Booze

2011-01-18T10:46:00+00:00

Finally a non-technical post, although less about my life and more of a comment on the world.

I feel as though I'm on fairly safe ground saying most of my readers have been hungover. It would still be a fairly safe bet to say most people have been hungover many times. Learning to drink responsibly takes a lot of practise it seems.

Thinking back to my salad days I can think of a number of occasions when I've failed to carry myself in a manner that I would consider civil. However I have to fight the temptation to harshly criticise the current bane of society, the binge drinker. is the problem really as bad as the media points out? Are the majority* of the current crop of wasted people found on our streets on Friday and Saturday night just doing what I did, slowly navigating their way to a more balanced use of alcohol? Has it always been thus? Is my transformation to old curmudgeon complete?

The government announced their minimal minimum pricing for alcohol today. The reaction so far has been muted, most campaigners saying that it isn't going far enough. I'm personally happy because this attempts to remove the sale of alcohol at bellow cost levels in supermarkets (which affects struggling pubs) without attempting to be yet another sin-tax. However will it have any effect on the nations drinking habits? I'm less convinced, but then again I'm not convinced price is the main reason people get quite so sloshed at the weekends.

What do you think? Do we have a problem that needs fixing? How else can we do it?

* There are groups for which alcohol leads to fights and criminal damage. I have no problem with dumping them prison cells and prosecuting them for crimes committed under the influence. Being pissed it not an excuse.

Ale to the chief

2009-10-19T14:27:00+01:00

Had a good but slightly tiring weekend exploring some more of the pubs of Cambridge. I've made a few more discoveries that will be useful to remember for later although I missed out on the Kingston Arms which I shall have to visit next time I'm in town.

There was a lot of technology involved in the weekend with GPS enabled phones and shared maps in the Google Cloud informing us of potential places to visit culled from the Good Beer Guide. Latitude did seem to work quite well although one lesson learnt was to pay attention to the area circle around icons or you can end up chasing around a ghost position if people aren't updating via the more accurate GPS.

We also had visit from Rich and Al with Rosie and the local family in tow on Sunday which was nice. It was followed by the first Sunday lunch of the season at my parents with by brother and one of my cousins visiting as well. We enjoyed the post-meal digestion while watching the penultimate F1 race where Button claimed his crown. I've fallen out of favour with F1 over the last few years as it turned from exciting motor sport to a procession of cars with very little overtaking. However yesterdays race was exciting to watch and I think benefits from the uninterrupted coverage the BBC can give it. While I doubt I'll be going out of my way to watch every race it's certainly up in the rankings for those lazy Sunday afternoons.

Alex's Adventures on the Infobahn - drinking

Booze

Ale to the chief