Feb 25, 2008
Beer or Wine?
In the good-old days there was no choice, if you were posh you drank wine, if you were not you drank beer. Same goes for the Beatles-Stones debate. The Beatles were the nice clean-living, fun loving beat combo, whereas the Rolling Stones were the scare-your-mom hairies. But, making the choice between beer vs wine, Beatles vs Stones led to a societal bifurcation, it split us down in the middle, in other words.
What are the two tribes of today? Burberry vs Barbour? Twitcher vs Birder? Bling vs Blong? Do those sociopolitical barriers between groups still exist? Here’s a short list of the key life choices you must make to help you decide on which side of the fence you sit, in whose camp you reside, and whether you’re a “Lager Lout” or a “Winebar Whinger”. Check through this highly scientific list and then cast your vote in the most important blog poll ever!
- PC
- Star Wars
- Snapshot
- Windows
- Electric
- Pr0n
- Rock
- Stones
- Jogging
- Cook
- Ford
- Manchester United
- Coffeetable book
- Pop Tart
- Atheism
- Walmart
- Constable
- Cup of char
- Fingers
- Big Bong
- Plastic bag
- Pizza
- Camper van
- French fries
- Staples
- Tourist
- Alpha
- Apple
- Dr Who
- RAW Image
- Linux
- Acoustic
- Erotica
- Jazz
- Beatles
- Yoga
- Chef
- Chevy
- Manchester City
- MySQL Manual
- Pop Art
- New Age
- Harrod’s
- Warhol
- Lapsang Souchong
- Knife & fork
- Big Bang
- Luis Vitton
- Pasta fresca
- Penthouse suite
- Morrocan couscous
- Red paperclip
- Traveler
- Omega
Okay, now it’s time to vote on the single most important deciding factor in our sociopoliticoeconomico experiment. Forget Star Wars v Dr Who. Forget jogging or yoga. Forget even the pr0n-erotica debate. On which side of the fence do you sit? When it comes to Beer or Wine?Beer or Wine?
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Todd said,
February 25, 2008 at 3:02 pm
you got the Coffeetable Book and MySQL Manual back-asswards
Lager Louts with a Coffeetable book? you have got to be shitting me
Johnx said,
February 25, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Morning David:
I beg to offer a correction. U.S. supermarkets do sell beer and wine. In some states (not the one in which I reside), the supermarket also sell distilled spirits — it depends upon the insanity of liquor laws. Depending upon where you live in the U.S., one can buy the food for the children, the beer, the wine and whiskey for the party, ammo for the gun and even the gun, all at the same store.
I buy my wine and beer at the supermarket — and the toilet tissue and the milk the lady asked that I procure. I purchase my vodka next door at the package store or, if one prefers, the liquor store.
Joan said,
February 25, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Actually your comment about US supermarkets not selling alcohol is not true — it depends what state you are in. In California, even hard liquor is sold in the supermarkets whereas in some states, Pennsylvania for instance, you are correct that alcohol is only sold in state alcohol stores.
David Bradley said,
February 25, 2008 at 4:14 pm
@Joan, JohnX - Thanks for the correction re supermarkets and liquor, that paragraph wasn’t supposed to show up! I’d tweaked it and added it to the Geeky Bits section as a separate short news item! In the edit, I didn’t actually make the false statement as I kind of suspected it wasn’t true everywhere.
db
David Bradley said,
February 25, 2008 at 4:16 pm
@Todd, Lager Louts with a MySQL manual seemed just as unlikely to me…maybe I should have created a third category for softy shandy drinkers! Anyway, the coffee table book could be A Guide to the Hottest Babes on the Net or something equally glossy with nice pictures, surely?
db
Mitch said,
February 25, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Lol, where did you find that picture? The last time I remember seeing it was in yahoo’s top photos of the day in 2004-5.
David Bradley said,
February 25, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Well spotted Mitch. You haven’t got it set as your desktop wallpaper, then?
db
Johnx said,
February 25, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Todd:
Even Lager Louts need a coaster for the lager.
Don’t mean to start a war here, but give us a break.
Andrew said,
February 26, 2008 at 11:06 am
… hold on with the third category as I’m a shandy-drinker and a Stones guy!!!!
