Must We Drink All the Time?

[The_Farwall]

[s]Buzzboy wrote on 09:14, 15th Sep 2003:
I actually started to drink heavily, not in first year, but in junior honours. There's nothing like alcohol to take away the pain.

Maybe not like it but there are several better. For about a couple of months or so in 3rd year I used to get through a half bottle of Jack Daniels before any night out for no other reason than 'cause I somehow thought it looked good(!?) or something. The accumulating rack of matching bourbon bottles on the window sill filled me with some strangely twisted sense of pride.
And I don't know about taking away the pain but spending the whole of a saturday morning ringing my spleen out into the toilet (ie throwing up for so long that, after the first half an hour or so, all that comes up is bile) is bloody agony.

On the other hand, I'm one of those people who doesn't see the point of drinking if not to get drunk. Being drunk is a very pleasant sensation and, seeing as I'm very shy normally, being quite pissed gets me nice and sociable. And, while there are several choice tipples that are very nice tasting, so are Coke and lemonade and if I don't want to get drunk, soft drinks are cheaper.

[benedict]

drinking does have a tendancy to bring folk together. some nights will be talked about for years to come just 'cause someone in amongst a group of friends got drunk. it'd be nice if someone came up with something else that had the advantages of alcohol but without the side effects. then again it's quite often that the side effects actually help the bonds between a group of friends.

[hr]watches should have a smiley face on them as it's always time to be happy

[Warlike Lover]

Cannabis tends to provide many similar effects to alcohol - laughter, giddyness, bizarre conversation...

You're probably less likely to start arguments or even fights when under the effects of cannabis too.

Although you may feel a little drowsy the next day, you rarely get such a splitting headache or nausea.

[Anon.]

[s]The_Farwall wrote on 09:58, 15th Sep 2003:
The accumulating rack of matching bourbon bottles on the window sill...

Although Jack Daniels isn't technically bourbon, it's sour mash.

[Buzzboy]

Well it's technically Sour Mash Kentucky Bourbon. Bourbon being the name for an Irish style Whiskey distilled in the States.

[hr]On the Seventh Day God said to Adam:

"Can I leave it with you?"

[Al]

Doesn't it have to be made in Bourbon County to qualify as a bourbon?

[hr]"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time".

[Buzzboy]

[s]Al wrote on 17:09, 15th Sep 2003:
Doesn't it have to be made in Bourbon County to qualify as a bourbon?


Nah! The states doesn't have the European commission to stamp out things like that.


[hr]
On the Seventh Day God said to Adam:

"Can I leave it with you?"

[cheimon]

best bet-- have both drunken parties AND intelligent conversation. if you just go out and drink and meet random people, chances are you'll never see them again. there were loads of people i met during fresher's week that i never saw after that. too bad.

[Anon.]

[s]Buzzboy wrote on 15:59, 15th Sep 2003:
Well it's technically Sour Mash Kentucky Bourbon.

Really? I thought it was Sour Mash Tennessee Whiskey.

Either way, what are you doing drinking the muck anyway? It mings.

[David Bean]

I do hope I can be forgiven for an obvious plug (and, indeed, that this doesn't fall foul of the scary red warning about adverts), but the original poster asked about intelligent conversation, and I can offer, well, at least half of that guaranteed, at the debate we're holding on the Wednesday.

The motion is a little unusual: we're considering whether or not "This House Would Legalise S&M". I do hope and expect it to be an excellent, fun debate, as it'll feature graduates, current students and one of our former Rectors (who's also Scotland's top QC).

One thing I can't promise is the complete absence of alcohol, but the good news is that that which is there will be completely free. There's a drinks reception at Loot on Market Street beforehand (starting at 6:45), and hopefully a function or party of some sort afterwards; the debate itself is due to begin at 7:30 for 8:00 PM, and is taking place as usual in Parliament Hall, by St. Mary's College, South Street.

Anyway, please do come along - it'll be a nice change, and an opportunity to see that Mr. Comedy's association of debaters with 'nerds' is, shall we say, just a little unfair.

