Drinking on a deadline…

We have all been there, we want to get completely wasted but downing 4 Jaeger bombs and a few Sambucas will just take waaay to long.

Now normally you would start reaching for the bottle of meths but hold your horses their is a new kid on the block….

WA|HH Quantum Sensations

No, this isn’t the next James Bond blockbuster. Behind this rather odd name lurks the brain child of Harvard professor David Edwards and designer Philippe Starck. A neat little gizmo that promises to turn you instantaneously drunk for a few seconds, without any of the harmful effects of alcohol (no hangover!).

The Wahh Quantum Sensations contains 20-25 sprays each of which delivers 0.075 ml of alcoholin the form of micro-particles and reportedly simulates the sensorial pleasure of alcohol, giving the user a brief moment of light-headedness and distraction.

Professor David Edwards came up with the idea of using his micro-particle spraying technology to distribute alcohol after meeting with Philippe Starck and discussing the possibility of recreating the positive sensations associated with drinking – but without the drunkenness and negative health implications. The result is a spray which contains tiny amounts of alcohol, that can be sprayed directly into the mouth or onto food.

“Everyone has an occasional need of light-headedness, distraction, and another place … but our societies and codes of amusement have led to the over-consumption of alcoholic beverages as a kind of social placebo,” said Philippe Starck.

Because each spray of the device contains nearly 1,000 times less alcohol than a standard shot, it’s said it would take hundreds of actuations to deliver the alcohol content found in a typical drink. But while some reports have claimed WAHH Quantum Sensations spray actually gets users drunk for a few seconds before they sober up just as fast, the team behind it is keen to stress this is not actually the case.

“WAHH does not stimulate drunkenness. It is precisely to avoid drunkenness. It stimulates the pleasure of alcohol without the alcohol. There is almost no alcohol in the product, yet the aerosol gives an instantaneous lightheadedness, slight, not disorienting, and is intended for anything but the experience of being drunk”… So no fighting lamp-posts or waking up with your face stuck to the bed by some rogue curry sauce.

There are two types of WAHH Quantum Sensations spray – the Flash, which offers a tonic flavor and a strong and instantaneous sensation, and the Demon, which is described as having a spicy, wooded and slightly fruity flavor and said to be best served vaporized on salty or sweet foods. In describing WAHH Quantum Sensations, David Edwards said, “Its ability to deliver flavor with each actuation that grows in intensity with the vapor cloud of millions of tiny micro-droplets makes WAHH an exciting food spray for the future.”

WAHH Quantum Sensations can currently be sampled at the “Experience 14 WA|HH by S+ARCK + EDWARDS” exhibition at Le Laboratoire in Paris – but will soon go on sale in Europe for €20 (about US$26).

How to lose your breakfast….

I’m not sure I need any words for this…. really I’m not.

 

World’s largest burger revisited….

As we all know records are there to be broken, no matter how nasty, pointless or completely wasteful the attempt might be.

Well a few months back I wrote about the World’s Largest Burger which weighed in at around 95kg…well  this has been beaten…twice.

In May this year Canadian “Food Entertainer”  Ted Reader created this monstrosity…

 

Which as you can see weighed in at an Earth shattering 590 pounds (267.6 kilograms) … that is nearly 3 times the weight of the prior champion.

 

Well the USA were not about to be outdone by their northern neighbours, particularly not in a race to have a giant food item.

So without further ado I give you the new reigning champion….

This “appetising” giant tops the charts at a heart stopping 777lbs, that doesn’t just beat the competition it annihilates it.

The burger in question was cooked at the Alameda County fair and  included a 110lb bun, 20lbs of onions, 12lbs of pickles and 30lbs of lettuce…OH and1,375,000 calories – enough to feed one person for almost two years.

Apparently proceeds from the sale of the burger went to a local food bank… one wonders whether they couldn’t have just given the actual food.

Have LotRO will travel…

American  performance artist Jordan Long plans to ship himself across the US in a crate with only  Lord of the Rings Online as company.

Avid Lord of the Rings Online player and performance artist; Jordan Long is taking his theories about in-game communities and their benefits for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to new levels.

Long has shipped himself from his home in Bald Knob, Arkansas to a final destination in Oregon locked in a crate with nothing but his computer and his LOTRO companions along for the ride. 

According to Long, the purpose of his most recent “art” project is to study “trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and claims that he has found that many who are confined to their homes due to such trauma tend to find their escape in the form of online games such as LotRO where they can ‘enter and exit whenever they choose, be whoever they want to be and feel like functioning members of society again.’”