David Bradley said,
February 26, 2008 at 11:10 am
Stones Ginger Wine, you mean, Andrew? Makes the perfect hot toddy for a winter cold.
db
Dan said,
February 26, 2008 at 1:12 pm
In my case, it has to be wine, regardless; unless I’d like to stop breathing. Allergic anaphylactic shock from hops is no fun. But, a true “wine whinger” would drive a hybrid, not a Chevy and listen to classical music! I’ll stick with wine, Ford, Hyundai and clasic rock (including both Stones and Beatles). ;-)
David Bradley said,
February 26, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Personally, I’ll drink whatever’s on the table and occasionally end up underneath it. No, allergies are no laughing matter. I do find that my intermittent attacks of bronchospasm are at the worst after drinking cheap wine, so I tend to favour the more expensive kind.
db
Andrew said,
February 26, 2008 at 4:21 pm
.. STONES GINGER WINE !!! Gosh the thing ya find out from this Internet thing! ,,,, my shandy is made from Irish beer and lemonade - mostly lemonade as Irish beer is bitter.
Andrew said,
February 26, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Charlie Watts from the Stones loves Jazz and Pop-art, and Brian Jones (of the same popular beat combo) loved all thing Moroccan!
David Bradley said,
February 26, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Didn’t Jonesy like swimming too?
db
Andrew said,
February 26, 2008 at 7:29 pm
.. I think it was coming up for air that he had a problem with!
David Bradley said,
February 26, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Enough, already.
Andrew said,
February 26, 2008 at 8:14 pm
…gulp!
Mina said,
February 27, 2008 at 9:12 pm
What about us non-drinkers? Wait, I think ‘geek’ might be the operative word here….
David Bradley said,
February 27, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Fruit-based drink anyone?
db
Andrew said,
February 28, 2008 at 9:06 am
Strawberries are good for you but having them in a cocktail may make them even healthier, a study suggests. The fruit contains compounds that can protect against cancer, heart disease and arthritis.
But having them with alcohol, such as in a daiquiri, boosts these antioxidant properties, the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture says.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6569657.stm
David Bradley said,
February 28, 2008 at 9:56 am
Interesting find Andrew. The whole antioxidant debate is not won, despite the claims of countless research papers about this or that super fruit. After all, we need “oxidants” in our bodies to help kill pathogens. Stuff your body full of antioxidants and you could deactivate these defenses and make yourself ill. No one really knows (yet) what levels we need from our diets, but I’d be loathe to supplement what I eat given the lack of evidence supporting one stance or the other. More on what I do eat in a nutritional profile post coming soon on Sciencebase - grab the fulltext newsfeed to make sure you don’t miss it.
db
Mina said,
February 28, 2008 at 11:31 am
Interesting comments on antioxidants. Conflicting information indeed but I say yay to extras. Now, I’m all about the idea of a varied diet that incorporates an enormous range of healthy foods. That being said, I do have to add that I have been taking a mixture called Greens+ daily for over a decade now. My very unscientific claim is that it’s the best product available (other than actual foods!) to get those antioxidants. Eep, now I sound like an ad for the product. Hehe.
P.S. Strawberries simply taste heavenly regardless of how ace they are for the body. Chocolate dipped is even better.
Andrew said,
February 28, 2008 at 11:36 am
Coincidentally I was watching the TV last night about a half-ton man who had his stomach reduced to the size of a thumb! He was still able to get three eggs into it at breakfast!!!! Anyway in the program a doctor related a story about one of his patients who was also morbidly obese and the patient couldn’t understand why he was so overweight as he ate only fruits - 50 oranges a day!
David Bradley said,
February 28, 2008 at 11:50 am
@Mina - yeah, our growing kids recently discovered the wonders of chocolate fondue, it’s a great way to get fruit into them, and of course, chocolate is packed with antioxidants too ;-)
@Andrew - Ricky Gervais puts it well in referring to someone who reaches that kind of astounding mass. When they got to 50 stone, didn’t they think it was time to ease off.
db
Johnx said,
February 28, 2008 at 7:29 pm
It’s amazing as to how this thread has mutated. As to all of the healthy stuff, remember:
“Be careful about reading health books, you may die of a misprint.” Advice from Mark Twain
Arunn said,
April 17, 2008 at 10:49 am
I would prefer Wine, Italian in particular, any day. It has enough class to blame my scientific incompetence on… ;)