[tills]

Actually, Bourbon is only made in kentucky. we take our alcohol as seriously as the rest of y'all

[Prophet Tenebrae]

I have to say David, I was unaware that S&M was illegal - has the government started to outlaw fetishes on the sly?

[Nick Mitchell]

There are issues about how far you can consent to an assault in law.

[jaspect]

I dont understand, being drunk does not mean that you cannot have intelligent conversations. For example, last month I stayed up drinking with a group of cardiologists and cardiac clinical scientific officers untill 4 in the morning discussing the finer points of perutanious translumenal coronary angioplasty, Intervacular ultrasound and indications for 3D echocardiography. It is a sign of great intellligence to be able to hold in depth conversations while drunk or stoned.

However I do agree that during freshers week we should not be drinking heavyly all the time.

See u on satday

[Buzzboy]

I refute that scandlous slur on my alcoholic integrity.

Give me a bottle of Scapa and a large cuba cigar any day.

[hr]On the Seventh Day God said to Adam:

"Can I leave it with you?"

[The_Farwall]

[s]Buzzboy wrote on 14:38, 16th Sep 2003:
I refute that scandlous slur on my alcoholic integrity.

Give me a bottle of Scapa and a large cuba cigar any day.

Wasn't implying you did, it was just my poison du jour at the time. I've moved on to Jim Beam now, as it seems to have slightly gentler hangovers.

[Buzzboy]

You want to drink sambuca, cos everyone just thinks you've got some strange liquorice craving (although it is like pumping turps through your liver).

[hr]On the Seventh Day God said to Adam:

"Can I leave it with you?"

[Pilmour Boy]

[s]Buzzboy wrote on 17:11, 15th Sep 2003:
[s]Al wrote on 17:09, 15th Sep 2003:[i]
Doesn't it have to be made in Bourbon County to qualify as a bourbon?


Nah! The states doesn't have the European commission to stamp out things like that.
[/i]
No, they have big federal government to do it instead, and are at least 100 years ahead of the EU in that respect.

Jack Daniels is not a Bourbon, which although originates from Bourbon County, Tennessee, doesn't have to be made there.

The Federal Alcohol Administration Act (which is merely the latest in a long line of measures to regulate Bourbon, from the Bottle-In-Bond Act of 1897) describes Bourbon whisky [sic] as whisky produced at not exceeding 160° of proof from a fermented mash of not less than 51% corn, and stored at not more than 125°proof in charred new oak containers.

The proprietors of the Lem Motlow distillery have decided to do something in their whisky making process that means that it can't be described as Bourbon. Perhaps it's they're reusing casks (as they're charred, it doesn't make much difference to the taste, the US logging industry got that bit added), or perhaps they're using less than 51% corn.

The sour mash bit just means that they reuse some of the "mash" (the bit which was fermented to make the "beer") from the previous batch in the next one, that's all.

While the EU may be doing its best to catch up with the US in terms of consumer labelling laws/unneeded bureaucracy , I do think you'll agree that the USA is still a long way ahead.
[hr]
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. - Plato

[Pilmour Boy]

And as to drinking of Scapa with a Cuban cigar, what on earth are you doing? You may as well drink industrial alcohol as Scapa, as your tastebuds will be coated. If you're having a cigar you need a malt from the west. I wouldn't recommend anything less than Oban, and if it's a decent cigar, a decent Islay, such as Laphroig 30 (mmm).

[David Bean]

[s]Nick Mitchell wrote on 11:18, 16th Sep 2003:
There are issues about how far you can consent to an assault in law.

That's the interesting thing about it, Ten: it's unlawful to consent to being assaulted, and so S&M is technically illegal. Donald Findlay QC is speaking for the Opposition, so he should be able to tell us more about the legal technicalities than I can (though it's basically going to be a fun debate, rather than a serious one).

We ran the motion in a competition not long ago, and someone managed to recall from the dark recesses of their brain a case where a consenting couple were prosecuted and convicted for it - I think the case was called 'Crown v. Brown'.