Good thing he isn’t playing WOW or people would want to know the gear score of his crate….

Shed of the year 2010…

A sheddie from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, has won Shed of the Year 2010 after beating off competition from 1,250 shed-lovers. Reg Miller’s pirate-themed shed, ‘The Lady Sarah out of Worthing’ named after his partner, was judged best shed in the competition sponsored by Cuprinol Sprayable and comes complete with a Koi Carp pond and even a parrot!

The judging panel, including Sarah Beeny and ‘Head Sheddie’ and creator of readersheds.co.uk Uncle Wilco , commented: “Reg shows that a perfect shed sums up the personality of the individual that created and uses it. The pirate atmosphere is superbly evoked throughout and underlines that when it comes to creativity, sheddies have it in spades.”

The man of the moment himself  had this to say: “I’ve spent years working on my shed and to win Shed of the Year 2010 is a real thrill – it’s the ultimate accolade for shed owners! It’s still a work in progress, as I’m constantly adding to my collection of pirate memorabilia and props and the shed is slowly but surely taking over the whole garden.

It’s become a real talking point in the area and since I entered it in the competition, I’ve had loads of really positive comments from sheddies around the globe – it really seems to have caught everyone’s imagination! Funnily enough, I’ll be spending my winnings repairing my decking at the top of the garden! It has recently collapsed and I really want to spruce it up again so that I can use it for the summer and yes, I will be using Cuprinol products!”

Reg bagged himself £1000 cash and a boatload of shed care products courtesy of competition sponsors  Cuprinol.

This sort of thing could only be from Britain; it captures the slightly strange eccentricity that we as a nation seem to thrive on. I mean seriously where else in the world would a happily married man be able to get away with converting his back garden into some sort of pirate themed fantasy land…

I have long been an admirer of all things shed and have made most people in my life well aware of the fact that one day I too will be sitting in a small wooden box at the bottom of the garden oohing and aahing over my collection of assorted detritus  as I lovingly catalogue it.

 

Keep Calm…

On the eve of our impending bailout I have some advice for the nation…

Many thanks to Garden Phoenix for sending this through to me

The Nutshell – Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

According to the Guinness Book of Records the Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk is the smallest pub in the UK.

 Whether this is the case or not is up for dispute as at least 2 other pubs that I am aware of make the same claim, either way it is bloody small, about 15ft x 7ft according to the barman.

You can fit about 15 people in The Nutshell in moderate comfort but the record stands at a massive 102 back in 1984, having spent many evenings in the Nutshell all I can say is I hope they all knew each other well, if they didn’t prior to going in they did when they came out!

There is an awful lot to look at in the Nutshell, especially considering it is such a small pub, there is a stags head on one wall and there used to be a stuffed black cat as well, apparently it was found during renovations bricked up behind an old chimney!

Unsurprisingly as it is only 5 minutes down the road Greene King is well represnted in the Nutshell with their I.P.A and Abbott Ale always in residence.

The Nutshell is always popular with tourists and during the summer months can be a bit busy regardless of when you pop in, the rest of the time it is just a regular local pub, all be it in miniature.

Well worth a visit if you happen to be in the area.

Reeding is for faggots…

I don’t really need to explain anything about this I don’t think…

Why does my beard smell like coconut!?!?!??

For all you fans of Hyperbole and a Half who haven’t seen this prepare to have your minds blown just a little bit:

An update on my homebrewing project

 As regular readers will know my most recent homebrew was a traditional IPA, well it now a little over a month since it was bottled so I decided to give it a try and see how it is getting on.

 There is a fair amount of carbonation, certainly enough for my tastes. The beer pours to a very pleasant light amber with a decent sized head that lasts well throughout drinking with a fair bit of lacing.

 There is a decent aroma developing with hops, a slight hint of citrus and a rich maltiness being the predominant notes.

 For me the look and smell of my homebrew are important but the key is very definately how it tastes. Well I can officially say that this IPA is a winner as far as I’m concerned.

There is a good level of bitterness to the beer offset with a nice caramel like sweetness from the malt, I was really pleased as a lto of homebrews that I have sampled before have had an almost cider like quality to them coupled with a rather unpleasant sweetness.

If I compare this IPA with a commercially brewed version I would certainly take this over something like the ubiquitous Greene King offering and not only because this is tipping the scales at a little over 6% (6.2% as close as I can measure it)

I can’t wait until my next scheduled tasting at the end of November