alone fly !

The only way to reduce your blood alcohol level is either to replace your blood or to wait until your liver and kidneys cleanse your blood. Forget any other remedy !

A Czech man, Jan Honza Zampa, holds the record for drinking one liter of beer in 4.11 seconds.

If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor who had red eyes. He was albino.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks, otherwise it will digest itself. Alcohol attacks and diminishes the mucus of the stomach lining.

"The Quick Brown Fox jumps over the lazy dog" is a Pangram ( a sentence containing all 26 letters of the alphabet ) Another is :
"Quit beer," vows dizzy, puking, Michael J. Fox

Recently dug up news item

(17 September 2000, Queensland, Australia)

Six young men and women with no sailing experience were rescued from a stolen luxury yacht after drifting into a pier only 400 metres from its mooring.

They had intended to sail around the world, and had packed all the essentials; 60 cans of baked beans, 1000 condoms, some liquor and cola and a library book on navigating by the stars. Lucky for them they were caught, as police report that "they had no fresh water and no food other than baked beans."

The would-be sailors have been charged with unlawful use of a vessel.

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Don't think for a minute that drink driving doesn't affect you



JOKE OF THE MONTH
List : June 2005

Jack wakes up with a huge hangover after attending his company's Christmas Party. Jack is not normally a drinker, but the drinks didn't taste like alcohol at all.

He didn't even remember how he got home from the party. As bad as he was feeling, he wondered if he did something wrong. Jack had to force himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And, next to them, a single red rose!

Jack sits up and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotlessly clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye staring back at him in the bathroom mirror. Then he notices a note hanging on the corner of the mirror written in red with little hearts on it and a kiss mark from his wife in lipstick!:

"Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to go get groceries to make you your favorite dinner tonight. I love you, darling! Love, Jillian

He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast, steaming hot coffee and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. Jack asks, "Son... what happened last night?"

"Well, you came home after 3 A. M., drunk and out of your mind. You fell over the coffee table and broke it, and then you puked in the hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door."

Confused he asked his son, "So, why is everything in such perfect order, so clean, I have a rose, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?"

His son replies, "Oh THAT!... Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed, "Leave me alone, lady, I'm married!"

Broken Coffee Table $99

Hot Breakfast $11.20

Two Aspirins $0.68

Saying the right thing, at the right time . .

Priceless !

SIDE EFFECTS OF BEER STUDIED
Recent Medical Research Results

Yesterday, scientists for Health Canada suggested that men should take a look at their beer consumption, considering the results of a recent analysis that revealed the presence of female hormones in beer.

The theory is that drinking beer makes men turn into women. To test the finding, 100 men were fed 6 pints of beer each. It was then observed that 100% of the men gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became overly emotional, couldn't drive, failed to think rationally, argued over nothing, and refused to apologize when wrong.

No further testing is planned.


 

Urban Myths & Legends

UNCLE RICK'S END 2001

Once my dad and all of his brothers, including Uncle Rick, the tallest, went camping at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, also known as the "big 90-degree cliff." Back in the early 70s some campsites sat right next to the canyon, and there were few safety warnings. Fate had it that Dad and his brothers got one of those campsites.

They had a lot of beer that night, went to bed, and two hours later Uncle Rick woke up, still drunk, with a full tank. Uncle Rick figured he'd pee in the canyon. Y'know, drunk guy, full tank, never urinated in a canyon before, so he walked over to the canyon and let fly. In mid-stream, a gust of wind came along and upset drunken Uncle Rick’s equilibrium. He lost his balance and toppled over, and they found him the next day, 50 vertical feet and 5 horizontal feet from where he last whizzed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(un)ARMED AND DANGEROUS ( Swansea NSW. Nov, 2001 )

Stuart, a drunken one-armed man, driving an unadapted car was stopped by Swansea police after driving through a RED Light, holding a mobile phone to his ear
 .... with HIS GOOD ARM !
His other arm is missing below the elbow and no help with gears and steering.
He had almost twice the legal limit of alcohol on his breath.
He nearly forfeited his life but instead forfeited his license and prohibited from driving for 18 months.

