Sunday UK Blog - A date with John Barleycorn

I was due to have an author on my show this last week whose co-written a book about partying, drinking games, and hangover cures after attending 15 Colleges in the US and not getting one academic success, except for being known for running some of the best ever college parties. Unfortunately the author was a "no show" for the radio program, so I never got a chance to exchange UK rugby drinking games with US college games.

One item I did find out though was that my guests favorite tipple was Bud Light.

How can a person who has classed themselves as a series beer drinker, have Bud Light as a favorite beer. I have known rugby clubs in England, when being asked for a Bud or Miller Light point the patron in the direction of the bathroom saying "the water tap is in there". It is THAT WEAK.

This started me thinking about beers and the strength of beers in the US compared to England. A thought process that was enhanced when an article this week that BrewDog of Fraserburgh, a Scottish brewery, launched "Tactical Nuclear Penguin" what it described as the world's strongest beer - with a 32% alcohol content.

A warning on the label states: "This is an extremely strong beer; it should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance. In exactly the same manner that you would enjoy a fine whiskey, a Frank Zappa album or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost."

Before you start working out the strength of the beer, one has to remember the way alcohol "percentage proof" measurements in the US differ to the UK.

In the US the percentage shown is basically half the strength, so something that reads 70% proof in the USA is 35% alcohol. In the UK 70% proof is basically (and these are not exact figures) double that. This being the case a 32% beer in England would almost equal a shot of Jack Daniels in the USA.

One of the items Americans always bring up when discussing beer, is that England has "warm beer", this is really not the case. Any "good" pub that sells beer out the barrel which is hand pumped, rather and gassy carbon dioxide forced bubble baths, will keep there beer in a "cellar", thus it is at "cellar temperature".

After all the "almost frozen" beers that Americans seem to like, are so cold, one can never taste the true flavor, as at the first sip, your taste buds are frozen. Of course this loving of very cold drinks can be seen when Americans serve you a spirit or "shot", as there is normally as much ice in the glass as caused the Titanic to sink.

This is not to say that there are not such beers in England, these cold fizzy drafts are normally termed under the term "Lagar", with the likes of Bud, Fosters, Carling Black Label and Stella being available in most pubs in England.

While doing a little research into beers and the strengths I cam across a wonderful site called
Drunktionary, a wonderful place to find out all sorts of terms to do with drinking.

So while I go looking for a bottle of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, it just leaves me to say one thing.

"CHEERS"


Barry Eva (Storyheart)

The Dirt on the Good and the Bad.

Every so often some group or other reports that certain things are good for you, then a few days later another group replies that the same item is bad for you.

While it’s been noted for some time that a pint or two of beer per day is medically good for you, last week it was reported…

Drinking alcohol every day cuts the risk of heart disease in men by more than a third, a major study suggests.

The Spanish research involving more than 15,500 men and 26,000 women found large quantities of alcohol could be even more beneficial for men.

Female drinkers did not benefit to the same extent, the study in Heart found.

Experts are critical, warning heavy drinking can increase the risk of other diseases, with alcohol responsible for 1.8 million deaths globally per year.

The study was conducted in Spain, a country with relatively high rates of alcohol consumption and low rates of coronary heart disease.

The research involved men and women aged between 29 and 69, who were asked to document their lifetime drinking habits and followed for 10 years.

Crucially the research team claim to have eliminated the "sick abstainers" risk by differentiating between those who had never drunk and those whom ill-health had forced to quit. This has been used in the past to explain fewer heart-related deaths among drinkers on the basis that those who are unhealthy to start with are less likely to drink.

If that comment upset you, or has left you in a bad mood. Don’t worry because according to an Australian psychology expert, being in a bad mood could also be good for you.

In contrast to those annoying happy types, miserable people are better at decision-making and less gullible, his experiments showed.

While cheerfulness fosters creativity, gloominess breeds attentiveness and careful thinking, Professor Joe Forgas told Australian Science Magazine.

'Eeyore days'

The University of New South Wales researcher says a grumpy person can cope with more demanding situations than a happy one because of the way the brain "promotes information processing strategies".

He asked volunteers to watch different films and dwell on positive or negative events in their life, designed to put them in either a good or bad mood.

Next he asked them to take part in a series of tasks, including judging the truth of urban myths and providing eyewitness accounts of events.

Those in a bad mood outperformed those who were jolly - they made fewer mistakes and were better communicators.

Professor Forgas said: "Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, co-operation and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world."