 



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More Alcohol Trivia

The most expensive bottle of wine ...
was sold in December 1985. The buyer paid £105,000 for a bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafitte claret engraved with the initials of Thomas Jefferson. Eleven months after the sale, the cork dried out, slipped into the bottle and spoiled the wine, making it a very expensive bottle of vinegar!

The strongest alcohol..
is an Estonian liquor distilled from potatoes at 98% alcohol.

The most common weapon of assault ...
is a beer glass.

Alcohol features in almost a third of all divorce petitions ..
which means that the drinking habits of one or both partners have contributed to the bust up.

Almost one third of pedestrians ..
who were killed in traffic accidents had drunk more than the legal limit for driving.

You think it's tough here ....
13,000 violent incidents  take place outside UK bars, pubs or licensed premises every week - most are alcohol related.

In ancient Babylon,
the bride's father would supply his new son-in-law with all the mead (a fermented honey beverage) he could drink for a month after the wedding. This period of free mead was called the "honey month," or as it is now known, the "honeymoon."

The shallow champagne glass...
originated with Marie Antoinette. It was first formed from wax molds made of her breasts.

Alcohol is considered the only proper payment for teachers among the Lepcha people of Tibet.

The world's largest alcoholic punch bowl .
During the reign of William III, a garden fountain was once used as a giant punch bowl. The recipe included 560 gallons of brandy, 1200 pounds of sugar, 25,000 lemons, 20 gallons
of lime juice, and five pounds of nutmeg. The bartender rowed around in a small boat, filling up guests' punch cups.

The world's oldest known recipe is for beer !
# Alcohol beverages have been produced for at least 12,000 years.
# Beer was probably a staple before bread.
# Our early ancestors probably began farming not so much to grow food, which they could usually find easily, as to insure a steady supply of ingredients needed to make alcohol beverages.
# A Chinese imperial edict of about 1,116 B.C. asserted that the use of alcohol in moderation was required by heaven.
# Jesus drank alcohol (Matthew 15:11; Luke 7:33-35) and approved of its moderate consumption (Matthew 15:11).
# St. Paul considered alcohol to be a creation of God and inherently good (1 Timothy 4:4).
# Distillation was developed during the Middle Ages, and the resulting alcohol was called aqua vitae or "water of life."
# The adulteration of alcohol beverage was punishable by death in medieval Scotland.


 


BIZARRE FACTS
List : April 2005

AS A RESULT OF HIGH-RISK DRINKING, IN 1997
72,302 AUSTRALIANS WERE HOSPITALISED DUE TO EXCESSIVE DRINKING
&
3,290 AUSTRALIANS DIED FROM INJURY AND DISEASE.

You will not believe how some Aussies died:

* 3Australians die each year testing if a 9V battery works on their tongue.
* 142 Australians were injured in 1998 by not removing all the pins from new shirts.
* 58 Australians are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers.
* 31 Australians have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in.
* 19 Australians have died in the last 3 years by eating Christmas decorations they believed were chocolate.
* Hospitals reported 4 broken arms last year after cracker pulling incidents.
* 101 Australians since 1997 have had to have broken parts of plastic toys pulled out of the soles of their feet.
* 18 Australians had serious burns in 1998 trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth.
* A massive 543 Australians were admitted to casualty in the last two years after opening bottles of beer with their teeth or eye socket.
* 5 Australians were injured last year in accidents involving out of control Scalextric cars.
* 8 Australians cracked their skull in 1997 after falling asleep (passing out) while throwing up into the toilet.
With thanks to Aust Bureau of Statistics

It is estimated that at any one time, 0.7% of the world's population are drunk.

A person who has an insatiable craving for alcoholic beverages is a DIPSOMANIAC.

The longest bar in the world is 684 feet ( 208.5m) long and is located at the New Bulldog in Rock Island, Illinois

A raisin dropped into a glass of champagne will repeatedly bounce up and down between the top and the bottom of the glass

METHYPHOBIA is the fear of alcohol

There is a cloud of alcohol in outer space with enough alcohol to make four trillion-trillion drinks. It's free for the taking. . . but it's 10,000 light years away from Earth

Check out our links for transport services. We recommend you print out the Venue Location Guide for the venue you have booked.

White wine gets darker as it ages while red wine gets lighter.

In Malaysia, drunk drivers are jailed and so are their spouses.

Every person's body naturally produces one ounce of alcohol every day

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