The study also found that sad people were better at stating their case through written arguments, which Forgas said showed that a "mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodative and ultimately more successful communication style".

His earlier work shows the weather has a similar impact on us - wet, dreary days sharpened memory, while bright sunny spells make people forgetful.


Finally something I’ve been saying for some time…

Dirt can be good for children, say scientists.Messy play should be encouraged, according to the hygiene hypothesis. Children should be allowed to get dirty, according to scientists who have found being too clean can impair the skin's ability to heal.

Normal bacteria living on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when we get hurt, the US team discovered. The bugs dampen down overactive immune responses that can cause cuts and grazes to swell, they say.

Their work is published in the online edition of Nature Medicine Experts said the findings provided an explanation for the "hygiene hypothesis", which holds that exposure to germs during early childhood primes the body against allergies.

Many like myself believe our obsession with cleanliness is to blame for the recent boom in allergies in developed countries.


Barry



BARRY EVA (Storyheart)

Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
"Across the Pond"

My Trip Across the Pond

So I’m back from my trip across the pond, as promised this will be a blog about my travels.

The journey to JFK airport in NY was not without issue and I arrived just about ten minutes before the gate was due to be opened to board the plane. Once again I was surprised about how the security checks when leaving the US have relaxed since my departures a couple of years ago.

As normal I flew Virgin Airways, I can’t recommend them enough from service to food, from entertainment to flights always they seem one step ahead of other airlines. There was as normal a choice of about 50 films to check out during the flight as well as TV, radio and music shows.

The flight which normally takes around 7hrs was quicker this time as we hit the jet stream with a tail wind of about 150mph which reduced the flight time to around six hours, only issue was we had a few bumps along the way.

Unfortunately about a hour from reaching England a passenger was taken sick, and with the flight crew looking after them and the reduction in flight time, we never got around to purchasing “duty free”. No biggy for me, but a pain for the family members who had asked me to pick up cigarettes for them on the flight.

Once through UK customs I picked up my rental car, a diesel powered Peugeot, which was doing about 52 mpg throughout my trip. That was a good thing with petrol (gas) costing about $7.5 a gallon.

I traveled about half way to my destination and stopped to catch some sleep before heading out to meet my youngest sister and her family.





After a good night’s sleep I carried on the rest of my journey to East Sussex, stopped just outside Hailsham for some real English breakfast.




The rest of the day was getting ready for the shopping, a new Tesco’s (The number one supermarket chain in England)supermarket had opened in the town. One nice thing they have done is keep in line with the town. Hailsham has a history of rope making, so they incorporated this into the fence that surrounds the car park finishing in a statue of a man hauling in the ropes.



In the store as normal I just walked around wishing such a store was available in the USA. There is so much more variety, the prices generally for food are much cheaper than in the US. I wanted another 3 suitcases to bring home half the stuff I wanted to buy. Loaded up with fresh supplies to bring back to the US, I then completed the shopping trip.


The rest of the day was spent getting ready for my eldest sons wedding, taking dresses to where the bride was staying.



I made sure I stopped and snapped a couple of pictures on such a mild autumn day, with the sea as smooth as a babies bum.



Later that Friday night I went out with a couple of old friends and shared a few beers with them.


Saturday morning was sorting out the reception tables, cake etc. As for the wedding itself? All went well, and everybody enjoyed themselves.




The next day after stopping off for another breakfast, followed by a look around a “car boot sale”… Car boot sales are a mainly British form of market in which private individuals come together to sell household and garden goods. The term refers to the selling of items from a car's boot (U.K.) (or trunk in the U.S.). Although a small proportion of sellers are professional traders selling new goods or seconds, the goods on sale are often used but no longer wanted personal possessions. Car boot sales are a way of focusing a large group of people in one place to recycle still useful but unwanted domestic items that previously would have been thrown away. Car boot sales generally take place within the summer months, however a growing trend of indoor boot sales and all year hard-standing outdoor boot sales are now appearing in some parts of the UK.

The rest of Sunday and Monday I spent with my parents, before heading back to the USA.

I had a good time, enjoyed myself, ate and drank well, had many laughs, met most of my family, even sold six "Across the Pond" books by me "Storyheart".


ENGLAND






The music is "ENGLAND" by Ralph McTell, perhaps more well known for his song "Streets of London" it is to me though a song that means so much. The pictures are of England, my own location and some sites that others would know.




BARRY EVA (Storyheart)

Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
"Across the Pond"